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L  I  B  H  ^  R  Y 

(iK  '  Tin; 

Theological  Seminary. 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 
Case      -^J^v-V-/'  ,.  ' 

/j^      Division.  

Shd0  \y^%lo  ■         ^^- 

Book 


.1 


THE 


PRESBYTERIAN   DIGEST: 

A  COMPEND  OF  THE  ACTS  AND  DELIVERANCES 

OF   THE 

GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 

J.  OP    THE 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

COMPILED 

BY 

WILLIAM  E.   MOORE,  D.D. 

1873. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION, 

No.    1334    CHESTNUT    STREET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by 

THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


WeSTCOTT  &  TUOMSON, 

Slereotypers  and  JEleclrotypers,  Philada, 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  want  of  a  Digest  of  the  acts  of  the  Supreme  Judicatory  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  was  early  felt.  In  1818  the  following  overture  was 
adopted  by  the  Assembly,  viz. : 

"  Resolved,  That  Drs.  Janeway,  Neill  and  Ely  be  appointed  a  Commit- 
tee, and  they  are  hereby  appointed,  to  extract  from  the  records  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  of  the  late  Synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  all 
such  matters  as  may  appear  to  be  of  permanent  authority  and  interest 
(including  a  short  account  of  the  manner  in  which  missions  have  been 
conducted,  and  their  success),  that  the  same  may  be  published  for  the 
information  of  ministers  and  their  people  in  our  churches ;  and  that  they 
report  the  same  to  the  next  Assembly." — 1818,  p.  673. 

The  Committee  reported  to  the  next  Assembly,  and  were  authorized  to 
complete  the  work  on  the  plan  reported,  and  to  publish  it  at  the  expense 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Assembly. — 1819,  p.  713. 

The  Digest  thus  authorized  was  published  in  1820.— 1820,  p.  727. 

In  1836,  upon  an  overture  on  the  subject  of  a  new  Digest,  the  Assembly — 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly  it  is  expedient 
that  a  new  Digest  of  the  acts  and  proceedings  of  the  highest  judicatory  of 
our  Church  be  prepared  and  placed  within  the  reach  of  all  our  ministers 
and  elders. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  Dr.  John  INIcDowell,  Mr.  Winchester  and  Mr.  Duf- 
field  be  a  Committee  to  prepare  such  a  Digest,  and  report  the  same  to  the 
Assembly  as  soon  as  practicable,  provided  the  expense  of  its  publication 
be  not  defrayed  out  of  the  funds  of  the  Assembly." — 1836,  p.  262. 

Nothing,  however,  resulted  from  this  appointment.  Further  action  look- 
ing to  the  preparation  of  a  Digest  was  taken  by  the  respective  Assemblies 
N.  S.,  1838,  p.  661  ;  1849,  p.  l89;  O.  S.,  1841,  p.  447 ;  1848,  p.  45.  See 
more  fully  New  Digest,  Introduction,  pp.  7-10,  and  Baird.,  Rev.  Ed., 
Preface,  pp.  5-8.  In  1850  the  Board  of  Publication  issued  a  Digest  pre- 
pared by  the  Rev.  Richard  Webster.  In  1856  the  Board  issued  the  Digest 
prepared  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Baird.  In  reference  to  this  work  the 
Assembly — 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  General  Assembly  are  due  to  the  Rev. 
Samuel  J.  Baird  for  the  labor  incurred  by  him  in  the  preparation  of  the 
"  Assembly's  Digest,"  recently  published  by  the  Board  of  Publication. 

Resolved,  That  the  Digest  is  earnestly  commended  to  the  attention  and 

3 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

patronage  of  all  iu  our  coimectiou,  aud  that  any  persons  having  sug 
gestious  to  make  iu  reference  to  any  proposed  improvement  in  the  work 
are  invited  to  make  them  to  the  author  thereof  before  the  issue  of  a  new 
edition. — 1856,  p.  535,  O.  S. 

A  new  and  revised  edition  was  issued  by  the  Board  in  1859.  In  1854 
the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  took  order,  appointing  a  Committee,  Rev.  George 
Duffield,  Jr.,  Henry  Darling  and  Wm.  E.  Moore,  with  the  stated  clerk, 
Rev.  E.  F.  Hatfield,  D.  D.,  to  prepare  and  publish  a  new  Digest,  "  if  it  can 
be  done  without  expense  to  the  Assembly."  The  Digest  thus  directed  was 
prepared  by  Rev.  Wm.  E.  Moore,  and  after  delay,  for  want  of  funds, 
issued  by  the  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee  in  1861.  It  was  ac- 
cepted with  commendation  by  the  xVssembly. — 1861,  p.  463. 

The  necessity  of  a  more  complete  work  which  should  combine  the  pre- 
cedents of  the  Church  in  all  its  branches,  and  bring  them  down  to  the 
latest  date,  was  felt  at  once  upon  the  reunion.  The  Board  of  Publication 
accordingly  took  action  looking  to  this  end.  The  Assembly  of  1871 
adopted  the  plan,  as  follows : 

"  The  Committee  also  call  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  to  the  action 
of  the  Board  in  reference  to  a  new  Digest  of  the  Acts  and  Ordinances  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  it  is  recommended  that  the  plan  proposed 
on  page  29  of  the  report  be  approved,  and  that  the  jModerator  appoint  th(} 
Committee,  as  recommended." 

The  proposed  plan  (on  page  29)  is  as  follows  : 

The  attention  of  the  Board  having  been  called  to  the  importance  ol 
the  preparation  of  a  new  Digest  of  the  Acts  and  Ordinances  of  the  Su 
preme  Judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  brought  up  to  the  present 
time  and  suited  to  the  circumstances  of  the  united  body,  the  following 
action  was  taken,  upon  which  the  judgment  of  the  General  Assembly  is 
desired : 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  that  a  new  Digest  of  the  Acts  and  Deliv- 
erances of  the  Supreme  Judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  from  the 
year  1706  to  the  present  time,  be  prepared  and  published  by  the  Board. 

That  this  Digest  contain  under  each  chapter  and  section  of  the  Form 
of  Government,  Book  of  Discipline  and  Directory,  every  decision  which 
defines  or  explains  it. 

Also,  a  complete  Digest  of  all  the  rules  of  the  several  Boards  of  the 
Church  as  at  present  existing. 

That  it  omit  whatever  has  become  obsolete  in  the  usage  of  the  Church — 
e.  g.,  in  its  benevolent  operations — and  all  that  pertains  simply  to  matters 
of  history. 

That  it  be  requested  that  a  Special  Committee  be  appointed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  examine  and  approve  the  book  before  it  be  issued. 

And  it  was  recommended  that  the  Rev.  William  E.  Moore  be  requested 
to  undertake  the  preparation  of  such  a  Digest. — 1871,  p.  529. 

The  following  persons  were  appointed  the  Committee  on  the  Digest,  viz. : 


INTRODUCTION.  O 

Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  D.  D,  Alexander  T.  McGill,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  and  Rob- 
ert M.  Patterson,  Ministers,  Hon.  George  Sharswood,  LL.  D.,  and  Hon. 
William  Strong,  LL.  D.,  Elders. — ih.,  p.  586. 

The  Committee  on  the  new  Digest  reported  its  completion  by  the  com- 
piler and  its  approval  by  the  Committee ;  also,  that  it  would  speedily  be 
published.— 1873,  p.  480. 

The  plan  pursued  has  been  to  print  entire  "  The  Book,"  under  its  three 
heads  oi' "  Form  of  Government,"  ''Book  of  Discipline"  and  ''Directory 
for  Worship."  Under  each  chapter  and  section  of  these  is  given  every  deliv- 
erance or  decision  of  the  Assembly  which  serves  to  define  or  explain  it. 
As  the  same  or  kindred  subjects  are  found  under  different  heads  in  "  The 
Book,"  a  system  of  cross  references  directs  the  inquirer  to  the  decision 
sought,  or  the  subject  illustrated.  The  greatest  labor  has  been  expended 
here  in  classifying  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  under  their  appropriate  heads. 
Repetitions  have  been  freely  made,  where  it  would  facilitate  the  use  of  the 
Digest  in  actual  practice.  The  decisions  of  each  of  the  Supreme  Judica- 
tories of  the  Church,  from  the  beginning  in  1706,  have  been  given.  Of 
those  from  1838  to  1869  inclusive,  the  Assemblies  of  1869,  in  their  concur- 
rent declarations,  aflirm  : 

"  The  official  records  of  the  two  Branches  of  the  Church  for  the  period 
of  separation  should  be  preserved  and  held  as  making  up  the  one  history 
of  the  Church  ;  and  no  rule  or  precedent  which  does  not  stand  approved 
by  both  the  bodies  should  be  of  any  authority  until  re-established  in  the 
united  body,  except  in  so  far  as  such  rule  or  precedent  may  affect  the  rights 
of  property  founded  thereon." 

It  will  be  seen,  however,  on  comparing  the  decisions  or  deliverances  of 
the  two  bodies  during  the  separation,  that  in  a  very  few  cases  indeed  are 
they  opposed  or  contrary  to  each  other.  In  almost  every  case  in  which 
the  two  Assemblies  have  spoken  upon  the  same  subject  they  have  uttered 
substantially  the  same  thing. 

Even  if  not  of  "  any  authority  "  as  binding  law,  most  of  these  decisions 
will  be  found  of  the  highest  value,  as  expressing  the  deliberate  judgment 
of  the  venerable  bodies  uttering  them,  upon  points  of  constant  recurrence. 
It  is  not  likely^  that  the  united  Assembly  would  now  reverse  any  large 
proportion  of  the  decisions  of  either  body  upon  issues  that  are  vet  living. 

Under  the  discretion  given,  the  compiler  has  omitted  many  of  the  earlier 
decisions,  which  are  now  found  embodied  in  the  Constitution.  He  has  also 
omitted,  with  few  exceptions,  documents  which  are  chiefly  historical,  and 
deliverances  which  pertain  to  the  crises  through  which  the  Church  has 
jjassed  in  the  years  long  gone  by. 

His  duty,  as  he  understood  it,  was  to  compile,  not  a  history,  but  a  Digest 
for  the  guidance  of  the  judicatories  of  the  Church.  He  has  felt  the  more 
free  to  omit  the  history  of  the  schisms  of  the  past,  because  they  are  so 
fully  recorded  in  the  Digests  heretofore  prepared,  and  accessible  to  the 
investigator  of  history.     He  has  not  felt  free  to  comment  upon  the  de- 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

cisions  of  the  Assembly  or  to  decide  as  to  their  force ;  they  have  been  left 
to  speak  for  themselves.  In  every  case  the  very  words  of  the  Assembly 
have  been  used,  unless  indicated  by  brackets.  The  discretion  given  has 
been  used  in  a  few  cases  in  eliminating  language  offensive  to  either  of  the 
parties  into  which  the  Church  was  divided,  but  never  so  as  to  affect  the 
meaning  of  the  decision. 

The  references  in  the  Digest  from  1706  to  1835  inclusive  are  to  the 
three  volumes  published  by  the  Board  of  Publication,  viz. :  "  Records  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  from  1706  to  1788,"  "Minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly  from  1788  to  1820,"  and  "  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  from 
1821  to  1835."  From  1838  to  1869  inclusive,  the  references  are  to  the  an- 
nual minutes  of  the  two  Assemblies,  designated  respectively  as  O.  S.  and  N. 
S. ;  from  1870  to  1873  inclusive,  to  the  annual  minutes  of  the  Assembly. 

With  great  diffidence  the  compiler  submits  his  work  to  the  judgment 
of  the  Church.  It  has  been  a  labor  of  love  indeed,  but  yet  a  labor  of  no 
common  toil  and  perplexity.  To  decide  under  what  head  to  place  a  given 
deliverance  cost  often  anxious  thought.  Nor  can  he  flatter  himself  that 
his  judgment  will  always  meet  the  approval  of  those  who  pass  upon  his 
work.  Believing,  however,  that  every  decision  and  deliverance  of  the 
Supreme  Judicatories  upon  subjects  of  living  interest  will  be  found  in  the 
Digest  and  under  the  general  head  to  which  each  belongs,  he  submits  it  with 
the  hope  that  its  method  will  tend  to  make  the-  officers  of  our  Church 
courts  familiar  with  our  incomparable  Book,  and  with  the  j^rayer  that  its 
matter  will  be  found  to  have  made  that  Book  so  plain  as  to  lessen,  if  not 
totally  remove,  all  litigation. 

WILLIAM  E.  MOORE. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  1873. 


SYLLABUS. 


I. -FORM    OF    GOYERI^ME]SrT. 
II. -BOOK    OF   DISOIPLIE"E. 
III-DIEEOTOEY    FOR   WOESHIP. 


iitCJUN  1881 
THEOLOGIOl 


SYLLABUS 


BOOK  I. 


FOKM  OF  GOVERNMENT. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES. 

I.  "  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  Conscience."  The  right  of  Private  Judgment  inalienahle. 
The  Civil  Power  to  aid  only  by  ivay  of  Protection  and  Security. 

II.  The  right  of  the  Church  to  declare  the  Terms  of  Admission  to  its  Communion  and  the 
Qualifications  of  its  Ministers  and  Members. 

III.  Christ  hath  appointed  Officers  to  Preach  the  Gospel  and  Administer  the  Sacraments; 
also,  to  exercise  Discipline. 

IV.  Truth  is  in  order  to  Goodness;  is  essential  to  Holiness.  The  connection  between  Faith 
and  Practice  is  inseparable. 

V.  All  admitted  as  Teachers  should  be  Sound  in  the  Faith,  But  Charity  is  Duty  where 
there  may  be  Difference  of  Opinion. 

VI.  Holy  Scriptures  define  the  Qualifications  and  Authority  of  Church  Officers.  But  the 
Election  to  the  exercise  of  this  Authority  is  in  the  particular  Society  in  ivhich  it  is  to  be 
exercised. 

VII.  All  Church  power  is  Ministerial  and  Declarative  simply.  No  Church  Court  may 
make  Laws  to  bind  the  Conscience.  Their  Decisions  should  be  founded  upon  the  Word 
of  God. 

VIII.  Ecclesiastical  Discipline  moral  in  its  object ;  has  no  civil  effect,  and  derives  its  force 
from  its  own  justice  and  the  blessing  of  God 43 

Adoption  op  the  Westminstek  Standards. 
1.  The  Overture  laid  over  for  a  year.  2.  The  Confession  of  Faith,  Larger  and 
Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  adopted.  3.  The  "  Directory  for 
Worship,  Discipline,"  etc.,  recommended.  4.  Intrants  and  Candidates  to  adopt  the 
Standards,  a,  b.  5.  The  Adopting  Act  to  be  inscribed  in  each  Presbytery  Book.  6. 
An  Act  explaining  the  Adopting  Act.  7.  Plan  of  Union  of  the  Synods  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  1758.  Declarations  of  the  Synod — a,  as  to  the  mode  of  adopt- 
ing the  Confession ;  6,  as  to  the  Directory ;  c,  d,  as  to  the  authority  of  "  Pardovan's  Col- 
lections." 8.  The  Constitution  as  adopted  in  1788:  a,  Form  of  Government  and 
Discipline,  and  the  Confession  of  Faith,  ratified;  how  they  may  be  altered;  b,  The 
Directory  for  Worship  and  the  Catechisms  amended  and  adopted.  9.  Proof  texts 
added  by  order  of  the  Assembly,  a,  b,  c.  10.  Authority  of  the  Notes ;  the  text  alone 
contains  the  Constitution.  11.  Use  and  Obligation  of  the  Standards.  12.  Subscription 
to  them  required  in  every  case,  13.  The  Catechisms  are  an  Integral  part  of  the 
2  9 


10  SYLLABUS. 

Standards,  a,  b,  c;  d,  The  Heidelberg  Catechism  approved;  e,  Subscription  to  the 
Confession  implies  assent  to  the  Catechisms.  14.  Ministers  who  cannot  adopt  the 
Standards  not  to  be  received.  15.  The  Assembly  refuses  to  alter  the  language  of 
the  Confession.  Eelations  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Assemblies,  1838- 
1870.  16.  Committee  of  Correspondence  appointed,  a ;  The  result,  b.  17.  Answers 
to  Overtures  on  Reunion,  N.  S.  18.  O.  S.  19.  Correspondence  between  the  Assem- 
blies initiated,  O.  S.,  a;  Response  of  N.  S.,  6.  20.  Action  looking  to  Reunion; 
Committees  appointed,  a,  6,  1866.  21.  Report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Reunion  ; 
terms  proposed.  22.  Action  on  this  Report;  Assemblies  of  1867;  a,  the  O.  S. ;  6, 
the  N.  S. ;  the  Committee  continued.  23.  Second  Report  of  the  Joint  Committee, 
1868 ;  proposed  Terms  of  Reunion  :  a,  Action  of  the  Assembly  O.  S.  approved  and 
sent  to  the  Presbyteries ;  b,  Action  of  the  Assembly  N.  S.  approved  and  sent  down 
as  an  Overture.  24.  Report  of  Special  Committee  on  the  above  Report,  N.  S.  25. 
Modification  proposed,  O.  S.,  a;  Answer,  N.  S.,  6.  26.  Protest  of  E.  P.  Hum- 
phreys and  others,  a;  Answer  of  the  Assembly,  b.  27.  Answers  of  the  Presbyteries 
to  the  Overture  on  Reunion — a,  of  the  O.  S. ;  b,  of  the  N.  S.  28.  General  As- 
semblies OF  1869  AT  New  York  :  Committees  appointed,  a,  b,  by  both  Assem- 
blies. 29.  Report  of  the  Joint-Committee :  I.  Plan  of  Reunion ;  II.  Concurrent 
Declarations ;  III.  Recommendation  of  a  Day  of  Prayer.  30.  The  Report  adopted 
— a,  by  the  O.  S.,  b,  by  the  N.  S.  31.  The  adjourned  meetings  at  Pittsburg,  Novem- 
ber, 1869 :  a,  Report  of  the  Stated  Clerk  O.  S. ;  b,  Report  of  the  Stated  Clerk  N.  S. 
32.  Report  of  the  Joint-Committee  of  Conference.  33.  The  Reunion  declared  a* 
of  binding  force.  34.  The  Reunion  Convention.  35.  The  "Memorial"  Resolv 
tion.  36.  Plan  of  the  Memorial  Contribution.  37.  Report  of  the  Committee  on 
the  Memorial  Fund 45 

CHAPTER  II. 

OF  THE  CHURCH. 

I.  The  Church  rs  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  II.  The  Universal  Church.  III.  Consists  of 
many  Particular  Churches.  IV.  A  Particular  Church  defined.  1.  New  Churches, 
how  organized  :  a,  Ordinarily  by  application  to  Presbytery  ;  b,  Mode  of  Procedure ; 
c.  Entering  into  Covenant;  d.  Election  of  Elders  and  Deacons;  e,  Reported  to  Pres- 
bytery, and  taken  under  its  care;  /and  g,  Imperfectly  organized  congregations.  2. 
Who  are  the  constituent  members  of  the  Church,  a,  b,  c,  d.  3.  Of  Trustees  and 
Charters,  a,  b.  4.  Control  of  Trustees  over  a  House  of  Worship.  5.  Respective 
rights  of  Trustees  and  Sessions,  a  ;  to  be  decided  by  local  laws,  6.  6.  Congregations 
acting  through  their  Trustees  not  responsible  to  the  Presbyteries.  7.  Decision  of 
U.  S.  Supreme  Court  as  to  the  relative  rights  of  Trustees  and  Sessions 107 

CHAPTER  III. 

OF  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

I.  The  Extraordinary  and  Temporary.  II.  The  Ordinary  and  Perpetual.  See  under 
Chaps.  IV.  V.  VI 112 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  BISHOPS  OR  PASTORS. 

The  Pastoral  Office,  its  dignity,  duties  and  titles.  1.  Stated  Supplies  have  not  a  Pastoral 
Relation :  o,  The  Relation  discouraged  ;  b,  The  Pastoral  Relation  enjoined ;  c,  d, 
The  system  of  Stated  Supplies  unknown  to  our  system ;  e.  Churches  having  Stated 
Supplies  represented  as  if  vacant ;  /,  Presbyteries  should  decline  to  ordain  to  serve 
as  a  Stated  Supply.     2.  Fidelity  in  Pastoral  Duties  enjoined,  a,  b,  c 112 


rOEM   OF   GOVEENMENT.  11 

CHAPTER  V. 

OF  RULING  ELDERS. 

Ruling  Elders  are  the  Eepresentatives  of  the  People,  a,  Assistants  to  aid  the  Minister. 
1.  Tlie  Eldership  Essential  to  the  Existence  of  a  Presbyterian  Church.  2.  Elders 
must  be  duly  elected  and  set  apart.  3.  A  Ruling  Elder  without  Charge  has  no  seat 
in  a  Church  Court.  4.  He  cannot  hold  office  in  two  Churches  at  the  same  time ;  5.  Nor 
adjudicate  in  a  Church  in  which  he  is  not  an  Elder.  6.  He  has  the  same  Right  to 
sit  in  Synod  as  in  Presbytery.  7.  Restoration  after  suspension  from  Church  Priv- 
ilege does  not  Restore  him  to  Office.  8.  Elders  are  not  to  Participate  in  the  Ordi- 
nation of  ministers,  by  the  Laying  on  of  Hands,  a,  b,  c,  d.  9.  They  may  not  Ad- 
minister Sealing  Ordinances.  10.  May  Explain  the  Scriptures  and  Exhort,  in  the 
Absence  of  the  Pastor.  11.  Are  amenable  to  Presbytery,  when  the  Session  is  In- 
competent to  act 114 

CHAPTER  VI. 

OF  DEACONS. 

Scripture  Warrant  for  the  Office.  1.  Deacons  have  no  Juridical  Power,  a.  Their  Func- 
tions and  Duties,  b,  c.  2.  The  same  Person  may  hold  the  Office  of  Elder  and  of  Dea- 
con, if  necessary.  3.  The  appointment  of  Deacons  Enjoined.  4.  The  Deacons  alone 
have  control  of  Funds  Collected  for  the  Poor  of  the  Church.  5.  The  Session  may 
determine  whether  the  Deacons  shall  Officiate  on  Sacramental  occasions.  6.  Dea- 
cons may  not  Represent  the  Church  in  its  Courts 118 

CHAPTER  VII. 

OF  ORDINANCES  IN  A  PARTICULAR  CHURCH. 
The  Ordinances  Enumerated.     See,  also,  Directory  for  Worship 120 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

OF  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  SEVERAL  KINDS  OF  JUDICATORIES. 

I.  The  Necessity  of  Definite  form  in  Government.  Our  Church  governed  by  Congrega- 
tional, Presbyterial  and  Synodical  Assemblies 120 

II.  The  Poiver  of  these  Assemblies  is  wholly  moral  and  Spiritual.  It  is  Ministerial  and 
Declarative.  They  possess  the  right — To  require  obedience,  to  the  laws  of  Christ :  To  exclude 

.  the  Disorderly :  To  obtain  Evidence  and  inflict  Censure.  The  highest  Penalty  they  can 
inflict  is  Exclusion  of  the  Impenitent  and  Contumacious.  1.  Union  of  Church  and  State 
Disavowed  ;  Relations  of  the  Church  to  the  State  Defined.  2.  The  right  of  any  Ju- 
dicatory to  bear  Testimony  against  erroneous  and  injurious  Publications 120 

CHAPTER  IX. 

OF  THE  CHURCH  SESSION. 

I.  The  members  of  the  Session.  The  Pastor  and  Elders  of  that  Particular  Congregation. 
1.  A  Session  formed  of  Elders,  not  of  that  particular  Congregation,  is  unconstitu- 
tional and  its  acts  void,  a,  b,  c,  d.  2.  An  Elder  may  not  adjudicate  in  any  other 
Church  than  that  of  which  he  is  an  Elder.  3.  A  Minister  may  not  sit  as  a  corre- 
sponding member ;  nor  be  assigned  as  Counsel.  4.  Elders  must  be  ordained  before 
they  can  act  judicially  ;  otherwise,  the  Decision  is  Invalid.  5.  An  Elder  dismissed, 
and  Returning  his  Letter  unused,  is  reinstated  in  Office 123 


12  SYLLABUS. 

II.  Quorum  of  Session.  The  Paf:for  must  always  be  one,  with  two  Elda's,  if  there  he  so 
many.  1.  A  Minister,  with  one  Elder,  may  be  a  Quoruna,  a,  Where  there  is  but 
one,  b,  c,  Where  Refusal  to  act  or  Incapacity  leaves  but  One.  2.  Less  than  a  Quo- 
rum are  incapable  of  any  Organic  Act 124 

III.  The  Moderator  of  the  Session.  Ordinarily  the  Pastor.  For  Special  reasons  the  Ses- 
sion may  invite  any  other  Minister  belonging  to  the  Same  Presbytery  to  Preside.  [Seu 
under  IV.,  below] 125 

IV.  When  a  Church  is  without  a  Pastor.  The  Moderator  may  be  the  Minister  appointed 
by  the  Presbytery  for  that  purpose;  or  One  of  the  Same  Presbytery  (See  IV.,  above), 
or  a  Member  of  the  Session.  1.  Where  a  Minister  is  the  Accuser,  a  Minister  should 
Preside.  2.  Who  may  Moderate  the  Session  in  the  absence  of  a  Pastor,  a.  b,  Only  ^ 
a  Member  of  the  same  Presbytery,  in  cases  contemplated  in  Section  IIL  and  IV., 
Chap.  IX.,  c.  The  Session  to  judge  when  it  is  impracticable  to  obtain  a  Mod- 
erator   125 

V.  Where  there  are  more  Pastors  than  One,  they  Shoidd  Preside  Alternately 127 

VI.  The  Duties  and  Powers  of  the  Church  Session:  To  Maintain  the  Spiritual  Government 
of  the  Congregation.  1.  The  Session  has  Original  Jurisdiction  over  the  Members  of 
the  Church,  a,  b,  c,  d.  2.  Jurisdiction  over  a  Suspended  Member  is  in  the  Court  which 
Suspended  him.  3.  A  Church  INIember  may  not  be  Excommunicated  on  Confes- 
sion. Confession  may  Shorten  Process,  but  does  not  Dispense  with  Trial.  4.  To 
Receive  Members  to  the  Church.  The  vote  of  the  Session  admits  the  Members  to  the 
Church  ;  those  unbaptized  must  be  baptized  ;  the  Session  may  prescribe  a  Public 
Profession  of  the  Faith,  and  Employ  a  Church  Covenant;  such  Covenants  Dis- 
cretionary. 5.  An  Unbaptized  Person  must  make  a  Public  Profession.  6.  A  Mem- 
ber Received  from  Another  Church,  should  bring  a  Certificate.  7.  "Members  should 
be  received  only  by  an  Individual  Session,  regularly  constituted,  a,  For  a  Session 
to  Receive  those  intending  to  belong  to  another  Congregation,  irregular,  6,  also,  to 
Receive  Members  from  Churches  of  our  connection  who  have  not  been  Dismissed. 
8.  Representation  in  the  Superior  Courts  Required,  a,  b.  9.  Attendance  of  Elders 
npon  Synods  Enforced,  a,  b.  10.  The  same  Elder  who  Represented  his  Session  at 
a  Stated  Meeting  must  Represent  it  at  an  Adjourned  Meeting.  11.  Session  may  not 
Prohibit  Collections  Ordered  by  the  Superior  Court,  a,  b 127 

VII.  The  Pastor  may  Convene  the  Session  at  his  own  Discretion,  and  must  Convene  it  when 
Requested  by  Two  Elders 132 

VIII.  The  Session  must  keep  full  Records,  and  Submit  them  to  Presbytery  Annually,  for 
Review.  1.  The  Records  must  be  full.  2.  Testimony  in  Judicial  cases  must  be  en- 
grossed. 3.  Records  approved  may  not  be  altered  ;  How  an  error  may  be  cor- 
rected   132 

IX.  Register  to  be  kept  of  Marriages,  Baptisms  and  Admissions.  1.  Reports  to  show 
only  Actual  Membership.  2.  Ministers  not  to  be  Enrolled  as  Members  of  the 
Church  they  Serve 133 

CHAPTER  X. 

OF  THE  PRESBYTERY. 

I.  The  need  of  Mutual  Counsel  and  Assistance;  hence  Presbyterial  and  Synodical  Assem- 
blies 134 

II,  What  constitutes  a  Presbytery.  All  the  Minisleis,  not  less  than  five,  and  one  Elder 
from  each  Church  ivithin  certain  limits.  1.  Presbyteries  constituted  of  Ministers,  a,  b, 
c.    2.  Presbyteries  should  be  bounded  by  Geographical  lines,  a.     Elective  Affinity 


FOEM    OF    GOVERNMENT.  13 

discouraged,  6.  Exceptions,  c,  d.  3.  Ministers,  W.  C,  entitled  to  a  seat.  4.  An 
Elder,  W.  C,  is  not  entitled.  5.  Ministers  living  without  the  Bounds  of  their  Pres- 
bytery to  give  Satisfactory  Reasons,  or  be  transferred  to  the  Presbytery  within  which 
theyEeside.  6.  Ministers,  W.  C,  must  unite  with  the  Presbytery  within  which 
they  Reside,  or  are  Nearest  to.  7.  The  above  Rule  Defined :  Its  meaning,  that 
every  Minister  should  be  a  Member  of  the  Presbytery  in  whose  bounds  he  Resides. 
8.  Presbyteries  must  be  Defined  by  Geographical  lines,  or  lines  of  Travel.  9.  Pres- 
byteries may  not  be  organized  so  as  to  cover  the  same  ground 134 

III.  Every  Congregation  having  a  Pastor  has  the  Eight  to  be  Represented  in  Presbytery  by 
an  Elder,  and  an  additional  Elder  for  every  additional  Pastor.  Term  "  Collegiate 
Cliurch  "  defined.  1.  "A  Ciuirch  with  more  than  one  Pastor;"  2.  "  Two  or  more 
Churches  united  under  one  Pastor" 138 

IV.  Two  or  more  Churches,  united  under  one  Pastor,  are  entitled  to  but  One  Representative. 

I.  United  Congregations  Represented  by  but  One  Elder.  2.  Where  a  Minister 
serves  one  Churcli  as  Pastor,  and  another,  or  others,  as  Staled  Supply,  each  is  en- 
titled to  a  Representative.  3.  Churches  in  different  Presbyteries  under  one  Pastor  as 
permitted  by  tlie  Reconstruction  Act 138 

V.  Every  Vacant  Congregation  Entitled  to  a  Representative.  l.Every  congregation  which 
has  not  a  Pastor  is  vacant,  a,  b,  Even  though  it  may  be  Statedly  Supplied 139 

VI.  Presbytery  may  Require  a  Certificate  of  Appointment 139 

VII.  Quorum.  Three  Ministers  and  as  many  Elders  as  may  be  present.  1.  A  Quorum  may 
consist  wholly  of  Ministers,  a,  b;  Explanatory,  c.  2.  Less  than  three  Ministers  not 
a  quorum.  3.  Less  than  a  Quorum  may  adjourn  ;  any  other  act  is  void  ;  they  can- 
not Receive  aJMeniber  so  as  to  get  a  Quorum.  4.  The  Assembly,  on  petition,  sanc- 
tions the  Reception  of  a  Member  by  less  than  a  Quorum,  a,  b,  c,  d 139 

VIII.  Powers  op  the  Pbesbytejiy.  1.  To  Receive  and  Issue  Appeals  and  Refer- 
ences from  Church  Sessions,  etc.  See  Book  of  Discipline,  Chap.  VII.  Sees.  I.,  IL,  III. 
and  IV 144 

3.  To  Examine  and  License  Candidates  for  the  Ministry.  Licentiates  should  be  Regularly 
received  and  with  caution ;  a.  Case  of  John  McClean ;  b.  Case  of  Francis  Hind- 
man  ;  c.  Case  of  James  McCoy.  See  under  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  XIV.,  "  Of 
Licensing  Candidates" 144 

3.  To  Ordain  Ministers.  2.  Ordination  by  a  Commission,  a;  George  Gillespie,  b; 
Robert  Wotherspoon,  c/  David  Evans,  d.  3.  Ordination  by  Foreign  bodies  not 
Approved  of.  4.  Lay  Ordination  is  Invalid,  a,  b.  5.  Rules  for  Receiving  a  Minis- 
ter from  another  Church  ;  the  same  Qualifications  required  as  of  our  own  Candi- 
dates :  If  found  Qualified  they  are  not  to  be  re-ordained,  but  only  Installed  if  called 
to  settle  over  a  Presbyterian  Church,  a,  b.  6.  Ordination  procured  by  Deception 
and  Fraud  valid  ;  but  Presbytery  should  at  once  Depose  the  Impostor.  7.  Ordina- 
tion on  the  Sabbath  at  the  Discretion  of  Presbytery.  8.  Reasons  for  receiving  an 
Ordained  Minister  to  be  Recorded.  9.  Leave  to  Ordain  Refused,  where  there  is  no 
Presbytery 145 

4.  T'o  Install  ifinisters.    10.  The  cognizance  of  settling  Pastors  belongs  to  Presbytery. 

II.  A  Pastoral  Relation  Recognized,  without  Installment.  12.  The  Presbytery  may 
Refuse  to  Install,  even  where  the  Parties  are  Agreed 149 

5.  To  Remove  Ministers.  13.  The  Presbytery  may  Dissolve  a  Pastoral  Relation  at  its 
own  Discretion,  a,  b.  14.  Presbytery  dissolves  Pastoral  Relation  by  order  of  Synod. 
15.  A  Pastor  may  not  be  Dismissed  to  a  Body  other  than  that  to  which  his  Church 
belongs 150 


14  SYLLABUS. 

6.  To  Judge  3Iin/isters.  16.  The  Presbytery  is  the  Judge  of  the  fitness  of  its  Mem- 
bers. 17.  It  may  Eeject  an  Applicant;  18.  But  not  without  Sufficient  Eeason, 
a,  b.  19.  When  a  Presbytery  has  become  extinct,  and  a  Member  of  it  is  charged 
with  an  Ofl^ense,  it  is  Optional  with  the  Presbytery  in  whose  bounds  he  lives  to 
Receive  and  Try  him,  or  not ;  in  tlie  latter  case,  the  Jurisdiction  is  in  the  Synod, 
20.  How  Ministers  and  Licentiates  are  Received  from  Corresponding  Bodies.  21. 
Ministers  Dismissed  in  Good  Standing  should  be  Received  on  their  Testimonials. 
22.  The  Presbytery  has  the  Right  to  satisfy  itself  in  every  case,  and  to  Decline  to 
Receive.  The  "  Imperative  Rule."  23.  A  Presbytery  may  not  give  a  qualified 
Dismission  ;  Nor  Receive  a  Member  of  a  Presbytery  except  upon  a  Letter  of  Dis- 
mission from  his  Presbytery  ;  where  the  Reception  is  void,  the  name  should  be 
Stricken  from  the  Roll.  24.  Dismission  may  be  to  a  Presbytery  to  be  Erected. 
25.  To  Dismiss  by  a  Committee  is  Unconstitutional,  a,  b,  c.  26.  Rule  for  receiving 
Foreign  Ministers.  27.  The  Rule  Enforced,  a,  b,  e.  28.  Rule  applies  to  one  Seek- 
ing to  be  Restored.  29.  Privilege  lost  by  return  to  Europe.  30.  The  Rule  applies 
to  Canada,  a,  b.  31.  One  Educated  and  Licensed  here,  but  settled  abroad,  excepted 
from  the  Rule.  32.  Relaxation  of  the  Rule  Refused.  33.  Waived  in  case  of  a 
Minister  from  a  body  in  Correspondence.  34.  The  Rule  Repealed,  as  to  Ministers 
from  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Great  Britain.  35.  Jurisdiction  over  Ministers 
non-resident,  a,  b,  c.  36.  A  Presbytery  may  not  Restore  a  Minister  Deposed  by 
Another.  37.  One  who  has  withdrawn  can  be  restored  only  by  the  Presbytery  from 
which  he  withdrew.  38.  A  Minister  neither  Suspended  nor  Dismissed,  may  not  be 
Stricken  from  the  Roll.  39.  The  Name  of  one  Suspended  is  to  remain  upon  the 
Roll,  pending  the  final  issue.  40.  Deposition  does  not  necessarily  infer  Excommu- 
nication ;  Where  so  Intended,  it  should  be  so  Expressed,  a,  b.  41.  If  a  Deposed 
Minister  persist  in  exercising  the  Functions  of  the  Ministry,  his  Name  to  be  Pub- 
lished   150 

42.  Questions  Pertaining  to  the  Ministry.  1.  Of  those  who  Withdraw  from 
the  Work  of  the  Ministry,  a,  Case  of  one  Struck  from  the  Roll,  b,  If  persistent, 
to  be  Excluded  or  Deposed  by  Discipline,  c.  Presbytery  to  Inspect  the  Fidelity  of 
its  Members,  d,  Reasons  for  Withdrawal  to  be  Required  and  Recorded  with  Ap- 
proval or  Disapproval,  e,/,  To  be  called  to  account,  g.  The  Rule  of  1834  enforced, 
h.  2.  When  Providentially  Incapacitated,  Ministerial  Privileges  Remain.  3.  The 
Eight  of  Ministers,  W.  C,  to  sit  in  Church  Courts  Unimpaired,  a,  6,  c.  4  May  hold 
civil  office,  in  Special  case.  5.  May  serve  as  Chaplain  in  the  Army  or  Navy,  a,  b,  c, 
d,e,f.  6.  Demission  of  the  Ministry,  a,  Directed,  b,  Permitted  by  Presbytery,  Dis- 
allowed by  Synod,  c,  d,  Similar  Action,  e,  A  Full  IMinute,  Denying  the  Right  to  Demit. 
7.  Ministers  are  not  to  be  I^nrolled  as  Members  of  the  Churches  they  Seive.  8. 
One  withdrawing  from  Presbytery  Stricken  from  the  Roll,  a,  b,  c,  d 161 

■7,  To  Examine  and  Approve,  or  Censure  Church  Records.  43.  The  Presbytery  must 
Review  the  Records  of  the  Session,  a,  b 170 

8.  To  Resolve  Questions  of  Doctrine  or  Discipline,  Seriously  Propounded 171 

O.  To  Condemn  Erroneous  Opinions  which  injure  the  purity  or  peace  of  the  Church...  171 

10.  To  Visit  Particular  Churches  ;  to  Inquire  and  Redress.  44.  The  right  of  Visitation 
asserted,  a.  Acts  of  Insubordination  null  and  void,  b.  45.  Presbytery  may,  without 
petition.  Direct  an  Elder  to  cease  acting.  46.  A  Church  may  not  Withdraw,  with- 
out Consent  of  Presbytery,  a,  b.  47.  When  a  Church  wishes  to  withdraw — course 
to  pursue.     48.  Presbytery,  on  Visitation,  may  Di'sso/re  a  Church 171 

11.  To  Organize,  Unite  and  Divide  Churches.  49.  To  organize  Churches  is  the  pro- 
vince of  Presbyteries,  Except  in  Frontier  and  Destitute  Settlements.    50.  Organiza- 


FOEM  OF  GOVERNMENT.  15 

tlon  on  Petition  of  the  Minority.  51.  Presbytery  Prohibits  an  Organization.  52.  When 
New  Congregations  may  be  Formed.  53.  Congregations  should  not  be  Divided 
■without  the  Eequest  of  the  People 173 

IS,  To  Order  Whatever  Pertains  to  the  Spiritual  Welfare  of  the  Churches.  54.  Presby- 
tery, in  its  Discretion,  Dissolves  a  Pastoral  Relation,  a,  Minute  in  the  case,  b.  55. 
A  Presbytery  may  not  Dismiss  a  Church,  without  consent  of  Synod.  56.  Power  of 
Presbytery  over  Unemployed  Ministers  and  Vacant  Churches ;  Mode  of  Proceed- 
ing   174 

IX.  The  Records.  To  be  kept  Full  and  Fair.  To  Report  to  Synod  Every  Year  all  Im- 
portant Changes.  See  under  Form  of  Government,  Chap.  XI.,  Sec.  VI.  1.  Narrative 
and  all  Important  Papers  to  be  Recorded.  2.  Rules  as  to  Reports  to  Synod 
Modified 177 

X.  Meetings  of  Presbytery.  On  its  own  Adjournment ;  Pro  re  Nata  ;  How  Called ; 
Who  may  Act ;  On  what  Authority  ;  What  Notice  to  be  Given,  and  What  Business  may 
be  Done.  1.  Presbytery  may  Meet  out  of  its  own  Bounds.  2.  A  Meeting  pro  re  nata 
may  not  be  called  by  a  Moderator  chosen  at  a  Former  Meeting,  pro  re  nata,  but  only 
by  the  Moderator  chosen  at  the  Stated  Meeting.  3.  When  Meetings  pro  re  nata  may 
be  called.  4.  Applicants  for  a  Meeting  pro  re  nata  may  Specify  Time  and  Place, 
which  the  Moderator  may  not  change 178 

XI.  At  Every  Meeting  a  Sermon  should  be  Preached,  if  convenient,  and  Every  Particular 
Session  must  be  Opened  and  Closed  with  Prayer.  1.  The  Preacher  need  not  necessa- 
rily be  a  Member  of  that  Presbytery 179 

"XII.  Presbytery  may  Invite  Ministers  to  sit  as  Corresponding  Members  ;  To  Deliberate, 
but  not  to  Vote.  1.  Leave  given  to  Correspond  with  Local  bodies,  a,  b,  c.  2.  The 
Ecclesiastical  Bodies  must  be  Named 180 

CHAPTER  XI. 

OF  THE  SYNOD. 

I.  The  Synod,  a  Convention  of  the  Bishops  and  Elders  icithin  a  District,  including  at  least 
Three  Presbyteries  ;  Ratio  of  Elders,  the  Same  as  in  Presbytery.  1.  Synod  may  not 
Refuse  to  Receive  the  Members  of  its  Presbyteries,  a,  b,  c,  Nor  enjoin  the  Erasure  of 
their  Names.  2.  The  Synods  as  Constituted  by  the  Enabling  Act  of  1870.  3. 
Changes  in  the  Boundaries  of  the  Synods,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,f,  g,h,  i,  k,  1 181 

II.  Quorum  of  Synod.  Seven  Ministers,  but  not  more  than  Three  Belonging  to  one  Pres- 
bytery. 1.  The  Rule  as  to  a  Quorum  must  be  Observed,  a,  Invalid  Proceedings ;  How 
Cured,  b.  Acts  of  Less  than  a  Quorum,  Void.  2.  Session  on  the  Sabbath  for  Busi- 
ness, Censured,  a,  b.  3.  The  Remedy  when  Synod  fails  to  meet  on  its  Adjournment, 
a,  Less  than  a  Quorum  may  Adjourn  from  Day  to  Day,  The  Moderator  may  fix 
time  and  place,  b,  The  Assembly  may  fix  both.  4.  Pro  re  nata  Meetings  of  Synod 
are  Constitutional,  a.  The  Moderator  may  call  such  Meeting,  b,  c.  5.  The  Mod- 
erator must  Specify  the  Object  for  which  it  is  Convened.  6.  The  Moderator 
has  no  power  to  change  the  Time  of  Meeting,  a,  b.  7.  The  Assembly  may  Change 
the  Time  and  the  Place 188 

III.  Rules  as  to  Corresponding  Ilembeis,  Same  as  in  Presbytery 191 

rV.  The  Powers  of  the  Synod.  1.  To  Receive  and  Issue  Appeals,  but  has  not  Orig- 
inal Jurisdiction,  a,  b,  c.  2.  Appeals  must  be  in  Regular  Order  ;  Parol  Testimony 
may  not  Supersede  the  Records.  3.  Synod  may  not  Institute  Judicial  Process ; 
Such  Proceeding  Void.  4.  The  Synod  may  Reverse  and  Correct  Proceedings  on 
Complaint,  but  must  Observe  the  Principles  of  Discipline.     5.  The  Synod  haa 


16  SYLLABUS. 

Jurisdiction  over  the  Members  of  an  Extinct  Presbytery,  6.  A  Synod  "visits"  a 
Church  to  ascertain  tlie  acceptability  of  its  Elders.  7.  Directs  a  Presbytery  to 
Dissolve  a  Pastoral  Kelation 191 

V.  Meetings  of  the  Synod.  At  least  Annual;  To  be  Opened  with  a  Sermon  ;  Every  Ses- 
sion to  be  Opened,  and  Closed  with  Prayer.  1.  The  Rule  as  to  the  Opening  Sermon 
Literal,  and  to  be  Obeyed,  a,  b.  2.  The  Eecords  should  show  that  the  Sessions 
were  Opened  and  Closed  with  Prayer,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,f,  g,  h,  i,j 193 

VI.  The  Records  must  be  full  and  fair  ;  They  must  he  Submitted  Annually  to  the  Assem,' 
bly ;  Report  of  Number  of  Presbyteries.  1.  Eeport  must  be  Full,  a,  b;  Assigning 
Reasons  for  Decisions,  c,  d;  Recording  the  Nature  of  the  Action,  e,  f,  g,  h,  i, 
Similar  Defects,  2.  The  Eecords  Should  be  Fair.  3.  Must  be  Presented  Annually, 
a,  b.  Reports  to  Assembly,  c,  d,  Censure  for  Carelessness,  e,  and  for  not  having 
Presented  Annually,  /,  g,  h,  i.  4.  The  Records  must  Show  all  Changes  in  the  Pres- 
byteries, a,  b.  5.  The  Records  should  State  the  Body  to  which  a  Corresponding 
Member  Belongs,  a,  b,  c,  d.  6.  The  Minutes  Should  be  Read  and  Approved,  a,  b,  e, 
d,  e.  7.  They  should  be  Attested  by  the  Stated  Clerk,  a,  b,  c.  8.  Absentees  must 
be  called  to  Answer.  9.  Their  Names  must  be  Recorded,  a,  b,  c.  10.  Synod  may 
not  Discipline  Absentees,  Without  Trial.  11.  A  Narrative  of  the  State  of  Religion 
Should  be  Prepared  and  Recorded,  a,  b,  c 194 


CHAPTER  XII, 

OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY, 

I.  The  General  Assembly  the  Highest  Judicatory  of  the  Church ;  Its  Official  Title.  1. 
The  Formation  of  the  General  Assembly,  a,  b.  2.  Annual  Organization  of  the 
Assembly.  3.  Rules  of  Organization;  Committee  on  Commissions,  a;  Committee 
of  Elections,  b,  c.  4.  Mode  of  Choosing  the  Moderator.  5.  Installing  the  Modera- 
tor. 6.  Communications  Addressed  to  the  Moderator.  7.  He  has  only  the  Casting 
Vote.  8.  When  the  Moderator  will  not  Preside,  a,  b,  c.  9.  Rules  as  Adopted  in 
1871.  10.  Officers  of  the  Assembly.  1,  The  Stated  Clerk;  His  Appointment,  a / 
His  Duties,  b  ;  To  Notify  Presbyteries  whose  Commissioners  have  left  Without 
Excuse,  c;  Stated  Clerk  to  act  as  Treasurer  of  the  Assembly;  His  Salary,  d.  2. 
The  Permanent  Clerk;  His  Appointment  and  Duties,  a,  b,  c,  d;  His  Salary,  e. 
3,  The  Temporary  Clerks,  a,  b;  Choice  not  Confined  to  Members  of  Assem- 
bly, c,  d 200 

II.  Bishops  and  Elders,  to  be  Equal  in  Number  ;  Ratio  and  Style  of  Delegates.  1.  The 
Ratio.  2.  Where  more  are  Elected  than  their  quota,  the  last  Elected  are  Refused. 
3.  Commissioners  Should  be  Chosen  who  will  Attend  during  all  the  Sessions.  4. 
Corresponding  Members ;  Not  to  be  Invited.  5.  Delegates  from  Other  Bodies  not 
now  Entilled  to  Vote.  6.  The  Secretaries  of  the  Boards  ;  The  Stated  and  Perma- 
nent Clerks  have  the  Privileges  of  Corresponding  Members,  a,  b.  7,  The  Standing 
Committees  of  the  Assembly,   I.— XVIII 211 

in.   Quorum  of  the  Assembly 217 

IV.  Duties  and  Poivers  of  the  General  Assembly.  1.  The  Assembly  will  not  Ordinarily 
Decide  Questions  in  thesi,  a,  b,  c,  d 217 

V.  Powers  of  the  General  Assembly.  1.  Decisions  and  Deliverances  on  Doctrine. 
1.  Case  of  Samuel  Harker.  2.  Testimony  against  Universalism  and  Socinianism,  a, 
ft,  c.  3.  Case  of  Hezekiah  Balch.  4.  Of  William  C.  Davis;  His  Book— The 
Gospel  Plan — Condemned.  5.  Of  Thomas  B.  Craighead.  G.  Of  Albert  Barnes, 
7.  Testimony  against  Doctrinal  Errors.     8.  An  Explication  of  Doctrines,    9.  Tes- 


FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT.  17 

timony  against  Certain  Disorders  and  Irregularities.  10.  Powers  of  the  Assembly 
in  Discipline;  Definition  and  Limitations.  11.  Testimony  of  the  Assembly  on  the 
Outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  1861.  12.  Resolutions  on  the  State  of  the  Country,  and 
Letter  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  1862,  a,  b.  13.  Duty  of  Citizens  to  Sup- 
port the  Administration,  1863.  14.  Eesolutions  Upholding  the  Government,  1864. 
15.  Upon  the  Assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  1865.  16.  Powers  of  the  Assembly 
in  Defining  and  Determining  which  are  True  and  Lawful  Judicatories.  17.  Case 
of  the  Walnut  St.  Church,  Louisville;  The  Assembly  Passes  upon  the  Validity  of 
the  Election  of  Ruling  Elders,  a,  b  ;  The  Case  in  the  Courts  of  Kentucky,  c;  Ap- 
peal Directed  to  be  Taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  d;  Final 
Report;  The  Position  of  the  Assembly  Sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court,  e;  Report 
of  the  Case;   Opinion  of  the  Court, /. 218 

3.  Of  Erecting  New  Synods;  Altering  their  Bounds,  etc.,  a ;  Erecting,  6;  Changing 
Boundaries,  c;  Transferring  Churches,  d/  Dissolving  Synods,  e 263 

3.  Of  Erecting,  Modifying,  Changing  and  Dissolving  Presbyteries,  a.  Of  Erecting,  etc., 
Carlisle,  Huntingdon  ;  b,  Columbia,  Oneida,  Albany ;  c,  Geneva,  Detroit,  Chenango  ; 
d,  Philadelphia,  Second  ;  e,  Philadelphia,  Third ;  /,  Luzerne ;  g,  Wisconsin ;  h, 
Ningpo,  Amoy,  Western  Africa ;  i,  California,  San  Francisco,  Oregon,  Sierra  Ne- 
vada and  San  JoSe;  j,  Yedo,  Wyoming,  Montana.  2.  To  Transfer  Churches.  3. 
To  Transfer  Ministers,  a,  b.  4.  To  Receive  other  Ecclesiastical  Bodies,  a.  The 
Presbytery  of  Suffolk  ;  b.  The  Presbytery  of  Charleston  ;  c.  The  Associate  Reformed 
Synod ;  d.  The  Presbytery  of  Pittsburg,  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church.    5. 

-To  Define  the  Succession  of  Presbyteries 263 

4.  Of  Corresponding  with  Foreign  Churches.  1.  The  Assembly  alone  may  open  Cor- 
respondence. 2.  Proposals  for  Correspondence  with  the  New  England  Churches. 
3.  Plan  of  Correspondence  with  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut.  4.  The 
Plan  of  Union  and  action  under  it.  5.  Correspondence  with  the  Reformed 
Churches,  o.  With  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church ;  b.  Amendments  of  the  Plan ; 
c,  Proposal  Declined ;  d.  Complaint  against  Presbytery  of  North  River.  6.  South- 
ern Presbyterian  Church  Recognized  as  an  Independent  Body.  7.  Correspond- 
ence with  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  a,  b,  c ;  d.  Answer  of  the  Southern 
Assembly ;  e.  Action  touching  the  Southern  Assembly  Declared  null  and  void. 
8.  Report  on  Foreign  Correspondence,  1870.  9.  Bodies  with  which  the  Assembly  is 
at  present  in  Correspondence,  1873.  10.  Power  of  the  Assembly  to  Expel  a  Member. 
11.  Deliverance  on  the  Perils  of  our  System  of  Public  Education.  12.  The  Pas- 
toral, Letters.  1.  On  Missions.  2.  On  the  Old  French  War,  1756.  3.  On  the 
Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  1766.  4.  On  the  Revolution,  1775.  5.  Address  to  Wash- 
ington, 1789  ;  Reply  of  the  President,  1790.  6.  On  the  Results  of  the  French 
Revolution,  1798.  7.  On  the  Disturbances  in  Kentucky,  etc.,  1804.  8.  On  the 
Sabbath,  1814.  9.  On  Christian  Activity,  1817.  10.  On  prevalent  Vices  and  Im- 
moralities, 1818.  11.  On  Revivals  and  their  abuses,  1832.  12.  On  the  Maintenance 
of  Doctrinal  Purity,  1839.  13.  On  Revivals  of  Religion,  1849.  14.  On  Diligence 
in  repairing  the  Wastes  of  War,  1865.  15.  On  the  Observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
1867 267 

VI.  diodes  in  which  Changes  may  be  made  in  the  Constitution  ;  The  Approval  of  a  Ma- 
jority  of  Presbyteries  Eequired.  1.  Power  of  the  Assembly  to  make  Standing  Rules. 
2.  .General  Principles  on  which  Amendments  may  be  made,  a,  b,  c ;  In  what  way 
Doctrinal  Portions  may  be  Amended.  3.  Amendments  Approved  by  the  Presby- 
teries, but  not  Adopted  by  the  Assembly.  4.  Where  all  the  Presbyteries  do  not 
respond,  the  votes  given  are  to  be  filed  as  the  final  answer  of  those  Presbyteries, 
3 


18  SYLLABUS. 

unless  reversed  by  them,  a,  b;  But  the  AsBembly  sends  down  the  Overture  again. 
5,  The  Manner  in  which  Answers  to  Overtures  are  to  be  Authenticated  to  the 
Assembly 325 

VII.  The  Assembly  to  Meet  at  Least  Once  in  Each  Year  ;  How  Opened;  Who  may  Pre- 
side; Commissioners  may  not  sit  until  Regularly  Enrolled.  1.  Adjourned  Meetings  of 
the  Assembly  ;  Their  Legality  ;  Opinion  of  Chancellor  Kent.  2.  The  Adjourned 
Meetings  of  1869,  a,  b.  3.  Who  may  sit  as  Commissioners  in  an  Adjourned  Assem- 
bly, a,  b.  4.  The  Assembly  Excludes  Commissioners  from  Sitting  pending  Inves- 
tigation, a,  b  ;  Answer  to  Protest 330 

VIII.  Opening  and  Closing  of  the  Assembly  with  Prayer  ;  Final  Dissolution.  1.  Speci- 
men of  the  Minute  of  Dissolution 332 

The  Chakter  op  the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly  ;  Style  and  Title,  a ;  The 
Charter  Accepted,  b;  Mode  of  Electing  Trustees,  c;  Kules  of  Intercourse  between 
the  Trustees  and  the  Assembly,  d;  Adjustments  on  the  Reunion,  e 333 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

OF  ELECTING  AND  ORDAINING  RULING  ELDERS  AND  DEACONS. 

I.  The  Mode  in  which  Ecclesiastical  Eiders  should  be  Ordained  to  their  Offices 337 

II.  Riding  Elders  and  Beacons  to  be  Chosen  in  the  Mode  most  Approved,  and  in  use  in 
that  Congregation ;  Must  be  male  Members  in  Full  Communion.  1.  Elders  must  be 
duly  Elected  and  set  apart.  2.  The  Session  may  Propose  Names  to  the  Congrega- 
tion. 3.  A  Meeting  of  the  Congregation  to  Elect  Elders  can  be  called  only  by  the 
Session,  or  some  Higher  Court.  4.  The  Remedy,  if  the  Session  Refuse.  5.  A 
Superior  Judicature  authorizes  the  Meeting.  6.  Irregularity  of  the  Call  does  not 
necessarily  Invalidate  the  Election,  a;  nor  does  Irregularity  in  the  mode  of  Elec- 
tion Invalidate  the  Ordination,  b ;  Those  Elected  must  be  Members  in  Full  Com- 
munion with  that  Church,  a.  7.  Ministers  not  Eligible,  b;  Because  not  Members 
of  a  particular  Church,  c  ;  An  Exception  made  in  case  of  Foreign  Missionaries,  d. 
8.  Uniformity  in  the  Mode  of  Election  deemed  Impracticable.  9.  The  Mode  most 
Approved  and  in  Use  may  be  Changed  ;  There  should  be  a  Direct  Vote  of  the 
Congregation.  10.  A  Superior  Judicature  may  not  Interfere  with  the  Mode  in  use. 
11.  Who  are  Electors  of  Ruling  Elders  and  Deacons?  «,  Election  not  made  Void 
where  others  than  Communicants  Vote;  6,  Only  Baptized  Persons  may  Vote ;  c,  ami 
that  Communicants  only  Should  Vote  Advised  ;  d,  No  Distinction  to  be  made  as  to 
the  Age  of  the  Electors.  12.  Election  for  a  term  of  years;  a.  Declared  Irregular; 
b,  Overture  to  limit  the  Term  of  Service  Declined  ;  c,  d,  e.  Overture  to  make  the 
Office  Temporary  refused  ;  /,  Plan  Condemned.  13.  The  right  to  Elect  to  Serve  for 
a  Terra  of  Years  affirmed  ;  Judicial  Case ;  a.  History  of  the  Case ;  b,  Action  of  the 
Assembly  ;  c.  Minute  in  the  Case  ;  The  Office  Perpetual,  but  the  Time  of  its  Exer- 
cise Left  to  the  Decision  of  the  Church  itself;  d,  Dissent ;  e,  Answer  of  the  Assem- 
bly;  Limitation  of  the  Term  of  Service  Constitutional 337 

III.,  IV.  Upon  Acceptance  of  the  Election,  the  Mode  of  Ordination  and  Installation. 
V.  The  Existing  Session  to  give  the  Right  Hand  of  Fellouship.  1.  Mode  of  Ordina- 
tion ;  Laying  on  of  Hands  Approved,  a,  b,  c  ;  but  left  to  the  Discretion  of  tlie  Ses- 
sion. 2.  Ordination  Essential  to  the  Validity  of  the  Judicial  Acts  of  an  Elder. 
3.  Must  be  Installed  on  Resuming  Office.  4.  Order  of  Installing  an  Elder  already 
Ordained 346 


FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT.  19 

VI.  The  Office  of  Ruling  Elder  and  Deacon  Perpetual;    But  Either  may  Cease  to  Act. 

1.  Perpetuity  of  the  Office  Affirmed,  a,  h.  2.  Restoration  to  Church  Privileges 
does  not  Restore  to  the  Eldership.  3.  An  Elder  without  Charge  can  sit  in  no 
Church  Court 348 

VII.  Of  the  Way  in  which  an  Elder  Incapable  of  Serving  the  Church  to  Edification,  May 
be  Relieved  of  the  Functions  of  his  Office;  His  own  Consent  or  the  Action  of  the  Presby- 
tery must  be  had.     1.  Elders  who  cannot  obey  the  Superior  Court  should  Resign. 

2.  They  may  Resign  to  promote  the  Peace  of  the  Church.  3.  The  Superior  Court 
directs  to  cease  acting.  4.  A  Presbytery  may  direct  an  Elder  to  cease  to  act,  with- 
out a  request  from  the  Session.  5.  When  an  Elder  is  unacceptable  ;  the  Remedy,  to 
Memorialize  Presbytery.  6.  When  an  Elder  Resigns  Presbytery  may  not  order  his 
Restoration.  7.  The  Official  Relations  of  an  Elder  terminate  with  his  Dismission. 
8.  The  return  of  a  Letter,  unused,  Restores  to  Official  Position 349 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OF  LICENSING  CANDIDATES  OR  PROBATIONERS  TO  PREACH  THE  GOSPEL. 

I.  The  Scriptural  Requirements;  Reasons  for  Trial  of  Candidates;  Prcsbyterie^t  shcdl 
License.  1.  Preaching  without  Licensure  Condemned  as  Irregular,  a  ;  Disapproved 
of,  b.  2.  On  the  Licensing  and  Ordaining  of  Women,  a;  Deliverance  on  the  Sub- 
ject, b.  3.  Education  for  the  Ministry,  a.  The  Board  of  Education  Established  ; 
6,  Charter  of  the  Board ;  c.  The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  Established  ; 
d,  Charter  of  the  Committee.  4.  Boakd  of  Education  of  the  Reunited  Church. 
a,  Constitution  ;  b,  Act  of  Incorporation  ;  c,  Act  Authorizing  Transfer  of  Property 
of  Committee  to  the  Board  ;  d,  Rules  of  the  Board  of  Education 352 

II.  Candidates  to  be  under  care  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  they  naturally  belong  ;  Defined  ; 
Exceptions.  1.  The  Usage  of  the  Olden  Time.  2.  Going  Abroad  for  Licensure  Dis- 
approved of.  3.  Candidates  for  the  Ministry  should  be  placed  under  care  of  Pres- 
bytery ;  a,  Especially  in  their  Theological  Studies ;  6,  As  soon  as  Possible,  and 
Licensed,  Ordinarily  by  the  Presbytery  to  which  they  belong;  c.  The  Full  Term 
should  not  be  Shortened.  5.  No  Candidate  to  be  Received  until  he  has  been  a 
Communicant,  and  pursued  his  Classical  Studies  for  a  year.  6.  Candidates  must 
Connect  themselves  with  the  Presbytery  to  which  they  naturally  Belong 364 

III.  Literary  and  Moral  Qualifications  Demanded  ;  Must  be  a  Member  of  some  Particular 
Church,  and  give  satisfaction  as  to  Experience  and  Motives  ;  TeMimonicds  of  Scholarship. 
1.  A  liberal  Education  Required,  a,  b  ;  To  keep  pace  with  the  Progress  of  Society 
and  of  liCtters,  c.     2.  Letter  on  the  Thorough  Literary  Training  of  the  Ministry. 

3.  Liberal  Education  waived  in  certain  cases,  a ;  b.  Case  of  John  Gloucester,  4. 
Theological  Instruction  ;  «,  Overtures  for  the  Establishment  of  a  Theological 
School ;  b.  Plans  Proposed  ;  c,  Act  Establishing  the  Seminary  ;  d,  Agreement  with 
Trustees  of  College  of  New  Jersey,  e,  Terms  of  Agreement;  /,  Location  fixed  at 
Princeton.  5.  The  Seminaries  :  1.  Princeton ;  Plan  of  the  Seminary,  a  /  Rules 
for  Election  of  Directors,  b  ;  Rale  for  Electing  Professors,  c;  Plan  as  Amended  by 
the  Assembly  of  1870,  d  ;  Substitute  for  Art.  II.,  Sec.  1,  of  the  Plan.  6.  Report 
Detailing  the  Origin  of  the  Seminaries,  and  their  Relations  to  the  Assembly,  1870. 
3.  Auburn.  3.  Western  Theological  Seminary;  a.  Proposition  of  the  Assembly 
Accepted  ;  b,  Plan  of  the  Seminary  ;  c,  Change  of  Name  Authorized.  4.  Lane  ; 
The  Assembly's  Plan  Adopted.  5,  Union;  a,  Proposition  to  the  Assembly;  b, 
The  Proposal  Accepted  by  the  Assembly ;  c.  Memorial  of  the  Directors.  6.  Dan- 
ville. 7.  North-  Western,  a  ;  Plan  of  the  Seminary  Approved,  b.  8.  German  Theo- 
logical School,  Newark.  9.  German  Theological  School  of  the  North- West,  Dubuque. 
10.  Lincoln  University ;  Oversight  of  Theological  Department  Accepted.     U,  San 


20  SYLLABUS. 

Francisco.    IS.  Blackburn  University.    7.  Limitation  of  Time  within  which  the 
Election  of  a  Professor  may  be  Vetoed 396 

IV.  Candidates  to  be  Examined  in  Languages,  Arts  and  Sciences,  Theology,  History,  Sacra- 
ments and  Church  Government;  Parts  of  Trial 397 

V.  The  Presbytery  to  satisfy  itself  of  the  Candidates  Piety,  Literature  and  Aptness  to 
Teach.  Candidates  should  be  well  versed  in  the  Catechisms,  and  furnished  with 
Proof-texts 398 

VI.  Time  of  Study  of  Theology,  at  least  two  years.  1.  a.  Efforts  to  Extend  the  Term  ; 
b,  A  Rule  Requiring  three  years,  Unconstitutional ;  c,  Overture  sent  down,  but  not 
Adopted.  2.  Full  Term  of  three  years  urgently  Recommended,  a,  b,  c;  Licensure 
at  a  time  which  would  prevent  a  full  course,  Disapproved.  3.  A  Pledge  of  Three 
Years'  Study,  demanded  by  the  Board,  not  Unconstitutional 398 

VII.  The  Questions  to  be  Asked  of  the  Candidates 399 

VIII.  The  Form  of  Licensure.    A  "like form  "  may  be  used 400 

IX.  A  Candidate,  having  pursued  his  Course  Partially  in  one  Presbytery,  may  be  taken  up 
and  Licensed  by  Another 400 

X.  Testimonials  to  be  Furnished  when  a  Candidate  Removes  from  the  Bounds  of  his  Pres- 
bytery 400 

XI.  License  may  be  Recalled,  if  the  Services  of  the  Licentiate  appear  not  to  be  to  Edifica- 
tion of  the  Churches.  1.  License  Limited  to  Four  Years ;  Presbyteries  to  Endeavor 
to  open  the  way  for  the  Settlement  of  their  Candidates.  2.  The  above  Rule  does 
not  abridge  the  Power  of  the  Presbytery  to  License  in  Extraordinary  Cases.  3. 
Licentiates  belong  to  the  Laity,  and  are  Subject  to  the  Session  of  the  Church  to 
which  they  Belong ;  b.  But  may  Solemnize  Marriage,  where  the  Laws  Expressly 
Authorize  them  so  to  do 401 

CHAPTER  XV. 

OF  THE  ELECTION  AND  ORDINATION  OF  BISHOPS,  OR  PASTORS,  AND 

EVANGELISTS. 

I.  Order  of  Procedure  in  the  Election  of  a  Pastor ;  The  Session  to  Convene  the  Congre- 
gation. 1.  Steps  to  be  taken  by  a  Vacant  Congregation,  looking  to  the  Election  of 
a  Pastor 403 

II.  Session  to  Procure  a  Moderator,  unless  highly  Inconvenient 404 

III.  Notice  to  be  given  on  Sabbath,  from  the  Pulpit 404 

IV.  Mode  of  Procedure  in  the  Election  of  a  Pastor  ;  Who  are  Debarred  from  Voting,  a, 
Those  who  Refuse  to  Contribute  to  his  Support ;  b.  The  Right  of  Voting  not  to  be 
limited  to  Communicants,  unless  expressly  so  Limited  by  Charter ;  c.  Overture  to 
confine  the  vote  to  Communicants  not  Adopted 404 

V.  Steps  to  be  taken,  in  Case  of  a  Minority  Opposing 405 

VI.  Form  of  the  Call.  1.  Early  Action  in  the  Support  of  the  Ministry,  a;  Glebe  and 
Parsonage  recommended,  b.  2.  Adequate  provisions  urged,  a,  b.  3.  Liberality  urged 
in  Supporting  the  Ministry,  a,  b.  4.  Presbytery  may  Refuse  to  Instal,  when  the 
Salary  is  Insufficient.     5.  Congregations  urged  to  procure  Parsonages,  a,  b 405 

VIL  The  Call  may  be  Attested  by  a  Committee,  but  the  fact  of  its  being  Authorized  must 
be  Certified  to  Presbytery 409 

VIII.  The  Call  given  is  a  Petition  of  the  People  for  the  Installment  of  the  3Ii7iister ;  Ac- 
cepted, it  is  a  like  Request  on  his  part ;  A  Candidate  Ordained  on  a  Call,  shoidd  at  the 
Same  Time  be  Installed 409 


FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT.  21 

IX.  Tlie  Call  must  come  through  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  Candidate  belongs,  and  only 
through  the  Presbytery 409 

X.  How  a  Call  may  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Licentiate  of  another  Presbytery 409 

XI.  Trials fm-  Ordination;  In  what  the  Candidate  is  to  be  Examined;  A  Fast  before  the 
Ordination  Recommended.  1.  Ordination  on  the  Sabbath  discouraged,  but  at  the  Dis- 
cretion of  the  Presbytery 410 

XII.  Order  of  Exercises  in  OrdinoXion ;  Questions.  The  Assent  Embraces  the  Larger 
and  Sliorter  Catechisms 410 

XIII.  Questions  to  be  put  to  the  Congregation 411 

XIV.  The  Ordination,  by  Prayer  and  the  Laying  on  of  Hands;  the  Bight  Hand  of  Fd- 
loivship  ;  Record  to  be  made 412 

XV.  Ordination  of  an  Evangelist,  to  Preach,  Administer  Sealing  Ordinances  and  Organ- 
ise Churches  in  Destitute  Places.  1.  To  Ordain  Evangelists  to  labor  in  Feeble 
Churclies  is  Lawful  and  Right.  2.  Case  of  Ordination  of  one  who  proposes  to  con- 
tinue Teaching.  3.  Ordinations  by  Presbyteries  to  labor  in  the  Bounds  of  Other 
Presbyteries  Discountenanced.  4.  Ordination,  sine  titido,  a,  b,  c;  Request  Refused, 
d  ;  Granted,  e,  f  g,  h,  i.  5.  Overture  on,  Rejected,  a,  b.  6.  A  Censure  for  Ordina- 
nation,  sine  titulo,  not  Sustained 412 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

OF  TRANSLATION,  OR  REMOVING  A  MINISTER  FROM  ONE  CHARGE  TO 

ANOTHER. 

I.  No  Bishop  shall  be  Translated,  or  Beeeive  a  Call,  but  by  Permission  of  Presbytery.  1. 
Removal  without  Consent  of  Presbytery  Censured.  2.  The  Irregularity  Excused, 
but  Caution  Enjoined 41G 

II.  3fode  of  Proceeding  in  Calling  and  Translating  a  Settled  Pastor.  1.  Consent  of  the 
Parties  may  Shorten  the  Process 41G 

III.  Order  of  Procedure,  where  the  Minister  Called,  and  the  Congregation  Calling  him,  are 
in  Different  Presbyteries.  1.  The  Pastor  to  be  Installed  must  belong  to  the  same 
Presbytery  with  the  Church  over  which  he  is  Installed 417 

IV.  Listallment  may  be  by  Presbytery,  or  by  a  Committee ;  and  in  this  Orda': 418 

V.  On  the  Day  Appointed  and  Published 418 

VI.  When  the  Presbytery  has  met,  a  Sermon  shall  be  Preached,  and  the  Constitutional 
Questions  put  to  Both  Parties;  A  Charge  shall  be  given  to  Pastor  and  People 418 

VII.  The  Bight  Hand  of  Felloivship.  1.  A  Pastoral  Relation  without  Installment 
Recognized 418 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

OF  RESIGNING  A  PASTORAL  CHARGE. 

The  Steps  to  be  Taken  by  Either  Party  Desiring  to  be  Released.  1.  Whether  the  Rela- 
tion should  be  Dissolved  at  the  time  when  the  Request  is  made,  left  to  the  Discre- 
tion of  the  Presbytery.  2.  The  Rule  should  be  Rigidly  Enforced.  3.  Where  the 
Parties  are  Agreed,  the  Relation  may  be  Dissolved  at  the  First  ISIeeting.  4.  A 
Meeting  of  the  Congregation,  without  the  Pastor,  valid,  where  he  had  Requested 
the  Dissolution.  5.  A  Synod  Sustained  where  on  Appeal,  it  Dissolves  the  Relation, 
on  Petition  of  a  Minority 419 


22  SYLLABUS. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ON  MISSIONS. 

The  Duty  and  Poiver  of  the  Presbytery,  Synod  and  Assembly,  i.i  the  matter  of  Providing 
for  the  Supply  of  Vacancies.  1.  The  Standing  Committee  on  Missions  Appointed ; 
Enlarged.  2.  The  Board  of  Missions.  3.  Powers  Enlarged,  a,  b.  4.  Number  of 
Members 422 

I.  The  Boakd  of  Home  Missions  :  Its  Constitution,  a ;  Rules,  b  ;  Charter,  c ;  En- 
abling Act,  d 426 

II.  The  Boakd  of  Foreign  Missions.  1.  Constitution  of  the  Board.  2.  Altera- 
tions. 3.  The  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions.  4.  The  Organization  of  the  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  1870.  5.  Alterations  necessitated  by  Legislation.  6.  The 
Charter,  a,  6 430 

III.  The  Board  of  Education.    See  under  Chap.  XIV.,  Sec.  I.,  3 433 

IV.  The  Board  of  Publication.  1.  The  Board  Established.  2.  Alterations  and 
Enlargement  of  Plan,  a,  b.  3.  The  Publication  Committee ;  Its  Powers  and 
Duties,  a,  b,  c.  4.  Change  of  Name,  and  5,  Scope  Enlarged.  6.  The  Trustees  of 
the  Presbyterian  House  to  act  as  Trustees  for  the  Committee.  7.  The  Board  of 
Publication  Organized,  1870.  8.  The  Sabbath  School  Work  of  the  Board,  a,  b. 
9.  The  Charter  of  the  Board.     10.  Rules 433 

V.  The  Trustees  of  the  Church  Erection  Fund.  1.  The  Organization  in  1870. 
2.  The  Plan.     3.  The  Charter.     4.  The  By-Laws 442 

VI.  Relief  Fund  for  Disabled  Ministers  and  the  Widows  and  Orphans  op 
Deceased  Ministers,  a,  The  Plan  Adopted  by  the  Assembly,  O.  S. ;  b.  The  Plan 
of  the  Assembly,  N.  S.  1.  The  Plan  Adopted  1870.  2.  Rules  and  Mode  of  Distribu- 
tion    448 

VII.  The  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Missions  for  Frehdmen.  1.  The  Plan 
Adopted  in  1870.     2.  The  Rules 451 

VIII.  The  Sustentation  Fund.  1.  The  Scheme  Adopted  1870.  2.  Conditions  of 
Aid 452 

IX.  CoMivriTTEE  ON  BENEVOLENCE  AND  FINANCE.  1.  The  Plan  Adopted  in  1872. 
2.  The  Rules 455 

X.  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterloi  House.  1.  Act  of  Incorporation.  2. 
Charter  Accepted ;  Duties  of  the  Trustees,  3.  To  Act  as  Trustees  of  the  Publica- 
tion Committee,  4.  Declaration  of  Trust.  5.  Title  Executed  to  the  Board  of  Pub- 
lication,    6.  Trusts  Transferred.     7.  By-Laws  of  the  Board 456 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

OF  MODERATORS, 

I.  The  Necessity  of  a  Presiding  Officer 459 

II.  The  Authority  of  the  Moderator  and  his  Duties.  1.  The  Moderator  not  Necessarily 
a  Member  of  the  Judicatory 459 

III.  The  Moderator  to  be  Chosen  at  each  Session  of  Assembly  and  Synod,  and  by  Pres- 
bytery at  least  Annually 460 

CHAPTER  XX, 

OF  CLERKS, 

I.  The  Clerk  to  be  Chosen  to  Serve  During  the  Pleasure  of  the  Judicatory.  His  Duties. 
1.  The  Clerk  not  Necessarily  a  Member  of  the  Court 461 


BOOK   OF   DISCIPLINE.  23 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

OF  VACANT  CONGREGATIONS  ASSEMBLING  FOR  PUBLIC  WORSHIP. 

The  Importance  of  Weekly  Assevibling  of  God's  People ;  such  Assemblies  Encouraged  for 
Prayer,  Praise  and  Heading  the  Scriptures,  etc.,  and  that  Elders  and  Deacons  Preside. 

1.  Vacant  Congregations  Encouraged  to  Meet.  2.  Elders  to  be  Interrogated  as  to 
the  Observance  of  the  Rule.  3.  Eight  of  Ruling  Elders,  in  the  Absence  of  the 
Pastor,  to  Explain  the  Scri]3tures  and  Exhort 461 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

OF  COMMISSIONERS  TO  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

I.  Commissioners  to  be  Chosen  at  the  Stated  Meeting  of  the  Presbytery  next  before  the 
Meeting  of  the  Assembly,  unless  the  interval  be  too  short.  In  that  Case  they  may  be 
Chosen  at  any  Stated  Meeting  nst  more  than  Seven  Months  before;  Alternates  to  be 
Appointed.    1.  The  Rule  Relaxed  in  the  Case  of  Missionary  Presbyteries,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e. 

2.  Where  a  Presbytery  Failed  of  a  Quorum,  the  Assembly  Refused  to  Receive  a 
Commissioner,  a,  but  in  a  Similar  Case  of  a  Missionary  Presbytery  a  Commissioner 
was  Admitted,  on  Request  of  Individuals,  b,  c,  d.  3.  Commissioners  should  Attend 
to  the  Close  of  the  Sessions.  Presbyteries  to  Require  a  Report  on  this  Point,  a,  b. 
Presbyteries  Recommended  to  Appoint  only  those  who  are  Able  and  Willing  to 
Remain  to  the  Close,  c.  4.  Commissioners  from  New  Presbyteries,  a,  to  Furnish 
Evidence  of  the  Organization  of  their  Presbytery,  b.  5.  Commissioners,  not  Ruling 
Elders,  under  the  Plan  of  Union.  6.  A  Commissioner  having  taken  his  Seat  may 
not  Resign  to  his  Principal  or  Alternate.  7.  Rule  Dispensed  with,  under  Peculiar 
Circumstances,  a,  b,  c,  d 462 

II.  The  Form  of  Commission.  1.  Sundry  Irregularities  and  Defects  in  Commissions, 
but  the  Commissioners  Received,  a-l,  the  Usage.  2.  The  Assembly  will  not  go 
Behind  a  Commission 468 

III.  The  Expenses  of  Delegates  should  be  Borne  by  the  Bodies  which  they  Represent. 
1.  The  Commissioners'  Fund.     Former  Plans.     2.  During  the  Separation,  a,  b,  c. 

3.  The  Plan  as  Adopted  at  the  Reunion.  4.  Presbyteries  Enjoined  to  Secure  the 
Full  Quota.    Those  Delinquent  Censured 470 


BOOK  11. 
OF  DISCIPLINE. 


CHAPTER  I. 
GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  DISCIPLINE. 

I.  Discipline  the  Exercise  of  the  Authority,  and  Application  of  the  Laws  which  Christ  hath 
Appointed  in  his  Church 475 

II.  The  Exercise  of  Discipline  Necessary.  Its  Ends.  Removal  of  Offences.  Vindication 
of  Christ's  Honor.  Benefit  of  the  Offender.  1.  Prompt  Discipline  best  Fitted  to 
Secure  a  Happy  Issue 47o 

III.  An  Offence,  Defined.  Moral  Questions.  1.  Breach  of  Sabbath  Observance. 
Discipline  Enjoined.     2.  Theatrical    Exhibitions  and    Dancing  Condemned,  a. 


24  SYLLABUS. 

Dancing  a  Dangerous  Amusement,  and  to  be  Discouraged,  b.  Promiscuous  Dan- 
cing Calls  for  Faithful  and  Judicious  Discipline,  c.  Social  Dances  and  Private 
Theatricals  Condemned  by  the  139th  Question  of  the  Larger  Catechism,  d.  The 
Session  Competent  to  Decide  in  each  Case,  when  Discipline  is  Required,  e.  Tlie- 
atre-going  and  Card-pla^-ing  Discountenanced,  /.  An  Extended  Deliverance  on 
the  Opera,  the  Theatre,  the  Dance  and  Card-playing.  2.  Gambling,  Lotteries, 
Horse-racing,  Betting,  etc.,  Condemned,  a.  Lotteries  Immoral  in  their  Nature  and 
Ruinous  in  their  Efiects.  Dealing  in  them  to  be  Avoided,  even  where  the  Professed 
Object  is  Praiseworthy,  b.  3.  Dueling  a  Violation  of  the  Sixth  Commandment. 
Duelists  to  be  Excluded  from  Church  Privileges.  4.  Slavery  and  Slave-holding 
Utterly  Inconsistent  with  the  Law  of  God.  5.  Intemperance,  a,  b.  Abstinence 
Urged  from  the  Common  Use  of  Ardent  Spirits,  c,  d.  Day  of  Fasting  in  View  of. 
the  Evils  and  Sin  of  Drunkenness,  e.  6.  Entire  Abstinence  from  the  Use  of  Ardent 
Spirits,  «,  b,  c.  Wines  and  Fermented  Liquors,  d.  Entire  Abstinence  from  all  that 
can  Intoxicate,  e,  f.  7.  Manufacture  of  and  Traffic  in  Ardent  Spirits,  a,  b,  c. 
Deeply  Deplored,  but  may  not  be  made  a  Terra  of  Communion,  d.  8.  The  Manu- 
facture and  Sale  of  Intoxicating  Drinks  an  OfTence.  9.  Prohibitory  Laws  Endorsed, 
a,  b.  10.  Relation  of  Temperance  and  other  Moral  Societies  to  the  Church,  a,  b. 
11.  Authority  of  the  Deliverances  on  Temperance.  12.  Willful  Absenting  One's 
Self  from  the  Ordinances  of  God's  House  an  Offence,  a.  Case  of  Alexander 
Frazer,  b.  Case  of  Alexander  Gordon,  c.  Case  of  Mr.  Rowland,  d.  Discipline 
Enjoined,  e,  but  may  not  be  without  Trial.  13.  Deliverance  on  3Iarriage,  Divorce 
and  Infanticide 475 

IV.  Nothing  to  be  Judicially  Counted  an  Offence  which  cannot  be  Proven  snch  by  Scripture, 
a,  New  Terms  of  Communion  will  not  be  sustained,  b,  Where  Conduct  is  Disap- 
proved Generally,  each  Case  must  be  Judged  by  its  own  Circumstances 495 

V.  Exercise  of  Discipline  Calls  for  Great  Wisdom  and  Prudence  in  Adapting  the  means 
to  the  End  in  View.  1.  The  Censure  must  be  Proportioned  to  the  Offence,  a.  Case 
of  Jabez  Spicer,  6.  Case  of  George  Browne ;  Sentence  Reversed  and  New  Trial 
Ordered,  c.  Case  of  David  Price,  d.  Session  Recommended  to  Revoke  its  Sentence 
and  Admonish.     2.  Great  Tenderness  Enjoined  upon  the  Lower  Courts 495 

VI.  All  BapLlzed  Persons  Subject  to  the  Discipline  of  the  Church 497 

VII.  Offences,  either  Public  or  Private 497 

CHAPTER  II. 

OF  PRIVATE  OFFENCES. 

I.  Private  Offences  Defined 497 

II.  Such  should  not  be  Immediately  Prosecuted  before  the  Courts  of  the  Church 497 

III.  Complaint  shall  be  Entertained  only  ivhen  Private  Means  have  Failed.  1.  In  Actual 
Process  no  Testimony  may  be  Introduced  Injurious  to  Parties  not  on  Trial 497 

IV.  Those  ivho  bring  Information  of  Private  Injuries  without  having  taken  these  Previous 
Steps  to  be  Censured 498 

V.  2'o  Spread  the  Knowledge  of  an  Offence,  except  in  the  Way  of  Duty,  is  Slander,  a,  b.  498 

CHAPTER  III. 

OF  PUBLIC  OFFENCES. 

I.  A  Public  Offence,  such  as  Bequires  Notice  of  a  Judicatory 499 

II.  The  Cases  Defined.  Notorious  and  Scandalous,  and  Incapable  of  Removal,  but  by 
Judicial  Action 499 


BOOK   OF   DISCIPLmE.  25 

III.  Offences  not  always  to  be  Prosecuted.     Failure  of  Proof  Weakens  Authority 499 

IV.  In  Case  of  Common  Fame,  the  Steps  Necessary  in  Private  Offences  need  not  be 
Taken 499 

V.  What  Benders  it  Proper  that  a  Judicatory  should  take  Notice  of  an  Offence  on  Fama 
Clamosa 499 

VI.  The  Party  Slandered  may  Bequest  a  Judicial  Investigation,  which  the  Judicature 
shall  Institute 499 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  ACTUAL  PROCESS. 

I.  All  other  Means  Failing,  the  Proper  Court  shall  take  Judicial  Cognizance  of  the  Offence. 
1.  Judicial  Cases  should  be  Continued  without  Interruption 500 

II.  Two  Modes  of  Bringing  an  Offence  before  the  Court :  by  Individual  Accusers,  or  by 
Common  Fame 500 

III.  In  the  Former  Case,  Process  is  in  the  Name  of  the  Accuser.  In  the  Latter,  no  Accuser 
is  Named 500 

IV.  Great  Caution  to  be  u^ed  in  Beceiving  Accusations  from  those  of  Malignant  Spirit, 
Bad  Character,  under  Process,  Interested  in  Convicting,  or  Litigious  and  Bash.  1.  Ad- 
monition to  Prosecutors 500 

V.  What  may  be  done  at  the  First  Meeting  of  the  Judicatory.  1.  Censure  without  Trial 
is  Informal,  a,  b.  2.  A  Judicatory  may  not  Suspend  without  Trial.  3.  Nor  Cen- 
sure an  Absent  Person  without  Citing  him.  4.  Exclusion  may  not  be  without 
Trial 501 

VI.  Citations,  how  Issued  and  Authenticated.  Citations  to  be  Issued  for  Witnesses  for 
Defence 502 

VII.  The  Accused  is  not  Bequired  to  give  Notice  of  the  Witnesses  he  Intends  to  bring 
Forward.  1.  He  may  not  be  Required  to  State  what  he  Expects  to  Prove  by  his 
Witnesses 502 

VIII.  Time,  Place  and  Circumstances  should  be  Definitely  Stated  in  Making  Charges. 
1.  The  Charges  should  be  Specific,  a,  Especially  in  Cases  of  Heresy,  b,  c 502 

IX.  The  Judicatory  may  Proceed  by  Way  of  Conference  with  the  Accused 503 

^.  If  a  Citation  be  Disregarded,  a  Second  shall  be  Issued,  and  on  Befusal  the  Becusant  to 
be  Excluded  for  Contwmtcy  until  he  Bepent.  1.  Contumacy  is  not  to  be  Hastily 
Inferred.  Case  of  Craighead.  2,  Proceedings  in  Case  of  Contumacy.  3.  The 
Contumacious  Restored  on  Submission 503 

XI.  If  the  Person  Cited  shall  Declare  his  Befusal  to  Obey,  he  shall  yet  be  Cited  again. 
1.  Contumacy  is  not  to  be  Charged  on  a  First  Citation.  2.  If  the  Accused  Plead 
Guilty,  the  Forms  of  Process  may  not  be  Dispensed  with,  a.  If  he  Confess  Judg- 
ment, the  Process  may  be  Shortened,  but  not  Dispensed  with,  b 504 

XL  The  Time  in  First  Citation  must  be  at  least  Ten  Days.  In  Subsequent  Citations  at 
the  Discretion  of  the  Court 505 

XIII.  Second  Citation  to  be  Accompanied  with  Notice  that  on  Non-appearance  the  Cited 
will  be  Censured  for  Contumacy,  and  the  Court  tcill  Proceed  as  if  he  were  Present.  1.  In 
the  Absence  of  the  Accused,  Counsel  must  be  Assigned.  2.  Order  of  Proceeding 
in  Case  of  Contumacy,  a,  when  the  Judicature  has  Taken  the  Testimony  as  above. 

It  may  Proceed  to  Pass  Judgment  thereon,  as  if  he  were  Present 505 

4 


26  SYLLABUS. 

XIV.  TJie  Court  should  Ascertain  that  their  Citations  have  been  duly  Served  before  PrO' 
ceedincj  to  Judgment 510 

XV.  The  Trial  must  be  Fair  and  Impartial.  1.  Censure  may  not  be  Inflicted  without 
a  Trial,  a,  b 5X0 

XVI.  Judgment  shall  be  Entered  on  the  Records  of  the  Judicatory.  Parties  Entitled  to 
Copies.  In  Appeals,  etc.,  the  Judicature  shall  Send  up  Authentic  Copies  of  the  whole 
Process.  1.  Appellant  Entitled  to  a  Copy  of  the  Sentence.  2.  What  is  an  Authentic 
Copy.  A  Copy  made  by  Appellant  not  Sufficient,  a.  To  be  under  the  Hand  of 
the  Clerk,  b.  3.  The  Case  Remanded  when  the  Courts  below  Eefuse  to  Send  up  the 
Documents,  a,  b.    All  the  Documents  in  the  Case  Required,  c 511 

XVII.  What  Censure  is  to  be  Inflicted  on  the  Guilty.  1.  Censure  not  to  be  Removed 
without  Evidence  of  Repentance 512 

XVIII.  Suspension  from  Privileges  Pending  Trial.  1.  The  Accused  may  be  Suspended 
from  the  Exercise  of  Ministerial  Functions  Pending  the  Issue  of  his  Case 513 

XIX.  Sentence  Ordinarily  to  be  Published  only  in  the  Church  in  which  the  Offence  was 
Committed,  or  it  may  be  only  in  the  Judicatory 513 

XX.  The  Incorrigible  are  to  be  Excommunicated 513 

XXI.  No  Professional  Counsel  Allowed.  But  a  Member  of  the  Judicature  may  Aid. 
Those  Acting  as  Counsel  may  not  Sit  as  Members  of  the  Judicatwy.  1.  No  one  not  a 
Member  of  the  Judicatory  may  Act  as  Counsel.  2.  Professional  Counsel  in  all 
Cases  Excluded.  3.  One  Acting  as  Counsel  may  Speak  in  any  Discussion  on  the 
Adoption  of  a  Minute  in  the  Case.  4.  Counsel  Assigned  by  Request  of  Parties,  a,  b. 
Assigned  by  the  Court,  c 513 

XXII.  Questions  of  Order  to  be  Determined  by  the  Moderator,  Appeal  from  his  Decision 
without  Debate 514 

XXIII.  Peasonsfor  all  Decisions,  except  XXII.,  to  be  Recorded  at  Length.  And  noth- 
ing but  what  the  Record  Shows  may  be  Considered  on  Review  of  Proceedings.  1.  Rea- 
sons for  Decisions  must  be  Recorded  in  Full,  a,  b,  c,  and  must  be  Satisfactory,  d. 
Case  Ordered  to  a  New  Trial  for  Failure  to  Record  Reasons  for  a  Decision,  e. 
2.  All  Testimony  before  the  Court  should  be  Engrossed  on  the  Book  of  Permanent 
Records,  a.  But  Filing  the  Testimony  Declared  to  be  SufBcient,  b.  3.  Testimony 
not  on  Record  Admitted  by  Consent,  a,  b.  4.  Records  should  Contain  the  Results 
of  Interloquiturs  in  a  Case,  a,  also  the  Report  of  the  Judicial  Committee  on 
the  Case,  b 515 


CHAPTER  V. 
OF  PROCESS  AGAINST  A  BISHOP  OR  MINISTER. 

I.  The  Presbytery  Jealo^isly  to  Ghiard  the  Conduct  of  all  its  Members,  but  Neither  to 
Screen  Offences  nor  Lightly  to  Receive  Charges 517 

II.  Process  against  a  Minister  must  be  Entered  in  his  mvn  Presbytery.  The  Principles 
Laid  down  in  Chap.  IV.  Apply  to  Ministers.  1.  Discipline  of  a  Minister  by  Another 
than  his  own  Presbytery  not  Permitted.  2.  Even  when  Non-resident,  a,  Nor  does 
Difficulty  of  Process  Relieve  the  Presbytery  of  Responsibility,  b,  Discipline  by 
Boards  of  Missions  not  Recognized,  c.  The  Board  may  Exercise  Discretion  as  to 
Appointment.  3.  On  Petition  for  Restoration,  the  Case  Transferred  to  the  Presby- 
tei-y  within  which  the  Respondent  Resides,  a,  6 517 


BOOK    OF    DISCIPLINE.  27 

III.  If  the  Fads  Charged  happened  within  the  Bounds  of  Another  Presbytery,  that  Pres- 
bytery may  Cite  the  Witnesses  or  take  the  Testimony.  1.  A  Suspended  Licentiate  can 
be  Restored  only  by  the  Presbytery  which  Suspended  him;  Another  may  take  the 
Testimony.    2.  Such  Presbytery  may  take  the  Testimony,  but  not  try  the  Case...  519 

IV.  The  Presbytery  ivithin  whose  Pounds  an  Offence  is  Committed  shall  Notify  the  Pres- 
bytery to  xchich  the  Accused  Belongs  of  the  Fact.  Testimony  may  be  taken  by  Either 
Presbytery.  1.  The  Presbytery  within  whose  Bounds  an  Offence  is  Committed  has 
Performed  its  Duty  when  it  Informs  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  Offender  belongs 
of  the  Allegations  and  the  Grounds  of  them 520 

V.  Process  shall  not  be  Commenced  without  a  Prosecutor,  unless  the  Scandal  be  of  Common 
Fame.  1.  An  Action  based  on  Common  Fame,  Sustained.  Informalities  before 
Trial  Waived  by  Act  of  the  Accused 521 

VI.  If  a  Minister  is  known  to  be  Guilty  of  a  Private,  Censurable  Fault,  he  is  to  be  Warned 
in  Private.  If  he  Persists,  Advice  is  to  be  Taken.  1.  The  Character  of  the  Absent 
may  not  be  Impeached  in  Discussion 521 

VII.  The  Prosecutor,  Failing  to  Prove  his  Charges,  to  be  held  Guilty  of  Slander.  1.  Failure 
to  Prove  Charges  Incurs  the  Censure  of  Slander.  2.  The  Character  of  the  Absent 
is  not  to  be  Involved,  and  Scandalous  Assertions  will  not  be  Admitted  unless  under 
Charges  Tabled.  3.  The  Sentence  for  Slander  must  be  Inflicted  only  after  the 
Trial 522 

VIII.  Complaint  must  be  in  Writing.  Nothing  may  be  done  at  the  First  Meeting,  but  to  give 
a  Copy  of  Charges  and  Names  of  Witnesses,  and  Cite  the  Parties 524 

IX.  Suspension  Pending  Process,  Discretionary.  1.  Suspension  from  the  Ministry  dur- 
ing Process,  a,  b.     2.  Suspension  from  Privileges  of  Membership,  a,  b 52-4 

X.  At  the  Next  Meeting  the  Accused  shall  be  Called  to  Plead,  if  he  Confess,  and  the  Matter 
is  Flagitious,  the  Presbytery  inust  Proceed  to  Suspend  or  Depose 525 

XI.  On  Refusing  a  Second  Citation,  he  shall  be  Suspended,  and  on  the  Third,  Deposed  as 
Contumacious 525 

XII.  If  he  Plead  not  Guilty,  the  Presbytery  shall  Act  According  to  the  Testimony  in  the 
Case 525 

XIII.  In  Charges  of  Heresy,  the  Presbytery  to  Judge  Carefully  as  to  the  Nature  and  Tend- 
ency of  the  Errors,  and  Act  Accordingly 525 

XIV.  A  Minister  Charged  ivith  Heresy  should  be  treated  Tenderly.  Dangerous  Errors 
may  Demand  Suspension 525 

XV.  If  the  Offence  Charged  be  of  Infirmity  and  Amendable,  Prudent  Measures  are  to  be 
used  to  Remove  the  Offence 525 

XVI.  Hasty  Restoration  of  the  Deposed  to  be  Avoided,  nor  should  it  be,  until  Demanded 
by  the  Sentiments  of  the  Religious  Public.  1.  Caution  Enjoined  in  Restoring  a  Min- 
ister. Case  of  A.  C.  Collins,  a,  b.  2.  A  Presbytery  other  than  that  which  Deposed, 
Authorized  to  Restore.  Case  of  George  Bourne.  3.  The  Assembly  on  Memorial 
Advises  Restoration,  the  end  of  Discipline  being  Gained.  Case  of  A.  McQueen. 
4.  Deposition  does  not  Necessarily  Infer  Excommunication,  a.  When  both  are 
Intended,  it  should  be  Explicitly  so  Stated,  b.  5.  A  Suspended  Minister  may  not 
Exercise  any  Functions  of  the  Ministry.  6.  He  does  not  Rank  as  a  Common 
Christian  in  Good  Standing.  7.  The  Names  of  Deposed  Ministers  to  be  Published 
if  they  Attempt  to  Exercise  any  Function  of  the  Ministry 526 

XVII.  When  a  Minister  is  Deposed,  his  Church  is  to  be  Declared  Vacant 523 


28  SYLLABUS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
OF  WITNESSES. 

I.  All  Persons  not  Competent  as  Witnesses,  and  all  Witnesses  not  Credible ;  Impartiality 
Demanded 528 

II.  A  Competent  Witness  Defined.  Things  that  Affect  his  Competency.  1.  A  Prosecutor 
in  any  Case  is  not  Excluded  from  Bearing  Testimony  in  that  Case 528 

III.  Either  Parly  may  Challenge  a  Witness;  the  Judicatory  must  Hear  and  Decide...  529 

IV.  The  Credibility  of  a  Witness,  How  Affected,  1.  A  Husband  or  Wife  may  be 
Allowed  to  Testify  where  Either  is  Interested 529 

V.  A  Husband  or  Wife  shall  not  be  Compelled  to  Testify  against  each  other 529 

VI.  The  Testimony  of  more  than  one  Witness  Necessary  to  Convict,  but  Several  Witnesses 
to  Similar  Acts  may  Establish  a  Cliarge 529 

VII.  Witnesses  must  be  Excluded,  unless  by  Consent  of  Parties 529 

VIII.  Order  of  Examination  of  Witnesses ;  No  Question  Allowed,  but  by  Permission  of 
the  Moderator 530 

IX.  Form  of  the  Oath  or  Affirmation.  1.  The  Authority  for  Administering  a  Judicial 
Oath.     2.  Testimony  should  be  under  Oath  and  on  Record 530 

X.  Questions  must  be  Reduced  to  Writing,  and  Answers  Recorded,  if  so  Desired  by  Either 
Party 531 

XI.  2%e  Records  of  a  Judicatory  Regularly  Authenticated,  shall  be  Good  Evidence  in  any 
other.  1.  Testimony  Attested  by  Moderator  and  Clerk  Valid  in  References  as  in 
Appeals 531 

XII.  Testimony  Taken  by  one  Judicatory  and  Certified,  shall  be  Valid  in  any  other...  531 

XIII.  Testimony  Taken  by  a  Commission 531 

XIV.  Both  Parties  may  Comment  upon  the  Testimony 531 

XV.  A  Member  of  the  Court  may  be  Called  to  Testify  and  then  Resume  his  Seat.  1.  Re- 
fusal to  Testify  would  Subject  him  to  Censure  for  Contumacy 531 

XVI.  A  Member  of  the  Church  Refusing  to  Obey  Citation  or  to  Testify,  to  be  Censured  for 
Contumacy.    1.  A  Minister  Cited  to  Testify  before  the  Session,  must  Obey 532 

XVII.  Testimony  must  be  Faithfully  Recorded,  and  Read  to  the  Witnesses  for  their  Ap- 
proval   532 

CHAPTER  VII. 

OF  THE  VARIOUS  "WAYS  IN  WHICH  A  CAUSE  MAY  BE  CARRIED  FROM  A 
LOWER  JUDICATORY  TO  A  HIGHER. 

I.  The  Design  of  Courts  of  Appeal ;  the  Whole  Church  Sits  in  Judgment  upon  the  Acts 
of  a  Part 532 

II.  Every  Kind  of  Decision  of  any  Judicatory,  except  the  Highest,  Subject  to  the  Review 
of  a  Superior.  1.  The  Assembly  may  not  Reverse  the  Judicial  Acts  of  a  Prede- 
cessor, unless  Error  is  Shown,  a.  The  Assembly,  however,  may  Review  the  Course 
of  a  Predecessor,  b.  But  may  not  Revise  its  Proceedings,  c.  2.  If  Error  is  Shown 
to  Exist,  the  Assembly  will  Correct  it.  3.  The  Assembly  will  Adhere  to  the  Rule 
Above 532 


BOOK   OF   DISCIPLINE.  29 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Section  I. 

GENERAL  REVIEW  AND  CONTROL. 

I.  The  Superior  Judicatories  must  Review  the  Records  of  the  Inferior  at  least  Annually. 
1.  Annual  Review  Kequired  and  Enforced,  a,  b,  c,  d.  2.  Minutes  once  Approved 
can  be  Corrected  only  by  Recurrence  to  the  Highest  Court  which  has  Endorsed  the 
Mistake.  3.  Records  of  Meetings  just  held  may  be  Demanded  for  Review.  4. 
Copies  of  Originals  Accepted  only  in  Extraordinary  Cases,  a,  b,  c.  5.  Members  of 
a  Judicatory  may  not  Vote  upon  Review  of  their  own  Records,  a,  b 534 

II.  The  Review  is  to  Ascertain  whether  the  Proceedings  have  been — 1.  Constitutional  and 
Regular;  2.  Wise,  Equitable  and  for  Edification ;  3.  Correctly  Recorded.  1.  Uncon- 
stitutional and  Irregular,  a,  6,  c.  A  Synod  may  not  Initiate  Judicial  Proceedings 
against  a  Minister 536 

in.  If  Censure  is  Passed,  it  shoidd  be  Recorded  in  the  Booh  Reviewed.  If  Irregularity  be 
Found,  the  Judicature  may  be  Required  to  Correct  its  Proceedings.  1.  The  Records 
must  be  Full ;  Reasons  for  Decisions  must  be  given,  a,  b,  and  must  be  Satisfactory, 
c.  The  Subject-matter  of  the  Decision  must  be  Stated,  d,  e.  2.  Exceptions  taken 
by  a  Court  of  Review  must  be  Recorded  on  its  own  Minutes,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e.  3.  The 
Lower  Courts  must  Respect  the  Decisions  of  the  Superior,  a,  b.  4.  A  Synod  is 
Censured  for  Failure  to  make  a  Deliverance.  5.  Censured  for  Insubordination, 
a,i,c 537 

IV.  A  Judicial  Decision  may  not  be  Reversed  on  Review,  a,  b 540 

V.  Where  it  Appears  by  Common  Fame  that  an  Inferior  Judicatory  has  been  Guilty  of 
Neglect,  etc.,  not  shown  by  the  Record,  the  Superior  Court  is  to  Proceed  as  if  by  Review. 
Illustrations  of  the  Principle,  a,  b 540 

VI.  In  Case  of  Delinquency,  etc.,  the  Superior  Judicatory  is  to  Cite  the  Judicatory  Offend- 
ing, and  Remit  the  Matter  to  it  for  Proper  Action.  1.  Citation  of  Judicatories  on 
Review  or  on  Common  Fame,  a,  b 541 

CHAPTER  VIL 

Section  II. 
OP  REFERENCES. 

I.  Reference  Defined;  It  should  be  always  in  Writing.  1.  The  Right  to  Petition  and  to 
Memorialize  the  Assembly  Affirmed,  a,  b.  2.  One  who  does  not  Submit  is  De- 
barred   542 

II.  Cases  in  which  Reference  is  Proper  Stated.  Instance  of  References  Received,  a,  b, 
c,d,e,f 543 

III.  References  are  for  Advice  or  for  Trial,  a,  b 544 

IV.  Reference  for  Advice  Suspends  the  Decision;  Reference  for  Trial  Remits  the  whole 
Case  to  the  Decision  of  the  Court  Above;  an  Example  of  the  Latter 544 

V.  Reference  Discouraged.     Each  Cowt  shoidd  Meet  its  own  Responsibilities 545 

VI.  The  Court  Above  not  Obliged  to  Ansmer  a  Reference,  but  may  Remit  the  Cause  with  or 
without  Advice,  a 545 


30  SYLLABUS. 

VII.  In  Case  of  Reference,  the  Members  of  the  Court  Referring  Retain  all  their  Rights  of 
Deliberating  and  Voting 546 

VIII.  References  Generally  to  be  Carried  to  the  next  Higher  Court,  1.  Reference  Directly 
to  the  Assembly  from  a  Presbytery,  a,  b,  c,  d 546 

IX.  The  Judicatory  Referring  should  have  the  Case  Fully  Prepared  for  Issuing  without 
Delay.  1.  Testimony  under  Signature  of  the  Moderator  and  Clerk  is  Duly  Authen- 
ticated.    2.  The  Judicatory  Referred  to  may  itself  take  the  Testimony 547 

X.  References  to  the  Assembly  may  be  made  for  Advice  or  for  Construction  of  Lav:,  but  not 
for  Judicial  Trial.  Bills  and  Overtures  to  be  Received  only  from  Synods  and 
Presbyteries • 547 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Section  III. 
OF  APPEALS. 

I.  An  Appeal  Defined.  Distinction  between  Appeal  and  Complaint.  1.  Death  of 
Respondent  Bars  an  Appeal.     2.  Appeals  Limited  to  Judicial  Cases 548 

II.  The  Parties  tcho  may  bring  an  Appeal 548 

III.  The  Causes  for  which  an  Appeal  may  be  Taken.     1.  For  Refusing  to  Permit  a  Call, 

a,  b.  2.  Against  a  Refusal  to  Obey  the  Superior  Court.  3.  For  Refusing  to  Receive 
an  Applicant.  4.  Against  an  Order  of  the  Superior  Court,  a,  b,  c,  5.  An  Appeal 
will  not  lie  against  a  Judicatory  for  Obeying  a  Superior  Court.  6.  Appeal  Dis- 
missed for  want  of  Evidence  to  Sustain  the  Allegations.  7.  Appeal  will  not  lie 
against  a  Refusal  to  Adopt  a  Paper,  or  to  Determine  a  Question  in  thesi.  8.  Nor 
when  the  Court  Acts  within  the  Limits  of  its  Authority.  9.  Nor  when  the  Action 
below  was  Regular  and  Equitable 548 

rV.  Appeals  may  be  from  Part  of  the  Proceedings,  or  from  a  Definitive  Sentence 552 

V.  Notice  of  Appeal,  with  Reasons,  to  be  given  within  Ten  Days  after  the  Adjournment, 
1.  The  Rule  must  be  Complied  with  or  the  Appeal  Dismissed,  a,  b,  c.  2.  Evidence 
Required  that  Notice  has  been  given.  A  Synod  Censured  for  Issuing  an  Appeal 
without  Notice  given,  a.  The  Judicial  Committee  must  have  Evidence  of  Notice 
given,  b.  3.  "Where  a  New  Trial  is  Granted  by  the  Superior  Court,  the  Appellant 
must  give  Notice  of  his  Intent.  4.  If  the  Court  Fail  to  Receive  the  Notice,  the 
Appellant  is  not  Barred.  5.  Leave  given  to  show  that  Notice  has  been  given. 
6.  On  Evidence  of  Notice  the  Case  Reinstated 552 

VI.  Appeals  Generally  to  be  Carried  by  Regular  Steps  from  the  Lower  to  the  Higher 
Courts.  1.  Appeals  may  be  Carried  Directly  to  the  Assembly,  a,  b,  c.  Principle 
Guiding  in  the  Case.  2.  Appeals  Dismissed,  because  not  first  brought  in  tlie  Lower 
Courts,  a,  b.  No  Reason  having  been  Assigned,  c,  d,  e.  The  Appeal  having  first 
been  taken  to  the  Synod,/.  Leave  given  to  Withdraw,  g,  h,  i.  3.  Where  there  is 
no  Common  Relation,  the  Appeal  Allowed 555 

VII.  The  Appeal  and  Reasons  must  be  Lodged  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Higher  Court  before 
the  Close  of  the  Second  Day.  1.  The  Appellant  must  Furnish  the  Necessary  Docu- 
ments, a,  b.  Debarred  as  not  being  within  the  Constitutional  Time,  c.  2.  Deferred 
in  the  Absence  of  Necessary  Documents.     3.  Dismissed  as  not  Lodged  in  Time,  a, 

b,  c,  d.  4.  Ignorance  of  the  Rule  Plead,  the  Case  Entertained.  5.  The  Rule  Lib- 
erally Interpreted  where  Due  Diligence  has  been  used.    6.  In  the  Absence  of 


BOOK   OF   DISCIPLINE.  SI 

Records,  through  the  Non-attendance  of  a  Commissioner,  the  Appeal  Entered  and 
Referred.  7.  Through  Mistake  the  Appellant  Fails  to  be  in  Time,  the  Appeal  is 
Received  and  Referred 557 

VIII.  Order  of  Taking  up  an  Appeal  or  Complaint:  First,  To  Read  the  Sentence; 
Second,  The  Reasons  Assigned  for  the  Appeal;  Third,  The  whole  Record  of  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Inferior  Judicatories;  Fourth,  To  Hear  the  Original  Parties;  Fifth,  To 
Hear  the  Inferior  Judicatories  in  Defence,  1.  In  the  Absence  of  the  Records  the 
Decision  should  be  Suspended.  2.  The  Reading  of  the  Documents  Dispensed  with 
by  Consent.  3.  The  Hearing  of  a  Voluminous  Case  Declined,  and  the  Case  Arrested 
by  the  Assembly  without  Further  Trial.  4.  Matters  Foreign  to  the  Issue  Omitted 
by  Consent,  a,b.  5.  Documents  not  Read  may  be  used  in  Pleading;  the  Appellant 
the  only  Original  Party  in  a  Case  under  Common  Fame.  6.  Case  Remanded  for  a 
New  Trial,  because  the  Original  Parties  were  not  Heard.  7.  Case  Issued  where  no 
Person  Appears  on  Behalf  of  the  Respondent.  8.  Reasons  Assigned  by  an  Appel- 
lant must  be  Recorded,  and  must  be  Respectful  in  Language.  9.  Commission  Ap- 
pointed by  Consent  with  Power.  Case  of  Mrs.  Maria  Hill  vs.  The  Synod  of  Albany, 
a.  Case  of  Seventh  Church  and  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  vs.  The  Synod  of  Cincin- 
nati, b.  Appeal  of  Lewis  R.  Lockwood  vs.  The  Synod  of  Iowa,  c.  Appeal  of 
the  Church  of  Mifflinsburg  vs.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  d,  e 560 

IX.  After  Fidl  Hearing  the  Parties  shall  Withdraw,  the  Roll  be  Called  for  the  Expi-ession 
of  Opinions  and  the  Final  Vote  be  Taken.  1.  The  Withdrawal  to  be  Construed 
Literally,  a,  b,  c,  d.  2.  An  Opposite  Construction.  3.  Calling  the  Roll  for  Expres- 
sion of  Opinions.  Opinions  to  be  given  without  Reasons,  a.  Omission  of  the 
Roll  Call  Censured,  b,  but  may  be  Dispensed  with  by  Vote,  c.  4.  The  Final  Vote 
must  be  Taken.     5.  It  is  Taken  Separately  on  each  Charge 566 

X.  The  Decision  may  Either  Confirm  or  Reverse  in  Whole  or  in  Part,  or  Remit  to  Amend 
the  Record  or  to  try  Anew 567 

1.  The  Decision  may  Confirm  the  Decision  of  the  Loiver  Court.  1.  See  Cases  Cited,  a,  b, 
c,  d,  e,f.  2.  In  Confirming  a  Decision  the  Assembly  Limits  the  Time  within  which 
a  New  Trial  may  be  had.  3.  Confirmed  because  Alleged  New  Testimony  is  In- 
sufficient   567 

2.  The  Decision  may  Reverse  the  Lower  Courts.  4.  Reversed  on  Review  of  Testimony 
5.  No  Reason  Assigned.  6.  Reversed  because  of  Disproportionate  Sentence,  a,  b,  c. 
7.  Reversal  for  Undue  Severity  does  not  Determine  the  Innocence  of  the  Accused, 
nor  Relieve  from  other  Process.  8.  A  Synod  is  Reversed  as  in  Error  for  Prescribing 
a  Form  of  Certificate.  9.  Reversed  because  of  Unconstitutional  Action.  10.  Where 
Sentence  is  Reversed  for  Irregularity,  either  Party  may  begin  a  New  Trial  within  a 
Time  Limited.  11.  For  Haste  and  Irregularity.  12.  Sentence  Reversed,  and  the 
Appellant  Declared  in  Good  Standing.  13.  The  Acts  of  the  Lower  Courts  Declared 
Void,  a,  b,  c.     14.  The  Reversal  Annuls  the  Acts  Complained  of,  a,  b 568 

3.  The  Decision  may  Confirm  or  Reverse  in  Part.  15.  Reversed  in  Part  on  the  Ground 
of  Irregularity;  Sustained  in  Part;  the  Judicatory  may  not  Inflict  a  New  Sentence 
witliout  New  Trial,  a,  nor  Remove  all  Censure  where  Rebuke  is  Demanded,  6. 
16.  Irregularity  does  not  Necessarily  Invalidate.  17.  Sustained  in  Part;  Reversed 
in  Part,  a,  b;  Minute  in  the  Case;  Eflfect  of  the  Vote  to  Sustain  in  Part,  18.  The 
Decision  Censures  Irregular  Action,  and  Prescribes  the  Steps  which  should  have 
been  Taken.  19.  The  Decision  finds  Error  in  the  Courts  below ;  a  Presbytery  may 
not  Unduly  Direct  a  Session  ;  A  Synod  may  not  Refuse  an  Appeal  from  a  Party 
Aggrieved 572 

4.  The  Decision  may  Remit  the  Case  to  the  Court  below.    20.  For  Reconsideration. 


32  SYLLABUS. 

21.  Judgment  Reversed,  and  Case  Eemitted  on  Grounds  Stated.  22.  Referred 
Back  with  Instructions.  23.  The  Decision  Details  the  Irregularities  of  the  Ck>urt3 
below.  24.  And  Remits  the  Case  with  Instructions.  25.  A  like  Decision.  26. 
Referred  Back  by  Consent  of  Parties.  27.  Referred  Back  for  Irregularities.  28. 
The  Discretion  of  a  Court  in  Remitting  a  Case  is  not  Subject  to  Review.  29.  Re- 
mitted by  Recommendation  of  the  Judicial  Committee.  30.  In  Passing  Judgment 
the  Court  may  not  open  another  Case  already  Settled.  31,  A  Minister  Restored  by 
Judicial  Action  can  be  Deprived  again  only  by  new  Process  and  Conviction.  32. 
The  Decision  Reverses  all  the  Courts  below  and  Restores  the  Appellant.  33.  The 
Decision  Declares  and  Decides  the  Several  Issues  Involved.  34.  Restores  the 
status  in  quo 576 

XI.  If  the  Appellant  Fail  to  Ajypeaj'  and  Prosecute  by  the  First  or  Second  Day  of  the 
Next  Session  after  his  Appeal,  it  shall  be  Considered  as  Abandoned  and  the  Sentence 
Confirmed.  1.  Cases  under  the  Rule,  o,  6,  c,  d,  e.  2.  Personal  Attendance  not 
Necessary.  3.  The  Appeal  may  be  Prosecuted  by  Proxy,  a,  b.  4.  In  the  Absence 
of  the  Appellant  the  Court  Assigns  Counsel,  a,  b.  5.  In  the  Absence  of  a  Com- 
plainant the  Case  Dismissed  and  the  Defendant  Sustained.  6.  Case  Continued  on 
Satisfactory  Reasons,  a,  b,  c,  7.  Where  the  Case  is  Continued  at  the  Request  of 
the  Appellant  the  Sentence  Remains  in  Force  until  the  Case  is  Issued.  8.  In  the 
Absence  of  the  Appellant,  the  Case  Dismissed  with  Privilege  of  Renewal,  a,  b, 
9.  Where  an  Appeal  has  been  Dismissed  in  Error,  a  Restoration  Granted  after  Ten 
Years'  Interval,  on  the  Discovery  of  the  Error 583 

XII.  Members  of  the  Court  Appealed  from  are  not  Allowed  to  Vote  on  any  Question  Con- 
nected with  the  Appeal.  1.  The  Moderator  of  the  Court  above,  being  a  Member,  will 
not  Sit,  a,  b,  c,  d.  2.  An  Interested  Party  should  not  Sit.  3.  Members  of  the 
Court  Appealed  from  may  not  Vote.  4.  The  Rule  Applies  as  well  to  Review  of 
Records.  5.  Members  of  the  Court  Appealed  from,  may  Vote  on  the  Question  of 
Postponement.  6.  An  Elder  Belonging  to  the  Court  Appealed  from,  though  not  a 
Member  when  the  Case  was  Issued,  may  not  Sit.  7.  Ministers  who  were  Dismissed 
to  other  Bodies  before  the  Action  Complained  of  are  not  Excluded.  8.  Case  Re- 
manded when  Members  of  the  Courts  Appealed  from  Sat  in  their  own  Case....  586 

XIII.  The  Inferior  Court  Incurs  no  Censure  by  Reversal,  if  they  have  Acted  with  their ^ 
best  Knowledge.  If  otherwise,  they  may  be  Censured  as  the  Case  Demands.  1.  A  Case 
of  Censure 588 

XIV.  If  the  Appellant  Exhibit  an  Unchristian  Spirit  in  the  Prosecution  of  his  Appeal 
he  is  to  be  Censured 589 

XV.  An  Appeal  Suspends  all  Further  Process  until  it  is  Issued.  It  does  not  Arrest  Sen' 
ience  of  Suspension,  Excommunication  or  Deposition.  1.  An  Appeal  Arrests  all 
Further  Process  until  it  is  Issued.  2.  Suspension  Continued  until  the  Issue  of  the 
Appeal,  which  must  be  at  the  next  Meeting  of  the  Court  above.  3.  An  Appeal 
against  Certain  Action,  does  not  Debar  the  Court  from  Acting  upon  the  Continued 
Disturbed  State  of  a  Church 589 

XVI.  The  Court  Appealed  from  must  Furnish  all  Needed  Docwnents,  of  Record,  Relating 
to  the  Appeal;  Neglect  of  this  Duty  Censurable.  1.  Copies  Taken  by  the  Appellant 
not  Sufficient.  2.  On  the  Failure  of  the  .Indicatory  to  Send  up  Attested  Copies  of 
the  Testimony,  the  Appeal  was  Sustained.  3.  In  the  Absence  of  Papers  Referred 
to  in  the  Records  and  of  Attested  Copies  of  Charges,  the  Case  was  Postponed.  4. 
In  the  Absence  of  Records  of  a  Presbytery,  its  Synod  Censured  and  the  Case  Post- 
poned. 5.  Proceedings  Dismissed  where  the  Absence  of  Testimony  is  the  Fault 
of  the  Court;  and  the  Decision  Confirmed 590 


BOOK   OF   DISCIPLINE.  33 

XVIT.  Only  an  Original  Parly  may  Enter  an  Appeal.  1.  Examples,  a,  b.  2.  WliO 
are  Original  Parties,  a,  b,  c.  3.  The  Members  of  tlie  Court  Trying  a  Case  are  not 
Original  Parties.  4.  In  a  Case  Arising  on  Common  Fame,  the  Appellate  Court 
does  not  become  an  Original  Party,  a,  b 592 

CHAPTER   VII. 

Section  IV. 
OF  COMPLAINTS. 

I.  The  Complaint.  Distinguished  from  Appeal :  1,  As  to  the  Matter ;  2,  As  to  the 
Parties;  3,  As  to  the  Effect.  1.  Other  than  the  Original  Parties  may  Complain. 
2.  The  Distinction  between  an  A^ipeal  and  a  Complaint  must  be  Observed.  3.  The 
same  Matter  Subject  of  both  Appeal  and  Complaint 593 

II.  A  Complaint  Defined;  may  be  Brought — 1.  By  a  Member  or  Members  of  an  Inferior 
Judicatory,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e.  2.  By  any  other  Person  or  Persons,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,f,  g.  3. 
Dismissed ;  on  what  Grounds,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  h.  4.  Complaint  will  not  lie  against 
a  Judicatory  for  Obeying  the  Order  of  a  Superior  Court,  a,  b.  5.  Complaint  will 
not  lie  against  Advice  given  on  Memorial.  6.  Nor  against  Refusal  to  Adopt  a 
Proposed  Paper.  7.  Nor  against  an  Opinion  of  the  Superior  Court.  8.  Nor  against 
the  Exercise  of  its  Discretion  by  a  Judicatory.  9.  Nor  in  a  Case  already  Adjudi- 
cated. 10.  Nor  against  the  Decision  of  a  Commission  not  yet  Confirmed.  11.  Nor 
against  the  Decision  of  a  Moderator  Not  Appealed  from  at  the  Time.  12.  Complain- 
ant has  Leave  to  Withdraw  for  Reasons  Stated,  a,  b,  c,  d.  13.  Complaint  will  not 
lie  for  Refusal  to  Read  the  Printed  Minutes 594 

III.  The  Grounds  on  which  a  Complaint  is  Proper.  1.  Subject-matter  of  Complaints 
Entertained.  Regularity  of  Action,  a,  6.  Constitutionality  of  an  Ordination,  c. 
Construction  of  Constitution,  d.  Constitutionality  of  Action,  e.  Discretion  of 
Board  of  Missions,  /.  Against  a  Reference,  g.  Against  the  Dissolution  of  a 
Court,  h.     Against  the  Reversal  of  a  Sentence,  i.    For  Refusing  to  Divide  a  Pres- 

•  bytery,  j.  For  Refusing  to  take  up  an  Appeal,  k.  For  Refusing  to  Enroll  a  Mem- 
ber,/.     2.  Complainant  Satisfied  by  Compromise  and  Leave  to  Withdraw 6U2 

IV.  Notice  of  Complaint  must  be  given,  as  in  Appeal,  before  the  Rising  of  the  Court  or 
within  Ten  Days.  1.  Reasons  as  well  as  Notice  must  be  given.  2.  Evidence  must 
be  Furnished  that  Notice  was  given,  a,  b.  3.  Right  to  Complain  Waived  by- 
Failure  to  Complain  within  the  Time,  a,  6 605 

V.  A  Complaint  brings  the  ivhole  Proceedings  under  Review,  and  may  Lead  to  the  Censure 
of  the  Court  as  well  as  the  Reversal  of  its  Judgment.  1.  The  Judicatory  may  not 
Decline  the  Merits  of  the  Case.  It  must  Observe  the  Alternatives  of  the  Book,  and 
may  not  Assume  Original  Jurisdiction.  2.  Reversal  Restores  Matters  to  the  Situ- 
ation in  which  they  were 606 

VI.  Reversal  does  not  Necessarily  Infer  Censure  of  the  Inferior  Judicatory 607 

VII.  Members  of  the  Judicatory  Complained  of  may  not  Vote  on  any  Question  Connected 
itith  the  Complaint 607 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

OF  DISSENTS  AND  PROTESTS. 

I.  A  Dissent  Defined,  if  without  Reasons  it  is  to  be  Entered  on  the  Minutes.    A  Dissent 

without  Reasons  Demands  no  Reply 607 

5 


'J4  SYLLABUS. 

II.  A  Protest  is  a  More  Formal  Declaration,  and  may  be  Accoinpanied.  with  Reasons. 

1.  The  Eight  to  Protest  for  the  Relief  of  Conscience,  a,  6;  a  Protest  Kefused,  c. 

2.  A  Protest  Arguing  the  Case  is  Kefused,  a,  b 608 

III.  If  a  Protest,  or  Dissent  be  Respectful,  etc.,  the  Offerer  has  the  Right  to  have  it  Recorded. 
1.  Protest  Admitted  to  Record  without  Answer.     2.  Refused,  as  being  Disrespectful. 

3.  A  Protest  should  be  Recorded  only  by  Order  of  the  Court 60S 

IV.  A  Dissent  or  Protest  may  or  may  not  be  Accompanied  with  a  Complaint;  if  not,  the 
Record  will  Call  Attention  to  the  Matter.  1.  A  Protest  without  Complaint  can  come 
before  the  Superior  Court  only  on  Review  of  Records 609 

y.  If  a  Protest,  Respectful  in  Matter  and  in  Manner,  Imputes  to  the  Judicatory  Principles 
or  Reasonings  when  it  has  not  Adopted,  the  Judicatory  may  Appoint  a  Committee  to 
Answer  it.  1.  No  Answer  Deemed  Necessary.  2.  The  Answer  Denies  the  Imputa- 
tions of  the  Protest GIO 

yi.  Xo  Rejoinder  to  the  Answer  of  the  Court  Permitted 610 

yil.  If  the  Protestants  are  Aggrieved  by  the  Answer,  they  may  Recall  and  Modify  their 
Answer 611 

yill.  Kone  may  Join  in  a  Protest  but  those  who  had  a  Right  to  Vote  in  the  Decision. 
1.  A  Protest  from  Persons  not  Members  of  the  Judicatory  Refused.  2.  Protest 
against  the  Action  of  a  Judicatory  can  be  made  only  by  a  Minority  of  the  Body 
Itself 611 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OF  NEW  TESTIMONY. 

I.  A  New  Trial  may  he  had  on  the  Discovery  of  New  Testimony,  1.  New  Trial  on  New 
Testimony,  a,  b.  2.  New  Trial  after  the  Lapse  of  Years.  3.  If  the  Court  Refuse 
a  New  Trial  on  the  Offer  of  New  Testimony,  a  Complaint  will  lie.  4.  Appeal 
Remitted  for  New  Trial  on  New  Testimony qh 

II.  Testimony  may  be  Alleged  to  Ejcist  which  rvas  not  before  the  Court  below 613 

III.  Caution  should  be  used  in  Admitting  such  Allegations.  The  Superior  Court  should 
Satisfy  itself  of  the  Value  of  the  Testimony  before  Ordering  a  New  Trial.  An  Illus- 
tration-    613 

ly.  The  Judicatory  should  Satisfy  it.self  as  to  the  Import  of  the  Testimony,  and  the  Prob- 
ability of  its  Affecting  the  Result 013 

V.  If  it  Appear  that  the  Fact  Proposed  to  be  Proven  is  Important,  that  it  uvuld  Alter  the 
Result,  and  that  it  is  likely  to  be  Established,  the  Case  should  be  sent  back  for  a  New  Trial. 
Cases  Referred,  a,  b,  c,  on  Examining  the  New  Testimony ;  the  Decision 
Affirmed 613 

VI.  Cases  in  which  the  Superior  Court  it.self  may  take  the  Testimony  and  Issue  the  Case.  614 

VII.  Where  New  Testimony  has  been  Influential  in  Reversing  a  Decision,  the  Fact  shoidd 
ie  Stated 61G 


BOOK   OF   DISCIPLINE.  35 

CHAPTER  X. 

OF  JURISDICTION. 

I.  A  Member  Dismissed  to  Join  another  Church  is  under  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Church 
Dismissing  him,  until  Actually  Received  by  the  other.  1.  A  Suspended  Member  may 
not  be  Received  by  another  Cliurch.  2.  The  Effect  of  a  Letter  of  Dismission. 
3.  Members  of  an  Extinct  Church  are  Amenable  to  Presbytery 616 

IT.  The  mme  Principles  Apply  to  a  Minister.  1.  Jurisdiction  over  a  Deposed  Minister 
is  in  the  Presbytery  whicii  Deposed  liim,  a,  b.  2.  Wiiere  a  Minister  has  been 
Deposed,  his  Name  Remains  on  tlie  Roll  until  the  Case  is  Issued.  3.  A  Suspended 
Minister  is  under  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Presbytery  which  Suspended  him.  4.  A 
Minister  Holding  a  Letter  of  Dismission  is  a  Member  of  the  Presbytery  Dismissing 
liim  until  Received  by  another.  5.  The  Rights  of  a  Member  Cease  on  the  Granting 
of  the  Letter.  They  may  be  Recovered  by  its  Return.  6.  While  a  Minister  is  in 
transitu,  he  is  a  Member  of  the  Presbytery  which  gave  him  his  Letter.  7.  Where 
Ministers  W^ithdraw  Irregularly,  their  Names  are  to  be  Stricken  from  the  Roll,  a, 
b,  c.  8.  If  such  Desire  to  Return,  it  must  be  to  the  Presbytery  from  which  they 
W^ithdrew 617 

III.  If  a  Minister  or  Member  become  Amenable  to  Discipline  ivhile  in  transitu,  but  the 
Offence  become  known  Afterward,  the  Body  which  has  Received  him  shall  Conduct  the 
Process.  1.  If  the  Presbytery  Dismissing  becomes  Extinct,  the  Presbytery  to  which 
lie  comes  may  Refuse  to  Receive  him,  in  which  Case  Jurisdiction  is  in  the  Synod. 
2.  Reception  without  Dismission  Null  and  Void.  3.  Jurisdiction  over  an  Alleged 
Offender  is  in  the  Presbytery  of  which  he  was  a  Member  when  the  Offence  was 
Committed.  4.  If  an  Offence  is  Committed  within  the  Bounds  of  a  Presbytery  by 
one  not  a  Member,  that  Presbytery  Discharges  its  Duty  in  giving  Notice  to  the 
Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs,  of  the  Allegations  and  Proofs 620 

IV.  No  Presbytery  shall  Dimiiss  a  Minister,  Licentiate  or  Candidate  without  Specifying 
the  Body.  1.  Must  Specify  the  Body  to  which  a  Member  is  Dismissed.  2.  May 
not  Dismiss  by  a  Standing  Committee 622 

CHAPTER  XL 

LIMITATION  OF  TIME. 

I.  When  a  Member  of  one  Church  wishes  to  Join  another,  he  shall  Produce  a  Certificate  of 
Membership  and  Dismission,  unless  the  Church  has  other  Satisfactory  Knowledge.  1.  A 
Certificate  of  Dismission  should  be  Required.  2.  To  Receive  Members  of  Churches 
of  our  own  Connection  without  Certificate  is  Irregular.  3.  Dismission  to  another 
Denomination,  a,  b.  4.  The  Form  of  Certificate  in  such  Case  left  to  the  Discretion 
of  the  Session.  5.  The  Dismission  may  be  Indefinite.  6.  A  Suspended  Member 
may  be  Dismissed,  the  Case  being  Stated.  7.  A  Suspended  Member  Restored  by 
the  Superior  Courts  is  Entitled  to  Dismission  in  Good  Standing,  a,  b.  8.  Irregu- 
larity in  Dismissing  and  Receiving  does  not  Necessarily  Invalidate.  9.  Members 
Removing  should  be  Furnished  Credentials,  and  urged  to  Transfer  their  Relations 
as  soon  as  Possible.  10.  Churches  Receiving  Members  by  Letter  should  Notify  the 
Church  from  which  they  come 622 

II.  J.  Certificate  Valid  for  One  Year  only,  unless  there  has  been  no  Opportunity  to  Pre- 
sent it 625 


36  SYLLABUS. 

III.  Members  Absent  and  beyond  the  Knowledge  of  the  Session  for  a  Considerable  Time  to 
he  Furnished  with  Certificates  of  Good  Standing  only  up  to  the  Time  of  their  Absenting 
Themselves.  1.  The  Standing  of  Members  Absent  and  Unknown.  Such  Absence 
without  Certificate  is  itself  Censurable.  If  Willful,  they  should  be  Suspended,  a. 
A  Session  Sustained  for  Suspending  Members  Absent  for  Years  without  Certificate,  6. 
2.  Such  Members  to  be  Entered  on  a  Keserved  Eoll  and  not  Eeported.  3.  After 
Two  Years  of  such  Absence,  a  Member  Keturning  is  to  be  Called  to  Account...  625 

IV.  A  Member  Absent  more  than  Two  Years  and  Applying  for  a  Certificate,  the  Facts 
must  be  Stated.  1.  Names  of  those  Absent  more  than  Two  Years  not  to  be  Returned 
in  the  Statistical  EoUs,  Absent  Members  should  be  Urged  to  Unite  where  they 
Eeside 627 

V.  Limitation  of  Time  within  which  Process  shall  be  Commenced :  One  Year  from  the 
Commission  of  the  Offence  or  its  Becoming  Flagrant.  In  the  Case  of  an  Absent  Member, 
Recent  Discovery  of  his  Church  Membership  is  Equivalent  to  Recent  Flagrancy  of  the 
Offence;  the  same  Applies  to  a  Minister.  1.  Limitation  of  Time  may  not  be  Plead 
against  the  Order  of  the  Superior  Court.  2.  The  Plea  is  Good  where  the  Oflfence 
was  Known  to  Members  of  the  Judicatory  more  than  a  Year 628 


BOOK  III. 
THE  DIRECTORY  FOR  WORSHIP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ON  THE  SANCTIFICATION  OF  THE  LORD'S  DAY. 

I.  The  Duly  of  every  one,  to  Remember  the  Lord's  Day ;  to  Prepare  for  it ;  Worldly 
Business  to  be  Laid  Aside.    1.  Petition  to  Congress  against  Sabbath  INIails,  a,  b,  c.  631 

II.  The  whole  Day  to  be  Sanctified  by  Worship  and  by  Rest  from  Labor  and  from  Recre- 
ation. 1.  Deliverance  on  the  Profanation  of  the  Sabbath.  Discipline  Enjoined,  a. 
Sabbath  Travel  Discouraged,  b,  e.  2.  For  the  better  Observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
Sabbath  Travel  Condemned.  Discipline  Enjoined.  3.  Sessions  Enjoined  to  Fidel- 
ity. 4.  Eesolutions  on  the  Sanctification  of  the  Sabbath.  5.  Traveling  on  the 
Sabbath  Condemned.  6.  Decoration  of  Soldiers'  Graves  on  the  Sabbath  Deprecated, 
a,  b,  c 633 

III.  Provision  for  the  Family  should  be  so  Ordered  as  not  to  hinder  Servants  or  others 
from  Keeping  the  Day 639 

IV.  Personal  and  Private  Prayer,  Reading  and  Meditation 639 

V.  The  Assembling  for  Worship  shoidd  be  Pronipt 649 

VI.  Duties  after  Public  Worship:  Reading,  Prayer,  Singing,  etc..  Visiting  the  Sick,  Deeds 
of  Charity.  1.  Instruction  in  the  Holy  Scrijiturcs.  2.  Sabbath-schools  and  In- 
struction of  Youth.  Family  Instruction  and. Catechising  Enjoined,  a,  b,  c.  Infant 
Schools.    3.   Catechetical  Instruction,  a,  b,  c,  d,  e.    4.   Eehitions  of  the  Sahbiitli- 


DIRECTORY   FOR  WORSHIP.  37 

School  to  the  Family.  5.  Relation  of  the  Sabbath-school  to  the  Session.  Under 
the  Direction  of  Pastor  and  Session,  a.  Under  the  Watch  and  Care  of  the  Session, 
b      Responsibility  of  the  Pastor,  c,  d 640 

CHAPTER  II. 

ON  THE  ASSEMBLING  OF  THE  CONGREGATION  AND  THEIR  BEHAVIOR 
DURING  DIVINE  SERVICE. 

I.  The  Assembling  for  Worship 646 

ir.  Conduct  During  Public  Worship,  1.  Posture  in  Prayer.  Sitting,  unless  in  ti)e 
case  of  tlie  Infirm,  Disapproved  of,  a,  b,  c 646 

CHAPTER  III. 

OF  THE  PUBLIC  READING  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 

I  Reading  the  Scriptures  is  a  Part  of  the  Public  Worship  of  God,  and  ought  to  be  Per- 
formed   646 

II.  They  should  be  Read  in  the  Vulgar  Tongue,  that  all  may  Hear  and  Understaiul..,  646 

III.  The  Portion  to  be  Read,  at  the  Discretion  of  the  Minister,  as  also  the  Expounding  of 
it.  Proportion  to  be  Observed  between  the  Various  Parts  of  Worship.  1,  2.  Reading 
the  Scriptures  Enjoined 647 

CHAPTER   IV. 
ON  THE  SINGING  OF  PSALMS. 

I.  The  Duty  of  Praising  God  in  Song,  Publicly  and  Privately.  1.  Early  Action  on 
Psalmody,  a,  b.  Watts'  Imitation  of  the  Psalms  of  David  Allowed,  c,  d,  e.  2. 
Watts*  Hymns  Allowed.  Dwight's  Revision  Approved.  3.  Otlier  Psalms  and 
Hymns  not  Forbidden.  Sessions  and  Presbyteries  to  take  Cognizance.  4.  The 
Book  of  Psalms  and  Hymns.  Report  on  Psalmody;  the  Book  Approved  and 
Adopted,  a.  Revised,  6.  5.  The  Church  Psalmist;  Recommended,  o.  Purchased 
by  the  Publication  Committee,  b.  Appendix  Prepared,  c.  6.  "  The  Book  of 
Praise"  Approved,  and  Ordered  to  be  Published 647 

II.  The  Rules  of  Music  should  be  Cultivated.  1.  The  Book  of  Tunes.  2.  The  Hymnal. 
3.  The  Social  Hymn  and  Tune  Book 6ol 

III.  The  whole  Congregation  should  Join  in  Singing;  Lining  the  Hymn  to  be  Laid 
Aside 654 

IV.  The  Proportion  of  Time  for  Singing  to  be  left  to  the  Prudence  of  the  Minister;  a 
Liberal  Alloivance  Recommended.  1.  The  Music  is  under  the  Control  of  tlie  Session, 
a,  b 654 

CHAPTER  V. 

OF  PUBLIC  PRAYER. 

I.  The  Invocation ;  Adoring  God;  Abasing  Self ,  and  Imploring  the  Presence  and  Blessing 
of  God,  and  the  Assistance  of  the  Spirit,  through  the  Merits  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  655 

II.  The  Comprehensive  Prayer  before  Sermon :  First,  Adoration  ;  Second,  Giving  Thanh; 
Third,  Confessing  Sin;  Fourth,  Making  Supplication;  Fifth,  Pleading  with  God; 
Sixth,  Intercession  for  others 655 

III.  The  Prayer  after  Sermon  shoidd  be  Relevant  to  the  Subject 650 


38  SYLLABUS. 

IV.  The  Pastor  must  Exercise  great  Wisdom  in  the  Selection  of  Topics;  7nust  Prepare 
Himself;  must  Exercise  kis  own  Spirit.     1.  Liturgical  Forms  not  Needed 656 

CHAPTER  VI. 

OF  THE  PREACHING  OF  THE  WORD. 

I.  Great  Attention  should  be  given  to  the  Manner  of  Performing  it.  Demands  Diligent 
Application.     1.  Reading  Sermons  Discouraged,  a,  6,  c 657 

II.  The  Subject  of  a  Sermon;  some  Portion  of  Scripture;  the  Object,  to  Explain,  Defend 
and  Apply  to  some  Part  of  the  System  of  Divine  Truth,  or  to  Point  out  some  Duty.  1. 
Expository  Preaching  Commended 657 

III.  The  Method  of  Preaching  Demands  Study,  Meditation  and  Prayer;  shoidd  be 
Thoughtful,  yet  Simple,  and  Enforced  by  a  Godly  Example 658 

IV.  The  Sermon  must  not  cut  Short  or  Exclude  Prayer  and  Praise,  but  should  be  Propor- 
tionate   658 

V.  The  Close  of  Worship:  Prayer,  Singing,  Giving  Alms  and  the  Apostolic  Benedic- 
tion   658 

VI.  No  Person  should  be  Introduced  to  Preach  in  any  of  our  Churches  but  by  the  Consent 
of  the  Pastor  or  Session 658 

CHAPTER  VII. 

ON  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  BAPTISM. 

I.  Baptism  not  to  be  Unnecessarily  Delayed.  Lay  Baptism  not  Recognized.  The  Ad- 
ministrator must  be  a  Minister.  1.  The  Age  of  Infancy  is  not  Determined.  Left  to 
the  .ludgment  in  each  Special  Case.  2.  Baptism  by  an  Impostor  Null  and  Invalid. 
3.  Baptism  by  a  Profligate.  Unworthiness  of  the  Minister  does  not  Invalidate  the 
Ordinance,  but  it  may  be  Desirable  to  Administer  the  Ordinance  in  a  Regular 
Manner;  the  Session  to  Judge.  4.  Unitarian  Baptism,  not  Valid,  a,  of  Camp- 
bellites,  b.  5.  By  a  Deposed  Minister ;  as  he  is  no  Longer  a  Minister,  he  is  a  Private 
Person.  6.  By  a  Suspended  Minister;  such  a  one  has  no  Right  to  Administer  the 
Sacrament.  7.  Is  Baptism  in  the  Church  of  Rome  Valid  ?  Answered  in  the  Neg- 
ative. 8.  Left  Unanswered.  9.  The  Deliverance  of  1845  Affirmed.  10.  Ruling 
Elders  may  not  Administer  Sealing  Ordinances 658 

II.  Baptism  to  be  Usually  in  the  Church  and  in  Public,  after  Sermon 663 

III.  The  Child  to  be  Presented  by  one  or  both  the  Parents.  1.  "Who  may  be  Presented. 
Infants  of  one  or  both  Believing  Parents,  a,  b.  2.  Christian  Masters  should  Dedi- 
cate the  Children  of  their  Household  to  God.  3.  Children  of  Christian  Slaves 
should  be  Baptized.  4.  Infant  Slaves  of  Christian  Masters ;  Masters  should  Pre- 
sent ;  Ministers  should  Baptize  them.  5.  Orphan  Children  of  Heathen  Parents, 
under  Care  of  the  Missions ;  Three  Questions.  Baptism  is  not  to  be  Administered 
Irrespective  of  Age,  a.  Those  only  to  be  Baptized  who  liave  not  Reached  Years 
of  Discretion,  6.  This  Question  left  to  the  Judgment  of  the  Officers  of  the  Church 
in  each  Case,  c.  6.  The  Obligation?i,and  Qualifications  of  the  Parents,  must  be  of 
Regular  Life  and  Knowledge  of  the  Gospel,  a.  Able  to  Instruct  their  Children  in 
the  Doctrines  and  Precepts  of  Christianity,  b.  "What  is  a  Credible  Profession  to  be 
Judged  of  in  each  Case,  c.  The  Right  of  Baptism  belongs  only  to  the  Children  of 
Members  of  the  Church,  d 663 


DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP.  39 

IV.  Instruction  as  to  the  Nature,  Use,  etc.,  of  the  Ordinance;  Duties  Required  of  Parents. 
1.  Parents  Kequired  to  Enter  into  Engagements 666 

V.  Prayer;  the  Formula;  Discretion  as  to  Private  Baptism  is  with  the  3finister.  1.  Mode 
of  Baptism,  Kefers  to  Confession  of  Faith,  Chap.  XXVIII.,  Sec.  3 667 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

OF  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 

I.  The  Frequency  of  Administration  Determined  by  the  Session.  1.  Administered  where 
there  is  no  Church  Organized.  2.  Not  usually  within  the  Bounds  of  a  Congrega- 
tion without  Consent.  3.  Where  a  Minister  may  Statedly  Preach,  he  may  Admin- 
ister the  Supper.    4.  Administered  in  Case  of  Sickness  in  a  Private  House 667 

II.  The  Ignorant  and  the  Scandalous  to  be  Excluded 668 

III.  Notice  to  begiven;  Preparatory  Seimices 668 

IV.  The  Authority  for  the  Ordinance  ;  Who  are  to  be  Excluded  and  who  Invited.  1.  The 
Ignorant  and  Scandalous  Excluded.  2.  Not  the  Usage  to  Invite  those  not  Members 
of  any  Evangelical  Church 668 

V.  The  Administration;  Posture  of  the  Communicants ;  Setting  Apart  of  the  Elements; 
Breaking  and  Distribution  of  the  Bread;  the  Words;  Distribution  of  the  Cup;  the 
Words;  the  Exhortation ;  the  Prayer ;  the  Collection ;  the  Hymn;  the  Benediction.  669 

VI.  Services,  Post-communion,  Approved 670 

CHAPTER  IX. 

OF  THE  ADMISSION  OF  PERSONS  TO  SEALING  ORDINANCES. 

I.  Children  Baptized  are  under  the  Government  of  the  Church,  to  be  Taught  the  Catechism, 
Apostles'  Creed  and  Lord's  Prayer,  to  Pray,  to  Abhor  Sin,  Fear  and  Obey  God ;  When 
they  should  be  Admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  1.  Pastoral  Care  to  be  Exercised  over 
Baptized  Children,  a,  b.  2.  As  to  the  Discipline  of  Baptized  Children,  a,  b;  the 
Subject  largely  Discussed,  c,  d,  e,  and  Dismissed,/,  g;  Neglect  Deprecated,  h.  3. 
Children  should  be  Trained  in  the  Faith  of  their  Fathers.  4.  Catechetical  Instruc- 
tion urged.  The  Shorter  Catechism  Commended.  5.  Family  Training  for  the 
Increase  of  the  Ministry  and  the  Church.  6.  Placing  Children  in  Catholic  Schools 
a  Violation  of  Covenant  Engagements 671 

II.  The  Years  of  Discretion  to  be  Decided  by  the  Session;  the  Officers  of  the  Church 
Judges  of  the  Qualifications  of  Candidates,  and  of  the  Time  of  Admitting  them 674 

III.  Candidates  to  be  Examined  as  to  their  Knowledge  and  as  to  their  Piety.  1.  Uni- 
versalists  not  to  be  Received  to  Sealing  Ordinances,  a,  b.  2.  Scruples  on  Infant 
Baptism  may  not  Exclude.  3.  Duelists  to  be  Received  only  on  Evidence  of  Re- 
pentance. 4.  Postmasters  Officiating  on  the  Sabbath,  Excluded  from  Communion, 
a,  b,  5.  Proprietor  of  Stages  Running  on  the  Sabbath.  6.  Session  to  Judge 
in  the  Case  of  one  Engaged  in  the  Sale  of  Intoxicating  Drinks.  7.  Session  to 
Judge  of  the  Faith  and  Knowledge  of  Candidates.  8.  Should  be  Admitted  only 
by  a  Session  Regularly  Organized ;  Ordinarily  Improper  to  Receive  Immediately 
on  the  Profession  of  Conversion  the  Young,  and  those  of  Previously  Immoral 
Lives.  9.  The  Session  is  to  Judge  of  tlie  Piety  of  Candidates,  and  is  Referred  to 
the  Deliverances  of  the  Assembly  on  Moral  Questions.  10.  One  Professing  his 
Faith  in  Christ  and  Obedience  to  him  may  be  Baptized.  11.  Intercommunion  Dis- 
couraged in  a  Case  Stated 674 


40  SYLLABUS. 

IV.  Unbaplizcd  Persons  Applying  for  Admission  to  the  Church  Ordinarily  to  make  a 
Public  Profession  and  be  Baptized.  1.  Baptism  not  Ordinarily  to  be  Administered 
without  the  Purpose  of  Uniting  with  the  Church.  Baptism  is  Necessary  to  Entitle 
one  to  Church  Privileges.  2.  Admission  to  Sealing  Ordinances  the  Exclusive  Pre- 
rogative of  the  Session 677 

CHAPTER  X. 
OF  THE  :M0DE  of  INFLICTING  CHURCH  CENSURES. 

I.  Church  Power  for  Edijication,  and  not  for  Destruclion.  Discipline  Authoritatively  Dis- 
tinguishes between  the  Holy  and  Profane 678 

II.  Censure  should  be  with  all  Tenderness,  and  Inflicted  with  great  Solemnity,  Aiming  to 
Lead  to  Repentance 679 

III.  Suspension  from  C hurch  Privileges  ;  the  Formula  ;  Censures  Ordinarily  to  be  in  the 
Presence  of  the  Judicatory  only,  but  may  be  in  the  Presence  of  the  Congregation 679 

IV.  Treatment  of  the  Suspended — to  be  Labored  with  and  Prayed  for 679 

V.  Restoration  on  Evidence  of  Repentance.  Declaration  to  be  in  the  Presence  of  the  Ses- 
sion or  Congregation.    See  III.  above 679 

VI.  Sentence  of  Excommunication  to  be  in  Public 679 

VII.  Design  of  Excommunication;  the  Order  and  Formula  of  Excommunication 679 

VIII.  Order  of  Proceeding  in  Restoring  an  Excommunicate;  Evidence  of  Repentance 
must  be  had,  and  the  Concurrence  of  the  Presbytery  ;  Notice  to  be  given  on  Two  Sabbaths  ; 
the  Formida  of  Restoration 680 

CHAPTER  XL 

OF  THE  SOLEMNIZATION  OF  MARRIAGE. 

I.  Marriage  not  a  Sacrament;  the  State  should  make  Latvs  to  Regulate  Marriage,  which 
ail  Citizens  are  Round  to  Obey 681 

II.  Christians  ought  to  Marry  in  the  Lord;  Marriage  should  be  Solemnized  by  a  Lanful 
Minister,  with  Instruction  and  Prayer.  1.  Licentiates  may  Solemnize  Marriage  where 
the  Civil  Law  Authorizes  them.  2.  Marrying  in  the  Lord  Defined.  3.  In  Case  of 
Marriage  of  Heathen  Converts,  Presbyteries  to  Judge 681 

IH.  Marriage  to  be  between  One  Man  and  One  Woman  only,  and  not  ivithin  the  Degrees 
of  Consanguinity  or  Affinity.  1.  Questions  of  Marriage  of  Divorced  Persons. 
2.  A  Minister,  having  Married  again,  Required  to  Cease  Officiating  until  he  Proves 
the  Death  of  his  Wife.  3.  Adultery  and  Remediless  Desertion  the  only  Sufficient 
Cause  of  Divorce.  4.  On  Divorce  for  Adultery,  the  Innocent  Party  may  Marry 
again.  5.  A  Bigamist  to  be  Excluded  from  the  Church;  Willful  Desertion  a  just 
Cause  for  Divorce;  if  Divorce  be  Refused  where  just  Cause  Exists,  the  Church  may 
Receive  him.  6.  A  Minister,  liaving  Married  a  Woman  Divorced  for  Cause  otiier 
than  Adultery,  or  Willful  Desertion,  is  Deposed,  o,  b,  c.  1.  Degrees  of  Consanguinity 
and  Affinity.  8.  Marriage  with  a  Brother's  Widow  Declared  Incestuous;  left  to 
the  Discretion  of  the  Session,  a.  9.  With  Deceased  Wife's  Sister,  Declared  Unlaw- 
ful, and  Parties  Suspended,  «;  Parties  Restored  on  Petition;  such  Marriages  Dis- 
countenanced, 6.  10.  With  Relicts  of  Brother  and  Sister  Disapproved,  but  not  De- 
clared Incestuous.  11.  With  Deceased  Wife's  Sister ;  Referred  to  Session  ;  Party  Sus- 
pended, and  Suspension  Confirmed,  a;  Case  of  McQueen,  h,  of  John  Cathey,  c.    12. 


DIEECTOEY   FOE    WOESHIP.  41 

With  a  Wife's  Brother's  Daughter.  13.  With  a  Wife's  Half-brother's  Daughter, 
14.  With  a  Wife's  Sister's  Daughter,  a,  b,  c,  d.  15.  With  a  Sister's  Daughter.  16. 
With  a  Wife's  Half-brother's  Daughter 682 

IV.  Parties  should  be  of  Years  of  Discretion,  arid  if  Minors  the  Consent  of  Parents 
should  be  had.    Clandestine  Marriages  to  be  Discouraged 691 

V.  Parents  should  not  Compel  their  Children  to  Marry,  nor  Unreasonably  Hinder....  691 

VI.  Marriage  of  a  Public  Nature ;  Due  Notice  should  be  given ;  Caution  Enjoined  on 
Ministers.    Question  as  to  Sufficient  Publication  of  Marriage 691 

VII.  Must  always  be  in  the  Presence  of  Witnesses ;  may  be  on  any  except  a  Fast  Day  ; 
Discouraged  on  Sabbath 692 

VIII.  Directory  for  the  Marriage  Ceremony  ;  a  Register  to  be  kept  for  the  Perusal  of  all 
Interested 692 

CHAPTER  XII. 

OF  THE  VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK. 

I.  Duty  of  the  Sick  to  make  Known  their  Spiritual  State ;  Duty  of  the  Minister  to  Visit 
the  Sick 694 

II.  Instruction  to  be  given  as  to  the  Dealings  of  God  and  his  End  in  them 694 

III.  The  Ignorant  to  be  Instructed  in  the  Nature  of  Repentance  and  Faith  and  the  Way 
of  Life  through  Christ 694 

IV.  Exhort  to  Self-examination  by  the  Word  of  God,  and  Aid  him  by  Noting  Evidences 
of  Piety 694 

V.  Resolve  Doubts,  and  Administer  Instruction,  as  the  CcLse  may  Require 694 

VI.  Seek  to  Awaken  the  Thoughtless,  to  Arouse  Conscience,  to  Convince  of  Sin  and  Lead 
to  Repentance 694 

VII.  When  Encouragement  should  be  given,  and  Consolation  in  the  Gospel.  Under 
what  Circumstances  the  Communion  may  be  Administered  in  the  Chamber  of  the 
Sick.    Chap.  VIII.,  Sec.  I.,  2 694 

VIII.  Guard  against  Delusion,  Fear,  Discouragement  and  Presumption,  also  against 
Despair 695 

IX.  Summing  up  of  the  Duties  of  the  Minister;  at  the  Proper  Time  he  shall  Pray  with 
the  Skk 695 

X.  Exhort  those  who  may  be  Present  to  Consider,  to  Repent,  and  in  Health  to  Prepare  for 
Sickness  and  Death 695 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

OF  THE  BURIAL  OF  THE  DEAD. 

I.  Proper  Care  to  be  taken  of  the  Body  ;  not  to  be  Hastily  Buried 695 

II.  Conduct  Proper  to  the  Occasion;  the  Living  Exhorted.  1.  Carousing,  Ostentation 
and  Parades  to  be  Discountenanced 695 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OF  FASTING  AND  THE  OBSERVATION  OF  DAYS  OF  THANKSGIVING. 

I.  The  Lord's  Day  the  only  Holy  Day  under  the  Gospel 696 

6 


42  SYLLABUS. 

II.  But  to  Observe  Days  of  Fasting  and  Thanksgiving  Loth  Scriptural  and  Rational. 
The  Duty  not  to  be  Neglected;  a  Means  of  Grace,  a 696 

III.  Such  Days  may  be  Observed  by  Individuals,  Families,  Congregations,  etc.,  or  by  the 
Whole  Church 696 

IV.  Discretion  left  to  Families,  Sessions,  Presbyteries,  etc.,  as  to  Determining  the  Times  fen- 
Themselves ;  Respect  to  be  Paid  to  Public  Appointments.  Churches  should  Observe 
the  Days  Appointed  by  the  Local  Authorities,  a.  1.  Days  of  Fasting  Appointed  by 
the  Supreme  Judicatory,  on  the  Occasion  of  the  French  War,  a,  on  the  same,  b. 
2.  On  the  War  with  Spain.  3.  On  Account  of  Troubles  with  England,  a,  b.  4. 
Before  the  Second  War  with  England.  5.  During  that  War.  6.  On  the  Outbreak 
of  the  Civil  AYar,  a,  b.  7.  On  Account  of  the  Profanation  of  the  Sabbath.  8.  For 
the  Conversion  of  the  World.    9.  The  Week  of  Prayer 702 

V.  Public  Notice  to  be  given  of  Times  of  Fasting  or  Thanksgiving 702 

VI.  Public  Worship  on  all  such  Days  Specially  Adapted 702 

VII.  Fast  Days;  Directory  for  Services  and  Observance 702 

VIII.  Thanksgiving  Days;  Directory  for  Services  and  Mode  of  Observance 702 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  DIRECTORY  FOR  SECRET  AND  FAMILY  WORSHIP. 

I.  Duty  of  Secret  and  of  Family  Worship 702 

II.  Secret  Worship  Enjoined  by  our  Lord ;  Mode;  Advantages 702 

III.  Family  Worship,  Morning  and  Evening ;  Mode 703 

IV.  All  the  Members  of  the  Family  should  Attend 703 

V.  Duties  of  Heads  of  Families  to  Instruct;  the  Evenings  of  the  Lord's  Day  to  be 
Specially  Devoted  to  this  Duty.  1.  Duty  of  Ministers  to  urge  Family  Religion  upon 
their  People,  a,  b,  c;  Heads  of  Families  Enjoined,  d,  e.  2.  Special  Relations  of 
the  Sabbath  to  Family  Instruction 703 


DIGEST 


ACTS  AND  DELIVERANCES 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
OF  AMERICA. 


BOOK  I. 

OF  GOVERNMENT. 


CHAPTER  I. 
PRELIMINARY  PRINCIPLES* 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  in  present- 
ing to  the  Christian  public  the  system  of  union  and  the  form  of  govern- 
ment and  discipline  which  they  have  adopted,  have  thought  proper  to 
state,  by  way  of  introduction,  a  few  of  the  general  principles  by  which 
they  have  been  governed  in  the  formation  of  the  plan.  This,  it  is  hoped, 
will,  in  some  measure,  prevent  those  rash  misconstructions  and  uncandid 
reflections  which  usually  proceed  from  an  imperfect  view  of  any  subject, 
as  well  as  make  the  several  parts  of  the  system  plain  and  the  whole  per- 
spicuous and  fully  understood. 

They  are  unanimously  of  opinion  : 

I.  That  "  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience ;  and  hath  left  it  free 
from  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  any  thing 
contrary  to  his  word,  or  beside  it  in  matters  of  faith  or  worship :"  there- 
fore they  consider  the  right  of  private  judgment,  in  all  matters  that 
respect  religion,  as  universal  and  unalienable ;  they  do  not  even  wish 
to  see  any  religious  constitution  aided  by  the  civil  power,  further  than 

*This  introductory  chapter,  with  the  exception  of  the  first  sentence,  was  first 
drawn  up  by  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  prefixed  to  tlie  Form  of 
Government,  etc.,  as  published  by  that  body  in  1788.  In  that  year,  after  arranging 
the  plan  on  wliich  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  now  governed,  the  synod  was  divided 
into  four  Synods,  and  gave  place  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  met  for  the  first 
time  in  1789. 

43 


44  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

may  be  necessary  for  protection  and  security,  and,  at  the  same  time,  be 
equal  and  common  to  all  others. 

II.  That,  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  above  principle  of  common 
right,  every  Christian  church,  or  union,  or  association  of  particular 
churches,  is  entitled  to  declare  the  terms  of  admission  into  its  communion, 
and  the  qualifications  of  its  ministers  and  members,  as  well  as  the  %Yhole 
system  of  its  internal  government  which  Christ  hath  appointed ;  that  in 
the  exercise  of  this  right,  they  may,  notwithstanding,  err  in  making  the 
terms  of  communion  either  too  lax  or  too  narrow ;  yet  even  in  this  case 
they  do  not  infringe  upon  the  liberty  or  the  rights  of  others,  but  only 
make  an  improper  use  of  their  own. 

III.  That  our  blessed  Saviour,  for  the  edification  of  the  visible  Church, 
which  is  his  body,  hath  appointed  oflicers,  not  only  to  preach  the  Gospel 
and  administer  the  sacraments,  but  also  to  exercise  discipline  for  the  pres- 
ervation both  of  truth  and  duty ;  and  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  these 
officers  and  upon  the  whole  Church  in  whose  names  they  act,  to  censure  or 
cast  out  the  erroneous  and  scandalous ;  observing  in  all  cases  the  rules 
contained  in  the  word  of  God. 

IV.  That  truth  is  in  order  to  goodness,  and  the  great  touchstone  cf 
truth,  its  tendency  to  promote  holiness;  according  to  our  Saviour's  rule, 
"  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  And  that  no  opinion  can  be  either 
more  pernicious  or  absurd  than  that  which  brings  truth  and  falsehood 
upon  a  level,  and  represents  it  as  of  no  consequence  what  a  man's  opinions 
are.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  persuaded  that  there  is  an  inseparable 
connection  between  faith  and  practice,  truth  and  duty.  Otherwise  it  would 
be  of  no  consequence  either  to  discover  truth  or  to  embrace  it. 

V.  That  while,  under  the  conviction  of  the  above  principle,  they  think 
it  necessary  to  make  effectual  provisions  that  all  who  are  admitted  as 
teachers  be  sound  in  the  faith,  they  also  believe  that  there  are  truths  and 
forms  with  respect  to  which  men  of  good  characters  and  principles  may 
differ.  And,  in  all  these,  they  think  it  the  duty,  both  of  private  Chris- 
tians and  societies,  to  exercise  mutual  forbearance  toward  each  other. 

VI.  That  though  the  character,  qualifications  and  authority,  of  church- 
officers  are  laid  down  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  well  as  the  proper  method 
of  their  investiture  and  institution,  yet  the  election  of  the  persons  to  the 
exercise  of  this  authority,  in  any  particular  society,  is  in  that  society. 

VII.  That  all  church-power,  whether  exercised  by  the  body  in  general, 
or  in  the  way  of  representation  by  delegated  authority,  is  only  ministerial 
and  declarative :  That  is  to  say,  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  the  only  rule 
of  faith  and  manners  ;  that  no  church  judicatory  ought  to  pretend  to  make 
laws  to  bind  the  conscience  in  virtue  of  their  own  authority,  and  that  all 
their  decisions  should  be  founded  upon  the  revealed  will  of  God.  Now, 
though  it  will  easily  be  admitted  that  all  synods  and  councils  may  err, 
through  the  frailty  inseparable  from  humanity,  yet  there  is  much  greater 
danger  from  the  usurped  claim  of  making  laws  than  from  the  right  of 
judging  upon  laws  already  made  and  common  to  all  who  profess  the 
Gospel,  although  this  right,  as  necessity  requires  in  the  present  state,  be 
lodged  with  fallible  men. 

VIII.  Lastly,  That  if  the  preceding  scriptural  and  rational  principles  be 
steadfastly  adhered  to,  the  vigor  and  strictness  of  its  discipline  will  con- 
tribute to  the  glory  and  happiness  of  any  Church.  Since  ecclesiastical 
discipline  must  be  purely  moral  or  spiritual  in  its  object,  and  not  attended 
with  any  civil  effects,  it  can  derive  no  force  whatever,  but  from  its  own 
justice,  the  approbation  of  an  impartial  public,  and  the  countenance  and 
blessing  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  universal. 


PEELIMIXARY   PRINCIPLES.  -iS 

ADOPTION  OF  THE  WESTMINSTER  STANDARDS. 
1.  The  Overture  laid  over  for  a  year. 

"  There  being  an  overture  presented  to  the  Synod  in  writing,  having 
reference  to  the  subscribing  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  etc.,  the  Synod, 
judging  this  to  be  a  very  important  affair,  unanimously  concluded  to  de- 
fer the  consideration  of  it  till  the  next  Synod,  withal  recommending  it  to 
the  members  of  each  Presbytery  present  to  give  timeous  notice  thereof  to 
the  absent  members." — 1728,  p.  91. 

2.  The  Confession  of  Faith,  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the 
■Westminster  Assembly  adopted. 

"  The  committee  brought  in  an  overture  upon  the  affair  of  the  Con- 
fession, which,  after  long  debating  upon  it,  was  agreed  upon  -m  /icee 
verba : 

"  Although  the  Synod  do  not  claim  or  pretend  to  any  authority  of  im- 
posing our  faith  upon  other  men's  consciences,  but  do  profess  our  just 
dissatisfaction  with  and  abhorrence  of  such  impositions,  and  do  utterly 
disclaim  all  legislative  power  and  authority  in  the  Church,  being  willing 
to  receive  one  another  as  Christ  has  received  us  to  the  glory  of  God,  and 
admit  to  fellowship  in  sacred  ordinances  all  such  as  Ave  have  grounds  to 
believe  Christ  will  at  last  admit  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  yet  we  are 
undoubtedly  obliged  to  take  care  that  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints  be  kept  pure  and  uncorrupt  among  us,  and  so  handed  down  to  our 
posterity.  And  do  therefore  agree  that  all  the  ministers  of  this  Synod, 
or  that  shall  hereafter  be  admitted  into  this  Synod,  shall  declare  their 
agreement  in  and  approbation  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  with  the 
Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines  at  West- 
minster, as  being,  in  all  the  essential  and  necessary  articles,  good  forms 
of  sound  words  and  systems  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  do  also  adopt  the 
said  Confession  and  Catechisms  as  the  confession  of  our  faith.  And  we 
do  also  agree,  that  all  the  Presbyteries  within  our  bounds  shall  always 
take  care  not  to  admit  any  candidate  of  the  ministry  into  the  exercise  of 
the  sacred  function,  but  what  declares  his  agreement  in  opinion  with  all 
the  essential  and  necessary  articles  of  said  Confession,  either  by  sub- 
scribing the  said  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  or  by  a  verbal 
declaration  of  their  assent  thereto,  as  such  minister  or  candidate  shall 
think  best.  And  in  case  any  minister  of  this  Synod,  or  any  candidate 
for  the  ministry,  shall  have  any  scruple  with  respect  to  any  article  or 
articles  of  said  Confession  or  Catechisms,  he  shall  at  the  time  of  his 
making  said  declaration  declare  his  sentiments  to  the  Presbytery  or 
Synod,  who  shall,  notwithstanding,  admit  him  to  the  exercise  of  the 
ministry  within  our  bounds,  and  to  ministerial  communion,  if  the  Synod 
or  Presbytery  shall  judge  his  scruple  or  mistake  to  be  only  about  articles 
not  essential  and  necessary  in  doctrine,  worship  or  government.  But  if 
the  Synod  or  Presbytery  shall  judge  such  ministers  or  candidates  erro- 
neous in  essential  and  necessary  articles  of  faith,  the  Synod  or  Presby- 
tery shall  declare  them  uncapable  of  communion  with  them.  And  the 
Synod  do  solemnly  agree  that  none  of  us  will  traduce  or  use  any  oppro- 
brious term  of  those  that  differ  from  us  in  these  extra-essential  and  not 
necessary  points  of  doctrine,  but  treat  them  with  the  same  friendship, 
kindness  and  brotherly  love,  as  if  they  had  not  differed  from  us  in  such 
sentiments." — 1729,  p.  9-4. 


46  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

On  the  ajternoon  of  the  same  day, 

Ordered,  That  the  minutes  of  our  last  sederunt  be  read. 

All  the  ministers  of  this  Synod  now  present,  except  one  *  that  declared 
himself  not  prepared,  viz :  Masters  Jedidiah  Andrews,  Thomas  Craighead, 
John  Thomson,  James  Anderson,  John  Pierson,  Samuel  Gelston,  Joseph 
Houston,  Gilbert  Tennent,  Adam  Boyd,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  John  Brad- 
ner,  Alexander  Hutchinson,  Thomas  Evans,  Hugh  Stevenson,  William 
Tennent,  Hugh  Conn,  George  Gillespie  and  John  Wilson,  after  proposing 
all  the  scruples  that  any  of  them  had  to  make  against  any  articles  and 
expressions  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms 
of  the  Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster,  have  unanimously  agreed  in 
the  solution  of  those  scruples,  and  in  declaring  the  said  Confession  and 
Catechisms  to  be  the  confession  of  their  faith,  excepting  only  some  clauses 
in  the  twentieth  and  twenty-third  chapters,  concerning  which  clauses  the 
Synod  do  unanimously  declare  that  they  do  not  receive  those  articles  in 
any  such  sense  as  to  suppose  the  civil  magistrate  hath  a  controlling  power 
over  Synods  with  respect  to  the  exercise  of  their  ministerial  authority,  or 
power  to  persecute  any  for  their  religion,  or  in  any  sense  contrary  to  the 
Protestant  succession  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain. 

The  Synod,  observing  that  unanimity,  peace  and  unity  which  appeared 
in  all  their  consultations  and  determinations  relating  to  the  affair  of  the 
Confession,  did  unanimously  agree  in  giving  thanks  to  God  in  solemn 
prayer  and  praises. — 1729,  p.  95. 

3.  The  "Directory"  recoramended. 

A  motion  being  made  to  know  the  Synod's  judgment  about  the  Directory, 
they  gave  their  sense  of  that  matter  in  the  following  words,  viz :  The 
Synod  do  unanimously  acknowledge  and  declare,  that  they  judge  the 
Directory  for  worship,  discipline  and  government  of  the  church,  commonly 
annexed  to  the  Westminster  Confession,  to  be  agreeable  in  substance  to 
the  word  of  God,  and  founded  thereupon,  and  therefore  do  earnestly 
recommend  the  same  to  all  their  members,  to  be  by  them  observed  as  near 
as  circumstances  will  allow  and  Christian  prudence  direct. — 1729,  p.  95. 

4.  Intrants  and  Candidates  to  adopt  the  Confession  in  the  same 
manner  and  as  fully  as  those  then  present. 

a.  Whereas  some  persons  have  been  dissatisfied  at  the  manner  of  wording 
our  last  year's  agreement  about  the  Confession,  etc. ;  supposing  some  ex- 
pressions not  sufficiently  obligatory  upon  intrants;  Overtured,  that  the 
Synod  do  now  declare  that  they  understand  these  clauses  that  respect  the 
admission  of  intrants  or  candidates  in  such  a  sense  as  to  oblige  them  to 
receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  and  Catechisms  at  their  admission  in  the 
same  manner  and  as  fully  as  the  members  of  the  Synod  did  that  were 
then  present.  Which  overture  was  unanimously  agreed  to  by  the  Synod. 
—1730,  p.  98. 

b.  Ordered,  That  the  Synod  make  a  particular  inquiry  during  the  time  of 
their  meeting  every  year,  whether  such  ministers  as  have  been  received  as 
members  since  the  foregoing  meeting  of  the  Synod  have  adopted,  or  have 
been  required  by  the  Synod,  or  by  the  respective  Presbyteries,  to  adopt 
the  AVestminster  Confession  and  Catechisms  with  the  Directory,  according 
to  the  acts  of  the  Synod  made  some  years  since  for  that  purpose,  and 
that  also  the  report  made  to  the  Synod  in  answer  to  said  inquiry  be  re- 
corded in  our  minutes. — 1734,  p.  109. 

*  Daniel  Elmer,  who  gave  in  his  adherence  the  next  year. — 1730,  p.  97. 


PRELIMINARY  PRINCIPLES.  47 

5.  To  be  inscribed  in  the  book  of  each  Presbytery. 

Ordered,  That  each  Presbytery  have  the  whole  Adopting  Act  inserted 
in  their  Presbytery  book. — 1735,  p.  115. 

6.  An  Act  explaining  the  Adopting  Act. 

An  overture  of  the  committee  upon  the  supplication  of  the  people  of 
Paxton  and  Derry  was  brought  in  and  is  as  followeth :  That  the  Synod 
do  declare,  that  inasmuch  as  we  understand  that  many  persons  of  our 
persuasion,  both  more  lately  and  formerly,  have  been  ofiended  with  some 
expressions  or  distinctions  in  the  first  or  preliminary  act  of  our  Synod, 
contained  in  the  printed  paper,  relating  to  our  receiving  or  adopting  the 
Westminster  Confession  and  Catechisms,  etc. ;  That  in  order  to  remove 
said  offence,  and  all  jealousies  that  have  arisen  or  may  arise  in  any  of  our 
people's  minds  on  occasion  of  said  distinctions  and  expressions,  the  Synod 
doth  declare  that  the  Synod  have  adopted  and  still  do  adhere  to  the  West- 
minster Confession,  Catechisms  and  Directory,  without  the  least  variation 
or  alteration,  and  without  any  regard  to  said  distinctions.  And  we  do  fur- 
ther declare  that  this  was  our  meaning  and  true  intent  in  our  first  adopt- 
ing of  said  Confession,  as  may  particularly  appear  by  our  adopting  act 
which  is  as  followeth  :  All  the  ministers  of  the  Synod  now  present  (which 
were  eighteen  in  number,  except  one  that  declared  himself  not  prepared), 
after  proposing  all  the  scruples  any  of  them  had  to  make  against  any 
articles  and  expressions  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Larger  and  Short- 
er Catechisms  of  tlie  Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster,  have  unani- 
mously agi'eed  in  the  solution  of  these  scruples,  and  in  declaring  the  said 
Confession  and  Catechisms  to  be  the  confession  of  their  faith,  except  only 
some  clauses  in  the  twentieth  and  twenty-third  chapters,  concerning  which 
clauses  the  Synod  do  unanimously  declare,  that  they  do  not  receive  these 
articles  in  any  such  sense  as  to  suppose  the  civil  magistrate  hath  a  con- 
trolling power  over  Synods  with  respect  to  the  exercise  of  their  ministerial 
authority,  or  power  to  persecute  any  for  their  religion,  or  in  any  sense 
contrary  to  the  Protestant  succession  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain. 

And  we  hope  and  desire  that  this  our  Synodical  declaration  and  expli- 
cation may  satisfy  all  our  people,  as  to  our  firm  attachment  to  our  good 
old  received  doctrines  contained  in  said  confession,  without  the  least 
variation  or  alteration,  and  that  they  will  lay  aside  their  jealousies  that 
have  been  entertained  through  occasion  of  the  above  hinted  expressions 
and  declarations  as  groundless.  This  overture  approved  nemine  contradi- 
code. — 1736,  p.  126. 

7.  Upon  the  reunion  of  the  Synods  of  Ne^w  York  and  Philadelphia, 
May  29,  1758,  the  folio-wing  Plan  of  Union  was  adopted,  viz. 

The  Synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  taking  into  serious  con- 
sideration the  present  divided  state  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this 
land,  and  being  deeply  sensible  that  the  division  of  the  Church  tends  to 
weaken  its  interests,  to  dishonor  religion,  and  consequently  its  glorious 
Author ;  to  render  government  and  discipline  ineftectual,  and  finally  to 
dissolve  its  very  frame ;  and  being  desirous  to  pursue  such  measures  as 
may  most  tend  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  establishment  and  edification 
of  his  people,  do  judge  it  to  be  our  indispensable  duty  to  study  the  things 
that  make  for  peace,  and  to  endeavor  the  healing  of  that  breach  which 
has  for  some  time  subsisted  amongst  us,  that  so  its  hurtful  consequences 
may  not  extend  to  posterity ;  that  all  occasion  of  reproach  upon  our 
society  may  be  removed,  and  that  we  may  carry  on  the  great  designs  of 


48  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

religion  to  better  advantage  than  we  can  do  in  a  divided  state ;  and  since 
both  Synods  continue  to  profess  the  same  principles  of  faith,  and  adhere 
to  the  same  form  of  worship,  government  and  discipline,  there  is  the 
greater  reason  to  endeavor  the  compromising  those  differences  Avhich  were 
agitated  many  years  ago  with  too  great  warmth  and  animosity,  and  unite 
in  one  body. 

For  which  end,  and  that  no  jealousies  or  grounds  of  alienation  may 
remain,  and  also  to  prevent  future  breaches  of  like  nature,  we  agree  to 
unite  and  do  unite  in  one  body,  under  the  name  of  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  on  the  following  plan : 

I.  Both  Synods  having  always  approved  and  received  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  as  an  orthodox 
and  excellent  system  of  Christian  doctrine  founded  on  the  word  of  God, 
we  do  still  receive  the  same  as  the  confession  of  our  faith,  and  also  adhere 
to  the  plan  of  worship,  government  and  discipline  contained  in  the  West- 
minster Directory,  strictly  enjoining  it  on  all  our  members  and  probation- 
ers for  the  ministry,  that  they  preach  and  teach  according  to  the  form  of 
sound  words  in  said  Confession  and  Catechisms,  and  avoid  and  oppose  all 
errors  contrary  thereto. 

II.  That  when  any  matter  is  determined  by  a  major  vote,  every  mem- 
ber shall  either  actively  concur  with  or  passively  submit  to  such  deter- 
mination ;  or  if  his  conscience  permit  him  to  do  neither,  he  shall,  after 
sufficient  liberty  modestly  to  reason  and  remonstrate,  peaceably  withdraw 
from  our  communion  without  attempting  to  make  any  schism.  Provided 
always  that  this  shall  be  understood  to  extend  only  to  such  determinations 
as  the  body  shall  judge  indispensable  in  doctrine  or  Presbyterian 
government. 

III.  That  any  member  or  members,  for  the  exoneration  of  his  or  their 
conscience  before  God,  have  a  right  to  protest  against  any  act  or  procedure 
of  our  highest  judicature,  because  there  is  no  further  appeal  to  another 
for  redress ;  and  to  require  that  such  protestation  be  recorded  in  their 
minutes.  And  as  such  a  protest  is  a  solemn  appeal  from  the  bar  of  said 
judicature,  no  member  is  liable  to  prosecution  on  the  account  of  his  pro- 
testing. Provided  always  that  it  shall  be  deemed  irregular  and  unlawful 
to  enter  a  protestation  against  any  member  or  members,  or  to  protest  facts 
or  accusations  instead  of  proving  them,  unless  a  fair  trial  be  refused,  even 
by  the  highest  judicature.  And  it  is  agi'eed,  that  protestations  are  only 
to  be  entered  against  the  public  acts,  judgments  or  determinations  of  the 
judicature  with  which  the  protester's  conscience  is  offended. 

IV.  As  the  protestation  entered  in  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  Ann. 
Dom.  1741,  has  been  apprehended  to  have  been  ap})roved  and  received  by 
an  act  of  said  Synod,  and  on  that  account  was  judged  a  sufficient  obstacle 
to  an  union  ;  the  said  Synod  declare  that  they  never  judicially  adopted  the 
said  protestation,  nor  do  account  it  a  Synodical  act,  but  that  it  is  to  be 
considered  as  the  act  of  those  only  who  subscribed  it ;  and  therefore  can- 
not in  its  nature  be  a  valid  objection  to  the  union  of  the  two  Synods, 
especially  considering  that  a  very  great  majority  of  both  Synods  have 
become  members  since  the  said  protestation  was  entered. 

V.  That  it  shall  be  esteemed  and  treated  as  a  censurable  evil,  to  accuse 
any  member  of  heterodoxy,  insufficiency  or  immorality  in  a  calumniating 
manner,  or  otherwise  than  l)y  private  brotherly  admonition,  or  by  a  regu- 
lar process  according  to  our  known  rules  of  judicial  trial  in  cases  of  scan- 
dal. And  it  shall  be  considered  in  the  same  view  if  any  Presbytery  ap- 
point supplies  within  the  bounds  of  another  Presbytery  without  their 
concurrence;  or  if  any  mendjer  officiate  in  another's  congregation  without 


PKELIMINARY    PRIXCIPLES.  49 

asking  and  obtaining  his  consent,  or  the  sessions  in  case  the  minister  be 
absent ;  yet  it  shall  be  esteemed  unbrotherly  for  any  one,  in  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, to  refuse  his  consent  to  a  regular  member  when  it  is  requested. 

VI.  That  no  Presbytery  shall  license  or  ordain  to  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, any  candidate,  until  he  give  them  competent  satisfaction  as  to  his 
learning,  and  experimental  acquaintance  with  religion,  and  skill  in  divin- 
ity and  cases  of  conscience ;  and  declare  his  acceptance  of  the  Westmin- 
ster Confession  and  Catechisms  as  the  confession  of  his  faith,  and  promise 
subjection  to  the  Presbyterian  plan  of  government  in  the  "Westminster 
Directory. 

VII.  The  Synods  declare  it  is  their  earnest  desire  that  a  complete  union 
may  be  obtained  as  soon  as  possible,  and  agree  that  the  united  Synod 
shall  model  the  several  Presbyteries  in  such  manner  as  shall  appear 
to  them  most  expedient.  Provided,  nevertheless,  that  Presbyteries, 
where  an  alteration  does  not  appear  to  be  for  edification,  continue  in  their 
present  form.  As  to  divided  congregations  it  is  agreed  that  such  as  have 
settled  ministers  on  both  sides  be  allowed  to  continue  as  they  are ;  that 
where  those  of  one  side  have  a  settled  minister,  the  other  being  vacant, 
may  join  with  the  settled  minister,  if  a  majority  choose  so  to  do;  that 
when  both  sides  are  vacant  they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  unite  together. 

VIII.  As  the  late  religious  appearances  occasioned  much  speculation 
and  debate,  the  members  of  the  New  York  Synod,  in  order  to  prevent 
any  misapprehensions,  declare  their  adherence  to  their  former  sentiments 
in  favor  of  them,  that  a  blessed  work  of  God's  Holy  Spirit  in  the  conver- 
sion of  numbers  was  then  carried  on  ;  and  for  the  satisfaction  of  all  con- 
cerned, this  united  Synod  agree  in  declaring  that  as  all  mankind  are 
naturally  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  an  entire  change  of  heart  and  life  is 
necessary  to  make  them  meet  for  the  service  and  enjoyment  of  God  ;  that 
such  a  change  can  be  only  effected  by  the  powerful  operations  of  the 
Divine  Spirit ;  that  when  sinners  are  made  sensible  of  their  lost  condition 
and  absolute  inability  to  recover  themselves,  are  enlightened  in  the  know- 
ledge of  Christ  and  convinced  of  his  ability  and  willingness  to  save,  and 
upon  gospel  encouragements  do  choose  him  for  their  Saviour,  and  re- 
nouncing their  own  righteousness  in  point  of  merit,  depend  upon  his  im- 
puted righteousness  for  their  justification  before  God,  and  on  his  wisdom 
and  strength  for  guidance  and  support ;  when  upon  these  apprehensions 
and  exercises  their  souls  are  comforted,  notwithstanding  all  their  past 
guilt,  and  rejoice  in  God  through  Jesus  Christ;  when  they  hate  and 
bewail  their  sins  of  heart  and  life,  delight  in  the  laws  of  God  without 
exception,  reverentially  and  diligently  attend  his  ordinances,  become  hum- 
ble and  self  denied,  and  make  it  the  business  of  their  lives  to  please  and 
glorify  God  and  to  do  good  to  their  fellow-men, — this  is  to  be  acknow- 
ledged as  a  gracious  work  of  God,  even  though  it  should  be  attended  with 
unusual  bodily  commotions  or  some  more  exceptionable  circumstances,  by 
means  of  infirmity,  temptations  or  remaining  corruptions ;  and  wherever 
religious  appearances  are  attended  with  the  good  efl'ects  above  mentioned, 
we  desire  to  rejoice  in  and  thank  God  for  them. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  when  persons  seeming  to  be  under  a  religious 
concern,  inuigine  that  they  have  visions  of  the  human  nature  of  Jesus 
Christ,  or  hear  voices,  or  see  external  lights,  or  have  fainting  and  con- 
vulsion-like fits,  and  on  the  account  of  these  judge  themselves  to  be  truly 
converted;  though  they  have  not  the  scriptural  characters  of  a  work  of 
God  above  described,  we  believe  such  persons  are  under  a  dangerous 
delusion  ;  and  we  testify  our  utter  disapprobation  of  such  a  delusion, 
wlierever  it  attends  any  religious  appearances,  in  any  Church  or  time. 
1 


50  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Now  as  both  Synods  are  agreed  in  their  sentiments  concerning  the 
nature  of  a  work  of  grace,  and  declare  their  desire  and  purpose  to  pro- 
mote it,  different  judgments  respecting  particular  matters  of  fact  ought 
not  to  prevent  their  union  ;  especially  as  many  of  the  present  members 
have  entered  into  the  ministry  since  the  time  of  the  aforesaid  religious 
appearances. 

Upon  the  whole,  as  the  design  of  our  union  is  the  advancement  of  the 
Mediator's  kingdom,  and  as  the  wise  and  faithful  discharge  of  the  minis- 
terial function  is  the  principal  appointed  mean  for  that  glorious  end,  we 
judge  that  this  is  a  proper  occasion  to  manifest  our  sincere  intention 
unitedly  to  exert  ourselves  to  fulfill  the  ministry  we  have  received  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  Accordingly,  we  unanimously  declare  our  serious  and  fixed 
resolution,  by  divine  aid,  to  take  heed  to  ourselves  that  our  hearts  be  up- 
right, our  discourse  edifying,  and  our  lives  exemplar}-  for  purity  and  god- 
liness ;  to  take  heed  to  our  doctrine,  that  it  be  not  only  orthodox,  but 
evangelical  and  spiritual,  tending  to  awaken  the  secure  to  a  suitable  con- 
cern for  their  salvation,  and  to  instruct  and  encourage  sincere  Christians, 
thus  commending  ourselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of 
God  ;  to  cultivate  peace  and  harmony  among  ourselves,  and  strengthen 
each  other's  hands  in  promoting  the  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  and  dif- 
fusing the  savor  of  piety  among  our  people. 

Finally,  we  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  under  our  care,  that  instead 
of  indulging  a  contentious  disposition,  they  would  love  each  other  with  a 
pure  heart  fervently,  as  brethren  who  profess  subjection  to  the  same  Lord, 
adhere  to  the  same  faith,  worship  and  government,  and  entertain  the 
same  hope  of  glorj^  And  we  desire  that  they  would  improve  the  present 
union  for  their  mutual  edification,  coml")ine  to  strengthen  the  common 
interests  of  religion,  and  go  hand  in  hand  in  the  path  of  life ;  which  we 
pray  the  God  of  all  grace  would  please  to  effect,  for  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 

The  Synod  agree,  that  all  former  differences  and  disputes  are  laid 
aside  and  buried;  and  that  no  future  inquiry  or  vote  shall  be  proposed 
in  this  Synod  concerning  these  things ;  but  if  any  member  seek  a  Synod- 
ical  inquiry  or  declaration  about  any  of  the  matters  of  our  past  differ- 
ences, it  shall  be  deemed  a  censurable  breach  of  this  agreement,  and  be 
refused,  and  he  be  rebuked  accordingly. — 1758,  p.  285,  288. 

[In  answer  to  the  Dutch  Church  the  Synod  reply.] 

a.  Mode  of  Adopting  the  Confession. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  adopt,  according  to  the 
known  and  established  meaning  of  the  terras,  the  Westminster  Confession 
of  Faith  as  the  confession  of  their  faith,  save  that  every  candidate  for  the 
gospel  ministry  is  permitted  to  except  against  so  much  of  the  twenty- 
third  chapter  as  gives  authority  to  the  civil  magistrates  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion. The  Presbyterian  Church  in  America  considers  the  Church  of 
Christ  as  a  sj)iritual  society,  entirely  distinct  from  the  civil  government, 
having  a  right  to  regulate  their  own  ecclesiastical  policy,  indei)endently 
of  the  interposition  of  the  magistrate. — 1786,  p.  519. 

L   The  Directory  for  Worship  and  Form  of  Government. 

The  Synod  also  receives  the  Directory  for  ]niblic  worship  and  the  form 
■of  church  government  recommended  by  the  AVestminster  Assembly  as  in 
substance  agreeable  to  the  institution,?  of  the  New  Testament.  This  mode 
of-  adoption  we  use,  because  we  believe  the  general  platform  of  our  gov- 
ernment to  be  agreeable  to  the  sacred  Scriptures ;  but  we  do  not  believe 


•  PRELIMINARY    PRINCIPLES.  51 

that  God  has  been  pleased  so  to  reveal  aud  enjoin  every  minute  circum- 
stance of  ecclesiastic  government  and  discipline  as  not  to  leave  room  for 
orthodox  churches  of  Christ,  in  these  minutiie,  to  difier  with  charity  from 
one  another. — 178G,  p.  519. 

c.  Authority  of  Pardovan's   Collections. 

The  rules  of  our  discipline  and  the  form  of  process  in  our  chui'ch  judi- 
catures are  contained  in  Pardovan's  (alias  Stewart's)  Collections,  in  con- 
junction with  the  acts  of  our  own  Synod,  the  power  of  which,  in  matters 
purely  ecclesiastical,  we  consider  as  equal  to  the  power  of  any  Synod  or 
General  Assembly  in  the  world.  Our  church  judicatures,  like  those  in 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  from  which  we  derive  our  origin,  are  Church  Ses- 
sions, Presbyteries  and  Synods,  to  which  it  is  now  in  contemplation  to  add 
a  National  and  General  Assembly. — 1786,  p.  519. 

d.  It  was  moved  and  carried,  That  the  Form  of  Process  in  Stewart  of 
Pardovan's  Collections,  be  read  and  considered  as  a  basis  of  deliberation 
along  witli  the  draught. — 1787,  p.  535. 

8.  The  Constitution  Amended  and  Adopted,  1788. 

[In  1786  the  "  Book  of  Discipline  and  Government"  was  referred  to 
a  committee  "to  digest  such  a  system  as  they  shall  think  to  be  accommo- 
dated to  the  state  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America."  The  coin- 
mittee  consisted  of  Drs.  Witherspoon,  McWhorter,  Rodgers,  Sproat,  Duf- 
field,  Alison  and  Ewing,  Mr.  INIathew  Wilson  and  Dr.  Smith,  with 
Isaac  Snowden,  Esq.,  Mr.  Robert  Taggart  and  John  Pinkerton,  Elders. 

In  1787,  the  Synod,  preparatory  to  forming  the  General  Assembly, 
ordered  a  thorough  revision  of  the  standards,  altering  the  articles  ex- 
cepted to  on  the  Adopting  Act,  and  making  such  amendments  as  were 
found  to  be  necessary. — 1787,  p.  539.] 

a.  Form  of  Government,  Discipline,  and  Confession  of  Faith. 

The  Synod  having  fully  considered  the  draught  of  the  form  of  govern- 
ment and  discipline,  did,  on  a  review  of  the  whole,  and  hereby  do  ratify 
and  adopt  the  same,  as  now  altered  and  amended,  as  the  Constitution  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  and  order  the  same  to  be  considered 
and  strictly  observed  as  the  rule  of  their  proceedings,  by  all  the  inferior 
judicatories  belonging  to  the  body.  And  the}'  order  that  a  correct  copy 
be  printed,  and  that  tlie  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  as  now  altered, 
be  printed  in  full  along  with  it,  as  making  a  part  of  the  Constitution. 

Resolved,  That  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  above  ratification 
by  the  Synod,  is,  that  the  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline  and  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  as  now  ratified,  is  to  continue  to  be  our  Constitution 
and  tlie  Confession  of  our  faith  and  practice  unalterable,  unless  two-thirds 
of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  propose 
alterations  or  amendments,  and  such  a.lterations  or  amendments  shall  be 
agreed  to  and  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly. — 1788,  p.  546. 

[See  below  under  xii. ;  vi.  Amendments  of  constitutional  rules  may  be 
made  by  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries.  Alterations  of  the  Doctrinal 
Standards  still  require  two-thirds  as  above.] 

b.  Directory  for  Worship  and  Catechisms,  Larger  and  Shorter. 

The  Synod  having  now  revised  and  corrected  the  draught  of  a  Directory 
for  worship,  did  approve  and  ratify  the  same,  and  do  hereby  appoint  the 
said  Directory,  as  now  amended,  to  be  the  Directory  for  the  worship  of 
God  in  tlie  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  .States  of  America.     They 


52  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

also  took  into  consideration  the  Westminster  Larger  and  Shorter  Cate- 
chisms, and  having  made  a  small  amendment  of  the  larger,  did  approve, 
and  do  hereby  approve  and  ratify  the  said  Catechisms,  as  now  agreed  on, 
as  the  Catechisms  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  said  United  States. 
And  the  Synod  order,  that  the  said  Directory  and  Catechisms  be  printed 
and  bound  up  in  the  same  volume  ■svith  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the 
Form  of  Government  and  Discipline,  and  that  the  whole  be  considered 
as  the  standard  of  our  doctrine,  government,  discipline,  and  worship, 
agreeably  to  the  resolutions  of  the  Synod  at  their  present  sessions. 

Ordered,  That  Dr.  Duffield,  Mr.  Armstrong  and  Mr.  Green,  be  a  com- 
mittee to  superintend  the  printing  and  publishing  the  above  said  Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  with  the  Form  of  Government  and 
Discipline,  and  the  Directory  for  the  Worship  of  God,  as  now  adopted 
and  ratified  by  the  Synod,  as  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  that  they  divide  the  several  parts 
into  chapters  and  sections  properly  numbered. — 1788,  p.  547. 

9.  Proof  Texts  added  by  order  of  the  Assembly. 

a.  The  committee  appointed  to  consider  the  expediency  of  a  new  im- 
pression of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline 
of  this  Church,  reported  ....  that  another  impression  appeared  ex- 
pedient, in  Avhich,  if  the  Scripture  proofs  were  inserted  at  length,  it 
would  become  more  acceptable,  and  might  be  of  greater  utility  to  the 
churches ;  and  proposed  that  a  committee  be  appointed  properly  to  select 
and  arrange  the  Scripture  texts  to  be  adduced  in  support  of  the  articles 
in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Form  of  Government  and  D.iscipline,  and  pre- 
pare the  same  to  be  laid  before  the  next  General  Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  and  Messrs.  INIitchell  and  Grier,  be  a 
committee  to  carry  the  above  into  execution. — 1792,  p.  58. 

h.  "A  letter  was  received  and  read  from  Mr.  Mitchell,  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Assembly  of  1792,  to  revise  and 
prepare  for  publication  an  editicm  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms, 
and  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline  of  this  Church,  informing  this 
Assembly  that  considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  the  business,  but 
that  it  was  still  incomplete.  Whereupon  the  business  was  recommitted, 
and  the  Moderator  (the  Rev.  James  Latta),  added  to  the  committee  in 
the  place  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  deceased,  and  they  Avere  directed 
to  report  to  the  Assembly  in  1794."— 1793,  p.  66. 

c.  "  The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  the  Scripture  proofs  in  support 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Catechisms,  etc.,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  submitted  their  report,  which  was  read,  examined, 
and  approved  as  a  specimen  of  the  work.  Whereupon  Dr.  Green, 
Messrs.  John  B,  Smith,  James  Boyd,  William  jM.  Tennent,  Nathaniel 
Irwin  and  Andrew  Hunter,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  compare  the 
proofs  prepared  by  said  committee,  and  now  reported  to  the  General 
Assembly,  with  the  proofs  annexed  to  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith,  Catechisms,  and  Directory;  to  revise  the  whole,  prepare  it  for  the 
press,  to  agree  with  the  printer  for  its  publication,  and  to  superintend  the 
printing  and  vending  of  the  same." — 1794,  p.  88. 

10.  Authority  of  the  Notes.— The  Text  alone  contains  the  Consti- 
tution. 

The  committee  to  which  was  referred  an  inquiry,  proposed  to  the 
Assembly  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  relative  to  the  notes  fouud 


•  PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  53 

in  the   book   contaiiiiug  the  Constitution,  reported.     Their   report  was 
adopted,  viz.: 

"  That  the  book  referred  to  was  first  published  with  nothing  but  the 
simple  text,  without  any  Scripture  proofs,  or  any  notes  of  any  description 
whatsoever.  This  is  evident  not  only  from  the  minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly,  but  from  the  numerous  copies  of  this  first  edition  of  the 
standards  of  our  Church  which  are  now  in  existence.  It  is  also  equally 
evident,  from  examining  the  records  of  the  Genei'al  Assembly,  that  not 
a  single  note  in  the  book  has  been  added  to  or  made  a  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Church,  since  it  was  first  formed  and  published,  in  the 
manner  above  recited.  Several  alterations  and  additions  have  been  made 
by  referring  them,  when  contemplated,  to  the  Presbyteries  for  their 
decision  thereon,  in  the  manner  pointed  out  in  the  Constitution  itself. 
But  among  all  the  points  thus  referred,  there  is  not  found  a  single  note 
which  now  appears  in  the  book  containing  the  Constitution  of  our 
Church.  Hence  it  follows,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  these  notes  are  no  part 
of  that  Constitution,  If,  then,  it  be  inquired  how  these  notes  obtained 
the  place  which  they  now  occupy,  and  what  is  the  character,  as  to 
authority,  which  they  possess,  the  answer  is  this :  When  a  second  edition 
of  the  standards  of  our  Church  was  needed,  it  was  thought  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  that  it  would  be  of  great  use  in  itself,  highly  agreeable  to 
the  members  of  our  Ciiurch  generally,  as  well  as  conformable  to  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  from  which  we  derive  our  origin,  if  the 
Scripture  proofs  were  added  in  support  of  the  several  parts  and  clauses 
of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms,  and  Form  of  Government.  A 
committee  was  accordingly  appointed  by  the  Assembly  to  select  the  Scrip- 
ture proofs,  and  to  prepare  them  for  being  printed  in  the  second  edition 
of  the  book.  The  work  of  this  committee  was,  the  following  year,  re- 
ferred to  another,  and  ultimately  the  committee  charged  with  preparing 
the  Scripture  proofs  reported,  along  with  these  proofs,  the  notes  which 
now  appear  in  the  book,  and  which  were  approved  by  the  General 
Assembly,  and  directed  to  be  printed  with  the  proofs,  in  the  form  in 
which  they  now  appear.  These  notes,  then,  are  explanations  of  some  of 
the  principles  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  given  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  which,  of  course,  the  General  Assembly  may  modify  or  alto- 
gether exclude,  at  their  pleasure,  whereas  the  articles  of  the  Constitution 
must  govern  the  Assembly  themselves,  and  cannot  be  altered  or  abro- 
gated, but  in  the  manner  pointed  out  in  the  Constitution  itself. 

"On  the  whole,  in  the  book  containing  the  standards  of  our  Church, 
the  text  alone  contains  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  ;  the  notes  are  an 
exposition  of  principles  given  by  the  highest  judicature  of  that  Church, 
of  the  same  force,  while  they  continue,  with  the  other  acts  of  that  judica- 
ture, but  subject  to  alterations,  amendments,  or  a  total  erasure,  as  they 
shall  judge  proper. 

"Besolved,  That  as  it  belongs  to  the  General  Assembly  to  give  direc- 
tion in  regard  to  the  notes  which  accompany  the  Constitution,  of  which 
they  are  the  supreme  judicatory,  this  Assembly  express  it  as  their  opin- 
ion, that  in  printing  future  editions  of  the  Constitution  of  this  Church, 
the  parenthesis  on  the  note,  on  this  part  of  the  Form  of  Government, 
which  defines  a  Synod,  and  which  is  expressed  in  these  words,  '  since  a 
Synod  is  only  a  larger  Presbytery,'  be  omitted,  as  well  as  the  note  con- 
nected with  the  Scripture  proofs  in  answer  to  the  question  in  the  Larger 
Catechism,  'What  is  fc)rbidden  in  the  eighth  commandment?' in  which 
the  nature  of  the  crime  of  man-stealing  and  slavery  is  dilated  upon.  In 
regard  to  this  last  omission,  the  Assembly  think  proper  to  declare,  that  in 


i 


54  FORM    OF    GOVEENilEXT.  * 

directing  it,  they  are  iufluenced  by  far  other  motives  than  any  desire  to 
favor  slavery,  or  to  retard  the  extinction  of  that  mournful  evil  as  speedily 
as  may  consist  with  the  happiness  of  all  concerned." — 1816,  p.  629. 

[Note. — These  notes  are  not  found  in  the  Constitution  as  revised  in 
1820.] 

"  liesolved,  That  as  the  notes  which  have  been  expunged  from  our  pub- 
lic formularies,  and  which  some  of  the  memorials  referred  to  the  commit- 
tee request  to  have  restored,  were  introduced  irregularly,  and  never  had 
the  sanction  of  the  Church,  and  therefore  never  possessed  any  real  author- 
ity, the  General  Assenibly  has  no  power  to  assign  them  a  place  in  the 
authorized  standards  of  the  Church,  and  does  not  deem  it  proper  to  take 
the  constitutional  measures  for  effecting  their  restoration." — 1836,  p.  248. 

11.  Use  and  Obligation  of  the  Standards. 

1.  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  Confessions  of  Faith,  con- 
taining formulas  of  doctrine,  and  rules  for  conducting  the  discipline  and 
worship  proper  to  be  maintained  in  the  house  of  God,  are  not  only  recog- 
nized as  necessary  and  expedient,  but  as  the  character  of  human  nature 
is  continually  aiming  at  innovation,  absolutely  requisite  to  the  settled 
peace  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  happy  and  orderly  existence  of  Christian 
communion.  Within  the  limits  of  Christendom,  few  are  to  be  found  in 
the  attitude  of  avowed  hostility  to  Christianity.  The  name  of  Christian 
is  claimed  by  all,  and  all  are  ready  to  profess  their  belief  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  too  many  reserving  to  themselves  the  right  of  putting  upon 
them  what  construction  they  please.  In  such  a  state  of  things,  without 
the  aid  of  Confessions,  Christian  fellowship  can  exist  only  in  a  very  lim- 
ited degree,  and  the  disorder  of  the  Corinthian  Church,  condemned  by 
the  Apostle,  would  be  realized:  "  I  am  of  Paul  and  I  of  Apollos." 

2.  That,  though  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  standards  of  our  Church 
are  of  no  original  authority,  independent  of  the  Scriptures,  yet  we  regard 
them  as  a  summary  of  those  divine  truths  which  are  diffused  throughout 
the  sacred  volume. 

They,  as  a  system  of  doctrines,  therefore,  cannot  be  abandoned,  in  our 
opinion,  without  an  abandonment  of  the  word  of  God.  They  form  a 
bond  of  fellowship  in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  General  Assembly 
cannot  but  believe  the  precious  immortals  under  their  care  to  be  more 
safe  in  receiving  the  truth  of  God's  holy  word,  as  exhibited  in  the  stand- 
ards of  our  Church,  than  in  being  subject  to  the  guidance  of  any  in- 
structor, whoever  he  may  be,  who  may  have  confidence  enough  to  set  up 
his  own  opinions  in  opi)osition  to  the  .system  of  doctrines  which  men  of 
sound  learning,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures, 
have  devised  from  the  oracles  of  the  living  God.  It  should  never  be 
forgotten,  that  the  Church  is  solemnly  cautioned  against  the  danger  of 
being  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine. 

8.  This  Confession  of  Faith,  adopted  by  our  C^hurch,  contains  a  system 
of  doctrines  profe.«sedIy  believed  by  the  i)eople  and  the  pastors  under  the 
care  of  the  General  Assembly,  nor  can  it  be  traduced  by  any  in  the  com- 
munion of  our  Church,  without  subjecting  the  erring  parties  to  that  salu- 
tary discipline  which  hath  for  its  object  the  maintenance  of  the  peace  and 
])uritv  of  the  Church,  under  the  government  of  her  great  Master. — 1824, 
p.  114. 

12.  Adoption  of  the  Standards  in  every  case  required. 

The  committee  appointed  on  an  overture  respecting  the  consistency  of 
admitting  into  this  Church  ministers  who  manifest  a  decided  hostility  to 


PRELIMINARY    PRI^'CIPLES.  55 

ecclesiastical  creeds,  confessions,  and  formularies,  make  the  following  re- 
port, which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

1.  That  the  Constitution,  as  is  well  known,  expressly  requires  of  all 
candidates  for  admission,  a  solemn  declaration  that  they  sincerely  receive 
and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church,  as  containing  the  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

2.  That  the  last  Assembly,  in  a  report  of  their  committee,  to  be  seen 
on  the  minutes,  have  so  explicitly  and  fully  declared  the  sentiments  of 
this  Church  in  regard  to  her  ecclesiastical  standards,  and  all  Avithin  her 
communion  who  may  traduce  them,  that  no  further  expression  of  our 
views  on  this  subject  is  deemed  necessai'y. — 1825,  p.  155. 

13.  The  Catechisms  an  Integral  Part  of  the  Standards  of  the 

Church. 

a.  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  5,  viz. :  "  On  sub- 
scribing the  Confession  of  Faith,"  made  the  following  report,  which  was 
unanimously  adopted,  viz. : 

That,  in  their  judgment,  any  further  legislation  on  the  subject  by  the 
Assembly  would  be  unnecessary  and  inexpedient.  They  consider  the 
formula  contained  in  our  book,  and  the  rule  adopted  by  the  Assembly  in 
1830 — viz. :  "That,  in  their  judgment,  every  licentiate  coming  by  certifi- 
cate to  any  Presbytery,  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly,  from 
any  portion  of  a  corresponding  ecclesiastical  body,  should  be  required  to 
answer  in  the  affirmative,  the  constitutional  questions  directed  by  chapter 
fourteenth  of  our  Form  of  Government,  to  be  put  to  our  candidates  before 
they  are  licensed  ;  and  that  in  like  manner  every  ordained  minister  of 
the  Gospel,  coming  from  any  church  in  correspondence  with  the  General 
Assembly  by  certificate  of  dismission  and  recommendation,  should  be 
required  to  answer  affirmatively  the  first  seven  questions  directed  by 
chapter  fifteenth  of  our  Form  of  Government,  to  be  put  to  one  of  our  own 
licentiates  when  about  to  be  ordained  to  the  sacred  office"  (p.  287, 1830) — 
sufficiently  explicit ;  and  would  earnestly  recommend  these  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  cai-e  of  the  Assembly. 

b.  As  to  the  question  submitted  to  them,  "  Whether  the  Catechisms, 
Larger  and  Shorter,  are  to  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  Standards  of 
our  Church,  and  are  comprehended  in  the  words,  Confession  of  Faith  of 
this  Church?"  the  committee  feel  no  hesitation  in  answering  that  question 
in  the  affirmative.  It  does  not  appear  that  any  doubts  on  that  subject 
have  ever  been  entertained  until  very  recently.  The  committee  find  in 
the  minutes  of  the  old  Synod,  at  the  union  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
with  the  Synod  of  New  York,  in  1758,  that  the  first  article  of  the  Plan 
of  Union  contains  the  following  words  (Digest,  p.  118),  viz.:  "Both 
Synods,  having  always  approved  and  received  the  Westminster  Confession 
of  Faith  and  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  as  an  orthodox  and  excel- 
lent system  of  Christian  doctrine  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  we  do 
still  I'eceive  the  same  as  the  Confession  of  our  Faith  ;  and  also  the  plan 
of  worship,  government,  and  discipline,  contained  in  the  Westminster 
Directory,  strictly  enjoining  it  on  all  our  members  and  probationers  for 
the  ministry  that  they  preach  and  teach  according  to  the  form  of  sound 
words  in  said  Confession  and  Catechisms,  and  avoid  and  oppose  all  error 
contrary  thereto."  In  the  recital  of  the  manner  in  w'hich  a  Presbytery 
was  received  by  the  Synod  of  New  York,  1763,  we  have  the  following 
record,  which  is  contained  in  the  Assembly's  Digest,  p.  50:  "It  was  agreed 
to  grant  their  request,  provided  that  they  agree  to  adopt  our  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  and  engage  to  observe  the  Directory 


56  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

as  a  plan  of  worship,  discipline,  and  government,  according  to  the  agree' 
ment  of  this  Synod." 

In  1788,  in  the  Adopting  Act  of  the  Confession,  as  entered  in  the  Di- 
gest, p.  124,  the  Catechisms  are  distinctly  mentioned  as  a  part  of  our 
standards.  "  They  also  took  into  consideration  the  Westminster  Larger 
and  Shorter  Catechisms,  and  having  made  a  small  amendment  of  the 
Larger,  did  approve,  and  do  hereby  approve  and  ratify  the  said  Cate- 
chisms as  now  agreed  on,  as  the  Catechisms  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  said  United  States.  And  the  Synod  order  that  the  said  Directory 
and  Catechisms  be  printed  and  bound  up  in  the  same  volume  with  the 
Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline ;  and 
that  the  whole  be  considered  as  the  standard  of  our  doctrine,  govern- 
ment, discipline,  and  worship,  agreeably  to  the  resolutions  of  the  Synod 
at  their  present  sessions" — one  of  which  resolutions  was  (p.  123),  "  that 
the  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline,  and  the  Confession  of  Faith,  as 
now  ratified,  is  to  continue  to  be  our  constitution  and  the  confession  of 
our  faith  and  practice  unalterably,  unless  two-thirds  of  the  Presbyteries 
under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  propose  alterations  or 
amendments,  and  such  alterations  or  amendments  shall  be  agreed  to  and 
enacted  by  the  General  Assembly."  Accordingly,  in  the  Directory  for 
the  administration  of  baptism,  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly  are  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Confession 
of  Faith,  as  adopted  by  this  Church,  and  are  to  be  recommended  as  con- 
taining a  summary  of  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion,  taught  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  Kew  Testament. 

The  committee  therefore  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolutions,  viz. : 

1.  Rewlved  by  the  Assembly,  that  in  receiving  and  adopting  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly of  Divines  are  included,  and  do  constitute  an  integral  part  of  the 
standards  of  this  Church. 

2.  JResoIvcd,  That  the  use  of  the  Catechisms  in  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  young  and  of  the  children  under  the  care  of  the  Church,  be  affec- 
tionateiy  and  earnestly  recommended  to  the  Sessions  in  connection  with 
the  General  Assembly,  as  the  most  effectual  means,  under  God,  of  pre- 
serving the  purity,  peace,  and  unity  of  our  Church. — 1832,  p.  371. 

c.  Standurd  Copy  of  the  Shorter  Catechism. 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  approve  the  revised  copy  of  the  Shorter 
Catechism,  with  the  Ten  Conimandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the 
Creed,  presented  by  the  Board  of  Publication,  and  hereby  adopt  the  same 
as  the  standard  edition  of  our  Church. — 1872,  p.  22. 

d.  The  "  Heidelberg   Catechum"  Approved. 

The  Resolutions  reported  by  the  Committee  on  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism, were  ado])ted,  as  follows,  viz.  : 

1.  Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  recognizes,  in  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism,  a  valuable  scriptural  com])endium  of  Christian  dtxtrine  and 
duty. 

2.  Re-^olved,  That  if  any  churches  desire  to  employ  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  in  the  instruction  of  their  children,  they  may  do  so  with  the 
approbation  of  this  Assembly. 

3.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  cordially  rejoices  at  the  continued  and 


PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  57 

increasing  evidences  of  agreement  and  union,  among  those  whose  symbols 
maintain  in  common  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints. — 1870,  p.  120. 

e.  Adoption  of  the  Confession  includes  the  Catechisms. 

"When  Ministers  and  other  officers  are  ordained  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  give  an  affirmative  answer  to  the  question :  Do  you  sincerely 
receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  this  Church  as  containing  the  system 
of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures?  are  such  Mhiistei-s  and 
officers  to  be  understood  as  embracing  and  assenting  to  the  doctrines, 
principles,  precepts,  and  statements  contained  in  the  Larger  and  Shorter 
Catechisms,  in  the  same  unqualified  sense  in  which  they  are  understood  to 
embrace  and  assent  to  the  doctrines,  principles,  precepts,  and  statements 
contained  in  other  parts  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  ? 

The  committee  recommend  that  the  question  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  and  the  recommendation  was  adopted. — 18-48,  p.  18,  O.  S. 

14.  Ministers  who  cannot  adopt  the  Standards,  not  to  be  Received. 
On  an  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel  relative  to  a  Union  with 
the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Assembly  answers,  "  The 
privilege  claimed  by  the  Independent  ministers,  of  holding  and  teaching 
doctrines  not  in  harmony  with  the  Confession  of  Faith,  is  a  privilege,  which, 
even  if  harmless  in  this  particular  case,  might  be  abused  as  a  precedent,  and 
lead  in  other  quarters  and  in  other  relations  to  serious  mischief.  The  Assem- 
bly expresses  the  desire  that  these  ministers  may  soon  be  able  to  embrace  our 
standards,  without  reservation,  and  in  that  case  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel 
is  hereby  authorized  to  ratify  the  Union,  without  further  application  to 
this  body ;  but  in  the  event  that  the  Independent  ministers  and  churches 
cannot  relinquish  their  peculiarities,  with  a  good  conscience,  this  Assembly 
will  cherish  them  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  love,  but  it  cannot  see  its  way 
clear  to  embrace  them  in  the  same  Denomination." — 1857,  p.  42,  O.  S. 

15.  Refusal  to  alter  the  Language  of  the  Confession. 

Overture  from  Rev.  Sayres  Gazley  in  relation  to  changes  in  the  lan- 
guage of  our  Confession  of  Faith,  regarding  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
and  other  doctrines. 

The  Committee  recommend  as  an  answer,  that  no  change  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Confession,  respecting  the  points  suggestod,  is  desirable,  or 
consistent  with  the  word  of  God.  Adopted  unanimously, — 1859,  p. 
532,  O.  S. 

RELATION  OF  THE  ASSEMBLIES,  0.  S.  AND  N.  S.,  PREVIOUS  TO  RE- 
UNION. 

16.  Committee  of  Correspondence  Appointed. 

a.  The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  reported  an  overture  in  these 
words  : 

"  Besolved,  Thai  a  proposal  be  made  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  now  holding  its  sessions  in  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  to 
institute  fraternal  correspondence  by  the  interchange  of  delegates." — 
1849,  p.  174,  N.  S. 

The  unfinished  business  of  yesterday,  viz.,  the  indefinite  postpone- 
ment of  the  notice  to  send  delegates  to  the  Assembly  at  Pittsburg,  w^as  re- 
sumed. 

The  motion  to  postpone  was  lost. 

The  Rev.  G.  R.  H.  Shumway  then  moved  to  refer  the  whole  subject 
to  a  special  committee  of  five,  to  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly, 


58  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

which  was  carried,  and  Rev.  Thomas  Braiuerd,  D.  D.,  Rev.  James  G. 
Hamner,  D.  D.,  Rev,  Henry  G.  Ludlow,  and  Messrs.  Ambrose  White  and 
Frederick  A.  Raybold  were  appointed. — 1849,  p.  175,  N.  S. 

The  Result. 

b.  A  letter  was  received  from  the  Rev.  Thomas  Brainerd,  D.  D., 
chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly,  to  correspond 
with  a  committee  of  the  other  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  if  such  should  be  appointed,  stating  that  "as  no  corresponding 
committee  was  appointed  by  our  brethren  of  the  Assembly  which  met  in 
Pittsburg  last  year,  no  opportunity  has  been  had  to  carry  out  the  fra- 
ternal and  Christian  spirit  of  our  Assembly." 

The  committee  were  thereupon  discharged.— 1850,  p.  306,  N.  S. 

17.  In  answer  to  overtures  for  a  Reunion,  the  Assembly,  O.   S., 

reply — 

An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Rochester,  asking  this  Assembly 
to  adopt  some  measures  to  effect  a  union  between  the  two  branches  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church — 

This  Assembly  having  in  former  years  (see  Minutes  of  1838,  pp.  35 
and  36,  and  Minutes  of  1842,  p.  32)  fully  declared  that  it  was  not  its  in? 
tention  "  to  cause  any  sound  Presbyterian  to  be  permanently  separated 
from  our  connection,"  and  having  provided  a  mode  of  return  to  our  body 
(see  Minute  of  1838,  p.  36)  on  principles  Avhich  have  seemed  adapted  to 
preserve  the  purity  and  peace  of  our  Churches,  consider  it  inexpedient  to 
take  any  further  action  on  the  subject  at  this  time.  Yet  the  Assembly 
would  reiterate  its  desire  to  see  all  sound  Presbyterians  reunited  in  one  com- 
munion, according  to  the  doctrine  and  polity  of  our  standards,  and  would 
afiectionately  invite  all  such  to  seek  this  union  in  the  ways  that  are  now 
open  to  them. — 1850,  p.  467,  O.  S. 

18.  In  answer  to  overtures  for  a  Reunion,  the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  reply — 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  union  of  the  two  branches  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  was  taken  from  the  docket,  considered,  adopted,  and 
is  as  follows : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  temper  of  these  overtures  meets  the  hearty  ap- 
proval of  the  Assembly,  entirely  accordant,  as  it  is,  with  that  spirit  of 
brotherly  affection  toward  other  denominations,  and  of  co-operation  in 
matters  of  common  interest,  which  has  marked  our  whole  history. 

Resolved,  2.  That  while  we  have  ever  regretted  the  divisive  acts  of  1837, 
deeming  them  at  variance  alike  Avith  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  and 
the  word  of  God,  we  have  never  cherished  an  unkind  or  exacting  s])irit ; 
as  has  been  evinced  in  various  ways,  particularly  in  the  proposal,  made  by 
us  some  years  since,  to  gather  with  our  brethren  of  the  other  Assembly, 
around  the  table  of  our  common  Lord. 

Resolved,  3.  That  it  would  give  us  pleasure  to  unite,  in  the  closest  fel- 
lowship, with  all  ])orsons  who  can  stand  with  us  on  the  basis  of  our  Con- 
fession of  Faith  and  Book  of  Discipline;  and  who  substantially  agree 
with  us  on  the  great  moral  questions  of  the  day — in  the  matter,  es])ecially, 
of  loyalty  to  the  Government,  and  in  the  views  of  Slavery  set  forth,  prior 
to  the  division,  in  the  deliverance  of  1818. 

Resolved,  4.  That,  while  we  bear  in  remembrance  the  prayer  of  our 
Lord,  that  his  disciples  may  be  one,  and  while  we  can  see  some  special 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  a  reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Pres- 
b}i;erian  Church ;  we  do  not  perceive,  that,  beyond  the  preceding  declara- 


PRELIMINARY    PRINCIPLES.  59 

tion  of  our  views,  anything  remains  for  us,  at  the  present,  but  to  await 
hunihlv  and  teachably  the  movements  of  Divine  Providence. — 1862,  p. 

38,  N."S. 

19.  Initiation  of  Correspondence  between  the  Assemblies. 

a.  In  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  session  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  the  matter  of  a  fraternal 
correspondence  by  commissioners,  with  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  (New-school),  in  session  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  being  duly 
considered,  is  decided  as  follows  : 

This  Assembly  having  considered  certain  overtures  sent  to  it  by  a  few 
of  the  Presbyteries  under  its  care,  proposing  that  steps  should  be  taken 
by  it  towards  an  organic  union  between  this  Church  and  the  Church 
under  the  care  of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  (New-school)  ;  and 
having  determined  against  the  course  proposed  in  said  overtures,  has  also 
been  informed  that  the  other  General  Assembly  has,  about  the  same  time, 
come  to  a  similar  conclusion  on  similar  overtures  laid  before  it  by  a  cer- 
tain number  of  its  own  Presbyteries.  Of  its  own  motion,  this  General 
As3en)bly,  considering  the  time  to  have  come  for  it  to  take  the  initiative 
in  securing  a  better  understanding  of  the  relations  which  it  judges  are 
proper  to  be  maintained  between  the  two  General  Assemblies,  hereby  pro- 
poses that  there  shall  be  a  stated,  annual,  and  friendly  interchange  of 
commissioners  between  the  two  General  Assemblies ;  each  body  sending 
to  the  other  one  minister  and  one  ruling  elder,  as  commissioners,  year  by 
year  ;  the  said  commissioners  to  enjoy  such  privileges,  in  each  body  to 
which  they  are  sent,  as  are  common  to  all  those  now  received  by  this  body 
from  other  Christian  denominations. 

The  Moderator  of  this  Assembly  will  communicate  this  Deliverance  to 
the  Moderator  of  the  other  Assembly,  to  be  laid  before  it  with  our  Chris- 
tian salutations.— 1862,  pp.  633,  634,  O.  vS. 

[This  action  was  communicated  to  the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  of  1863,  whose 
response  was  as  follows.] 

h.  The  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  communication  from  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  that  met  at  Columbus,  Oiiio,  in  May,  1862,  addressed  to  this 
General  Assembly,  and  proposing  "a  stated,  annual,  and  friendly  inter- 
change of  Commissioners  between  the  two  General  Assemblies,"  recom- 
mend the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly,  with  heartfelt  pleasure  and  Christian 
salutations,  accept  the  proposition  thus  made,  hoping  and  praying,  that  it 
may  result  "in  securing  a  better  understanding  of  the  relations,"  which, 
in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  "are  proper  to  be  maintained  between 
the  two  xVssemblies." 

2.  That,  in  accordance  with  the  suggestion  of  the  Moderator  of  the 
Assembly  that  met  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  May,  1862,  that  this  inter- 
change of  Commissioners  should  commence  at  the  earliest  practicable 
period,  the  Rev.  Robert  AV.  Patterson,  D.  D.,  and  the  Hon.  William  H. 
Brown,  Principals,  and  the  Rev.  Arthur  Swazey  and  Mr.  Oliver  H.  Lee, 
Alternates,  all  of  the  Presbytery  of  Chicago,  be  appointed  Commission- 
ers to  represent  this  General  Assembly  in  the  General  Assembly  now  in 
session  at  Peoria,  111. 

3.  That  it  be  suggested  that  future  General  Assemblies  of  the  two 
branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  hereafter, 
designate  each  other  respectively  by  the  places  in  which  their  sessions 
are  appointed  to  be  held. 


60  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

4.  That  a  certified  copy  of  this  action  be  at  once  transmitted  to  the 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  now  in  session  at  Peoria,  111.,  and 
that  the  Commissioners  appointed  be  requested  to  repair  to  that  body,  and 
express  to  them  the  fraternal  and  Christian  regards  of  this  General 
Assembly.— 1863,  p.  230,  N.  S. 

20.  Action  of  the  O.  S.  looking  to  Reunion.— Committee  appointed. 

a.  The  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures  report  Overture  No.  10,  ou 
the  subject  of  the  reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
from  the  Presbyteries  of  Leavenworth,  Muucie,  New  Lisbon,  Madison, 
Erie,  and  Oxford.  These  Presbyteries  ask  the  Assembly  to  take  measures 
at  this  session  to  secure,  at  an  early  day,  the  organic  union  of  the  two 
bodies  whose  General  Assemblies  are  now  in  session  in  this  city. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly  expresses  its  fraternal  affection  for  the 
other  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  its  earnest  desire  for  re- 
union at  the  earliest  time  consistent  with  agreement  in  doctrine,  order,  and 
polity,  on  the  basis  of  our  common  standards,  and  the  prevalence  of  mu- 
tual confidence  and  love  which  are  necessary  to  a  happy  union,  and  to  the 
permanent  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  united  Church. 

Resolved,  2.  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  our  churches  and  church 
courts,  and  to  all  our  ministers,  ruling  elders,  and  communicants,  to  cher- 
ish fraternal  feelings,  to  cultivate  Christian  intercourse,  in  the  worship  of 
God  and  in  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  to  avoid  all  need- 
less controversies  and  competitions  adapted  to  perpetuate  division  and 
strife. 

Resolved,  3.  That  a  Committee  of  nine  ministers  and  six  ruling  elders 
be  appointed,  provided  that  a  similar  Committee  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
other  Assembly  now  in  session  in  this  city,  for  the  purpose  of  conferring 
in  regard  to  the  desirableness  and  practicability  of  reunion,  and  if,  after 
conference  and  inquiry,  such  reunion  shall  seem  to  be  desirable  and  prac- 
ticable, to  suggest  suitable  measures  for  its  accomplishment,  and  report  to 
the  next  General  Assembly. — 1866,  p.  44,  O.  S. 

h.  Response  of  the  N.  S.  Committee  appomted. 

The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  reported  on  several  over- 
tures relating  to  Reunion  with  the  Other  Branch  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.     The  report  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  is  as  follows  : 

The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  report  overtures,  numbered 
5  to  16,  on  the  subject  of  the  Reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church :  from  the  Presbyteries  of  New  York,  3d,  and  New  York,  4th, 
Newark,  Dubuque,  Greencastle,  Alton,  Steuben,  Athens,  Monroe,  Keokuk, 
Long  Island,  Trumbull,  and  San  Jose.  All  these  Presbyteries,  with  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  urgency,  recommend  to  this  Assembly  to  initiate,  or  to 
respond  to,  proposals  looking  to  an  entire  Reunion  of  the  churches  repre- 
sented by  the  two  General  Assemblies  now  in  session  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 

The  General  Assembly  now  in  session  at  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  this  city  has  also  adopted  resolutions,  appointing  a  Committee 
to  confer  with  a  similar  Committee  of  our  own  Church  in  regard  to  the 
desirableness  and  practicability  of  such  Reunion. 

Your  Committee  recommend  to  this  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  tender  to  the  Assembly,  representing  the 
Other  Branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  its  cordial  Christian  saluta- 


PEELIMINARY   PEINCIPLES.  61 

tions  and  fellowship,  and  the  expression  of  its  earnest  wish  for  Keunion, 
on  the  basis  of  our  common  standards,  received  in  a  common  spirit. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  fifteen,  nine  of  whom  shall  be  Ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  and  six  Ruling  Elders,  be  appointed  to  confer  on  this  sub- 
ject, in  the  recess  of  the  Assemblies,  with  the  Committee  to  be  appointed 
by  the  other  General  Assembly,  and  to  report  the  results  to  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  we  enjoin  upon  this  Committee,  and  upon  all  our  ministers 
and  church  members,  to  abstain  from  whatever  may  hinder  a  true  Chris- 
tian fellowship,  and  to  cherish  and  cultivate  those  feelings  and  purposes 
which  look  to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  Zion,  the  edifying  of  the  body 
of  Christ,  and  the  complete  union  of  all  believers,  especially  of  those  who 
live  in  the  same  land,  and  have  the  same  history,  and  the  same  standards 
of  Doctrine  and  Polity. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  with  the  names  of  our  Com- 
mittee, be  sent  to  the  other  General  Assembly  now  in  session  in  this  city. 
—1866,  pp.  273,  274,  N.  S. 

[Under  these  Resolutions  the  following  Committees  were  appointed,  viz. : 
of  the  Old  School.] 

Mimders. — J.  M.  Krebs,  D,  D.,  of  the  Svnod  of  New  York,  C.  C. 
Beatty,  D.  D.,  of  the  Synod  of  Wheeling,  J.  T.  Backus,  D.  D.,  of  the 
Synod  of  Albany,  P.  D.  Gurley,  D.  D.,  of  the  Synod  of  Baltimore,  J.  G. 
Monfort,  D.  U.,  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  W.  £).  Howard,  D.  D.,  of  the 
Synod  of  Pittsburg,  W.  E.  Schenck,  D.  D.,  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
Villeroy  D.  Reed,  D.  D.,  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  F.  T.  Brown,  D.  D., 
of  the  Synod  of  Chicago.  Rulhvi  Elders. — James  ^I.  Ray,  of  the  Synod 
of  Northern  Indiana,  Robert  McKnight,  of  the  Synod  of  Allegheny, 
Samuel  Galloway,  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  H.  K.  Clarke,  of  the  Synod  of 
Sandusky,  George  P.  Strong,  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  Ormond  Beatty, 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky.— 1866,  p.  48,  O.  S. 

[Of  the  New  School.] 

Thomas  Brainerd,  D.  D.,  Chairman,  William  Adams,  D.  D.,  Edwin  F. 
Hatfield,  D.  D.,  Jonathan  F.  Stearns,  D.  D.,  Philemon  H.  Fowler,  D.  D., 
James  B.  Shaw,  D.  D.,  Henry  L.  Hitchcock,  D.  D.,  Robert  W.  Patterson, 
D.  D.,  and  Henry  A.  Nelson,  D.  D.,  with  Ruling  Elders — Joseph  Allison, 
LL.  D.,  Henry  W.  Williams,  LL.  D.,  and  Messrs.  Truman  P.  Handy, 
Edward  A.  Lambert,  Robert  W.  Steele,  and  William  H.  Brown. — 1866, 
p.  278,  N.  S. 

[The  joint  committee  thus  constituted,  reported  to  the  Assemblies  of 
1867,  as  follows :] 

EEPOET  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  REUNION  OF  THE  PEES- 
BYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  last  General  Assembly  to  confer  with 
a  similar  Committee  of  the  other  Assembly,  on  the  desirableness  and  prac- 
ticability of  reuniting  the  bodies  which  they  severally  represent,  would 
respectfully  report : 

That  in  the  discharge  of  the  duty  assigned  them,  the  two  Committees 
assembled  in  the  city  of  New  Yoi'k  on  Wednesday,  February  20th,  1867, 
and  after  organizing  in  their  respective  places  of  appointment,  met  in 
joint  session  for  conference  and  prayer.  These  meetings  continued  to  a 
late  hour  on  Friday  evening,  February  22d,  when  the  Committees  ad- 
journed, to  meet  again  in  the  same  city,  on  the  first  day  of  May.  Re- 
assembling at  that  time,  they  continued  their  conferences  till  Tuesday, 
May  7th,  when  they  finally  adjourned. 


62  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

The  circumstances  in  wliicli  the  Committees  held  their  first  meeting  were 
so  peculiar  as  to  demand  a  special  mention,  as  they  were  fitted  to  produce 
an  unusual  sobriety. 

The  chairmen  of  both  Committees,  as  originally  constituted,  were  ab- 
sent. One,  Rev.  Dr.  Brainerd,  had  been  translated  to  that  world  where 
all  the  distinctions  of  Christian  discipleship  which  exist  on  the  earth  are 
lost  in  the  harmony  of  heaven.  The  other,  Rev.  Dr.  Krebs,  was  disabled, 
by  severe  illness,  from  all  participation  in  our  conferences,  waiting  for 
that  change  to  come  which  will  unite  him  to  the  great  company  of  Chris- 
tian ministers  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

All  the  meetings  of  the  Committees  were  distinguished  by  a  degree  of 
courtesy  and  unanimity  which  was  more  than  common.  Composed  of. 
men  of  decided  individuality,  representing  divers  interests  and  sections, 
they  have  discussed  every  question — many  of  them  of  admitted  delicacy 
and  difficulty — with  the  vitmost  frankness,  without  one  word  or  expression 
of  any  kind  ever  to  be  regretted  by  Christian  brethren  who  felt  the  grave 
responsibilities  of  their  position. 

The  result  of  their  conferences  is  contained  in  the  following  document, 
adopted  in  joint  Committee  with  remarkable  unanimity. 

PEOPOSED  TEEMS  OF  EEUXIOX  BETWEEX  THE  TWO  BEAXCHES 
OF  THE  PEESBYTEEIAX  CHUECH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 
AMEEICA. 

The  Joint  Committee  of  the  two  General  Assemblies  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  on  the  desirable- 
ness and  practicability  of  uniting  these  two  bodies,  deeply  impressed  with 
the  responsibility  of  the  work  assigned  us,  and  having  earnestly  sought 
Divine  guidance  and  patiently  devoted  ourselves  to  the  investigation  of 
the  questions  involved,  agree  in  presenting  the  following  for  the  consid- 
eration, and,  if  they  see  fit,  for  the  adoption  of  the  two  General  Assem- 
blies. 

Believing  that  the  interests  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  would  be  j^ro- 
moted  by  healing  our  divisions ;  that  practical  union  would  greatly  aug- 
ment the  efficiency  of  the  whole  Church  for  the  accomplishment  of  its 
divinely-appointed  work ;  that  the  main  causes  producing  division  have 
either  wholly  passed  away  or  become  in  a  great  degree  inoperative;  and 
that  two  bodies,  bearing  the  same  name,  adopting  the  same  Constitution, 
and  claiming  the  same  corporate  rights,  cannot  be  justified  by  any  but 
the  most  imperative  reasons  in  maintaining  separate  and,  in  some  respects, 
rival  organizations ;  and  regarding  it  as  both  just  and  proper  that  a  Re- 
union should  be  effected  by  the  two  Churches  as  independent  bodies,  and 
on  equal  terms ;  we  propose  the  following  Terms  and  Recommendations, 
as  suited  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  case. 

1.  The  Reunion  shall  be  effected  on  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical 
basis  of  our  common  standards.  The  Confession  of  Faith  shall  continue 
to  be  sincerely  received  and  adopted  "  as  containing  the  system  of  doc- 
trine taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures ;"  and  its  fair  historical  sense,  as  it  is 
accepted  by  the  two  bodies,  in  opposition  to  Antinomianism  and  Fatalism 
on  the  one  hand,  and  to  Arminianism  and  Pelagianism  on  the  other,  sh.ali 
be  regarded  as  the  sense  in  which  it  is  received  and  adopted ;  and  the 
government  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  shall  continue  to  be  approved  as  containing  the  principles  and  rules 
of  our  polity. 

2.  All  the  ministers  and  churches  embraced  in  the  two  bodies  shall  be 


PRELIMINARY    PRINCIPLES.  63 

admitted  to  the  same  standing  in  the  united  body  which  they  may  hold  in 
their  respective  connections  up  to  the  consummation  of  the  union  ;  and 
all  tlie  churches  connected  with  the  united  body,  not  thoroughly  Presby- 
terian in  their  organization,  shall  be  advised  to  perfect  their  organization 
as  soon  as  is  permitted  by  the  highest  interests  to  be  consulted  ;  no  other 
such  churches  shall  be  received ;  and  such  persons  alone  shall  be  chosen 
Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly  as  are  eligible  according  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  Church. 

3.  The  boundaries  of  the  several  Presbyteries  and  Synods  shall  be  ad- 
justed by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  united  Church. 

4.  The  official  Records  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Church  for  the 
period  of  separation  shall  be  preserved  and  held  as  making  up  the  one 
history  of  the  Church  ;  and  no  rule  or  precedent,  which  does  not  stand 
approved  by  both  the  bodies,  shall  be  of  any  authority  until  re-established 
in  the  united  body. 

5.  The  corporate  rights,  now  held  by  the  two  General  Assemblies  and 
by  their  Boards  and  Committees,  shall,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  consol- 
idated and  applied  for  their  several  objects  as  defined  by  law. 

6.  There  shall  be  one  set  of  Committees  or  Boards  for  Home  and  For- 
eign Missions,  and  the  other  religious  enterprises  of  the  Church,  which 
the  churches  shall  be  encouraged  to  sustain,  though  left  free  to  cast  their 
contributions  into  other  channels  if  they  desire  to  do  so. 

7.  As  soon  as  practicable,  after  the  union  shall  be  effected,  the  General 
Assembly  shall  reconstruct  and  consolidate  the  several  Permanent  Com- 
mittees and  Boards  which  now  belong  to  the  two  Assemblies,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  represent,  as  far  as  possible,  with  impartiality,  the  views  and 
wishes  of  the  two  bodies  constituting  the  united  Church. 

8.  When  it  shall  be  ascertained  that  the  requisite  number  of  Presby- 
teries of  the  two  bodies  have  approved  the  terms  of  union,  as  hereinafter 
provided  for,  the  two  General  Assemblies  shall  each  appoint  a  Committee 
of  Seven,  none  of  them  having  an  official  relation  to  either  the  Board  or 
the  Committee  of  Publication,  who  shall  constitute  a  joint  Committee, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  revise  the  Catalogues  of  the  existing  publica- 
tions of  the  two  Churches,  and  to  make  out  a  list  from  them  of  such 
books  and  tracts  as  shall  be  issued  by  the  united  Cliurch  ;  and  any  cata- 
logue thus  made  out,  in  order  to  its  adoption,  shall  be  approved  by  at 
least  five  members  of  each  Committee. 

9.  If,  at  any  time  after  the  union  has  been  effected,  any  of  the  theo- 
logical seminaries,  under  the  care  and  control  of  the  General  Assembly, 
shall  desire  to  put  themselves  under  Synodical  control,  they  shall  be  per- 
mitted to  do  so  at  the  request  of  their  Boards  of  Direction ;  and  those 
seminaries  which  are  independent  in  their  organization,  shall  have  the 
privilege  of  putting  themselves  under  ecclesiastical  control,  to  the  end 
that,  if  practicable,  a  system  of  ecclesiastical  supervision  of  such  institu- 
tions may  ultimately  prevail  through  the  entire  united  Church. 

10.  It  shall  be  regarded  as  the  duty  of  all  our  judicatories,  ministers, 
and  people  in  the  united  Church,  to  study  the  things  which  make  for 
peace,  and  to  guard  against  all  needless  and  offensive  references  to  the 
causes  that  have  divided  us  ;  and  in  order  to  avoid  the  revival  of  past  is- 
sues by  the  continuance  of  any  usage  in  either  branch  of  the  Church, 
that  has  grown  out  of  our  former  conflicts,  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to 
the  lower  judicatories  of  the  Church,  that  thej^  conform  their  practice  in 
relation  to  all  such  usivges,  as  far  as  consistent  with  their  convictions  of 
duty,  to  the  general  custom  of  the  church  prior  to  the  controversies  that 
resulted  in  the  separation. 


64  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

11.  The  terms  of  the  reunion  shall  be  of  binding  force,  if  they  shall  be 
ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the  Presbyteries  connected  with  each  branch 
of  the  Church  within  one  year  after  they  shall  have  been  submitted  to 
them  for  approval. 

12.  The  terms  of  the  reunion  shall  be  published  by  direction  of  the 
General  Assemblies  of  1867,  for  the  deliberate  examination  of  both 
branches  of  the  Church,  and  the  Joint  Committee  shall  report  to  the 
General  Assemblies  of  1868  any  modification  of  them  they  may  deem  de- 
sirable, in  view  of  any  new  light  that  may  have  been  received  during  the 
year. 

13.  It  is  recommended  that  the  Hon.  Daniel  Haines  and  the  Hon. 
Henky  W.  Green,  LL.  D.,  of  New  Jersey,  Daniel  Lord,  LL.  D.,  and 
Theodore  W.  Dwight,  LL.  D.,  of  New  York,  and  Hon.  William 
Strong  and  Hon.  George  Sharsw^ood,  LL.  D.,  of  Pennsylvania,  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Assemblies  a  Committee  to  investigate  all  ques- 
tions of  property  and  of  vested  rights  as  they  may  stand  related  to  the 
matter  of  reunion,  and  this  Committee  shall  report  to  the  Joint  Commit- 
tee as  early  as  the  first  of  January,  1868. 

14.  It  is  evident  that,  in  order  to  adapt  our  ecclesiastical  system  to  the 
necessities  and  circumstances  of  the  united  Church  as  a  greatly  enlarged 
and  widely-extended  body,  some  changes  in  the  Constitution  will  be  re- 
quired. The  Joint  Committee,  therefore,  request  the  two  General  Assem- 
blies to  instruct  them  in  regard  to  the  preparation  of  an  additional  article 
on  this  subject,  to  be  reported  to  the  Assemblies  of  1868. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  Joint  Committee, 

Charles  C.  Beatty,  Chairman. 
Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  Secretary. 

New  York,  May  7th,  1867. 

Leaving  their  report  with  the  General  Assemblies,  and  the  ministers 
and  churches  of  our  denomination  throughout  the  land,  your  Committee 
cannot  disregard  the  Providential  auspices  under  which  their  recommen- 
dations await  decision.  The  present  is  thought  to  be  a  favorable  time, 
now  that  many  questions  of  former  controversy  have  lost  their  interest, 
for  adopting  a  magnanimous  policy,  suited  to  the  necessities  of  our  country 
and  the  world. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  has  a  history  of  great  renown.  It  has  been 
intimately  associated  with  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  both  hemispheres. 
Its  republican  and  representative  character,  the  parity  of  its  clergy,  the 
simplicity  of  its  order,  the  equity  of  its  administration,  its  sympathy  with 
our  institutions,  its  ardent  patriotism  in  all  stages  of  our  history,  its  flex- 
ible adaptations  to  our  heterogeneous  population,  its  liberal  support  of 
schools,  colleges,  and  seminaries  designed  for  general  education  and  the- 
ological culture,  its  firm  and  steadfast  faith  in  the  extension  of  the  Re- 
deemei-'s  kingdom,  and  this  by  means  of  revealed  truth  and  the  special 
effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  distinction  from  all  trust  in  human  arts 
and  devices  all  unite  to  promise,  if  we  are  wise  and  faithful,  a  future  for 
the  Presbyterian  Cburch  in  these  United  States  greater  and  better  than 
all  the  past.  Amid  all  the  changes  wl)ich  have  occurred  around  us^  we 
are  confident  that  nothing  true  and  good  will  ever  recede  or  decay ,-  and 
it  becomes  all  those  who  love  the  same  faith,  order,  and  worship,  abound- 
ing in  love  and  hope,  to  pray  that  God  would  "  count  them  worthy  of 
their  calling,  that  they  may  fulfill  all  the  good  pleasure  of  His  goodness 
and  the  work  of  faith  with   power,  that   the   name  of  our  Lord   Jesus 


PEELIMIXARY    PEI^X•1PLES.  65 

Christ  may  be  glorified  in  them  and  they  in  him,  according  to  the  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Signed  by  order  of  the  Committee.    Charles  C.  Beatty,  Chairman. 

William  Adajjis,  Chairman. 

New  York,  May  7,  1867. 

1867,  pp.  387-390,  O.  S. 
1867,  pp.  480-484,  N.  S. 

23.  In  the  respective  Assemblies  of  1867  action  was  taken  upon  the 
above  report  as  follows,  viz. : 

a.  1.  Besolved,  That  this  Assembly  has  listened  with  grateful  and  pro^ 
found  satisfaction  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Church  Reunion, 
and  recognizes  in  the  unanimity  of  the  Joint  Committee  the  finger  of 
God  as  pointing  toward  an  early  and  cordial  reunion  of  the  two  sister 
Churches  now  so  long  separated. 

2.  Resolved,  That  said  Committee  be  continued  and  directed  to  co-oper- 
ate with  any  similar  Committee  of  the  other  branch  in  furtherance  of  this 
object,  and  to  report  thereon  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  be  empowered  to  fill  all  vacancies  that 
may  occur  in  their  body  during  the  coming  year,  whether  by  resignation,, 
protracted  sickness,  or  by  death. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  necessary  expenses  incurred  by  this  Committee,  in 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  assigned  them,  be  paid  from  the  profits  on  the 
sale  of  books  by  the  Board  of  Publication. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  Report  of  the  Committee  be  published  in  the 
Appendix  to  the  INIinutes,  and  in  our  religious  newspapers,  and  commend- 
ed to  the  careful  consideration  of  our  whole  Church,  and  that  the  Com- 
mittee be  directed  to  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly  any  modifica- 
tion of  the  terms  of  reunion  specified  therein,  which  may  appear  desirable 
to  the  Joint  Committee,  in  view  of  any  further  light  that  may  have  been 
received  during  the  year. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  Hon.  Daniel  Haines,  and  the  Hon.  Henry  W. 
Green,  LL.  D.,  of  New  Jersey,  Daniel  Lord,  LL.  D.,  and  Theodore  Dwight, 
LL.  D.,  of  New  York,  and  the  Hon.  Wm.  Strong,  and  the  Hon.  Geo. 
Sharswood,  LL.  D.,  of  Pennsylvania,  be  appointed  a  Committee  to  inves- 
tigate all  questions  of  property  and  of  vested  rights  as  they  may  stand 
related  to  the  matter  of  reunion  ;  and  that  this  Committee  be  requested 
to  report  to  the  Joint  Committee  as  early  as  January  1,  1868;  and  that 
our  share  of  the  necessary  expenses  incurred  by  this  Committee  be  also 
paid  by  our  Board  of  Pulilication  from  the  profits  on  its  book-sales. 

7.  Resolved,  That  in  submitting  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Re- 
union to  the  consideration  of  the  Churches  and  Presbyteries,  the  Assem- 
bly is  not  called  upon  at  this  time  to  express  either  approbation  or  dis- 
approbation of  the  terms  of  reunion  presented  by  the  Committee  in  its 
details,  but  only  to  afibrd  the  Church  a  full  opportunity  to  examine  the 
subject  in  the  light  of  all  its  advantages  and  difficulties,  so  that  the  Com- 
mittee may  have  the  benefit  of  any  suggestions  which  may  be  offered,  be- 
fore making  a  final  report  for  the  action  of  the  next  Assembly. 

On  motion  of  Rev.  P.  D.  Young,  the  Moderator  was  requested  to  ap- 
point a  member  of  the  Reunion  Committee  of  Fifteen  to  fill  the  virtual 
vacancy  occasioned  by  the  illness  of  the  Rev.  John  M.  Krebs,  D.  D.  In 
accordance  with  this  request,  the  Moderator  appointed  the  Rev.  J.  E. 
Rockwell,  D.  D.,  of  the  Synod  of  New  York.— 1867,  p.  362,  O.  S. 

b.  The  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  Report  of  the  Special 
Committee,  appointed  by  the  last  General  Assembly  to  confer  with  a  sim- 


66  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

ilar  Committee  on  the  desirableness  and  practicability  of  reuniting  the 
bodies  which  they  severally  represent,  would  respectfully  report: 

That  they  have  given  the  document  committed  to  them  a  careful  con- 
sideration, in  view  of  its  grave  importance,  and  the  manifold  interests  it 
involves  in  its  relations  to  our  own  Church  and  the  progress  of  the  King- 
dom of  Christ  in  the  earth.  It  presents  a  basis  for  the  proposed  Reunion, 
■which,  if  the  two  Assemblies  so  order,  is  to  be  submitted  to  the  deliberate 
examination  of  both  Branches  of  the  Church  for  one  year,  subject  to 
such  modifications  as  may  appear  necessary  or  desirable  within  that  pe- 
riod. It  leaves  the  General  Assemblies  of  1868  free  to  act  with  reference 
to  these  terms  of  Reunion,  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  providential  signs  may 
indicate;  and,  if  advisable,  to  submit  them  to  the  constitutional  and  final 
action  of  the  Presbyteries.  Ample  opportunity  is  thus  afibrded  for  a  full 
and  deliberate  consideration  of  the  whole  subject,  in  all  its  bearings,  as 
they  shall  aflJect  local  interests  or  the  well-being  of  the  entire  Church. 

For  this  and  kindred  reasons,  your  Committee  conclude  it  was  not  the 
intention  of  this  body,  in  referring  to  them  this  proposed  basis  of  Reunion, 
that  its  several  articles  should  be  discussed  at  this  time  and  place ;  and 
yet  they  cannot  withhold  their  conviction,  expressed  in  these  general 
terms,  that  results  have  already  been  reached  full  of  promise  and  hope ; 
that,  whatever  concessions  have  been  made,  they  only  indicate  how  near 
the  two  parts  of  the  divided  Church  have  approached  each  other ;  that 
nothing  more  and  nothing  less  than  Christian  charity  would  dictate  has 
been  yielded ;  and  that,  in  the  adjustment  of  any  difiiculties  or  difiTer- 
ences,  a  proper  regard  has  been  preserved  for  the  honor  and  rights  of  the 
respective  bodies,  to  which  the  work  of  their  Joint  Committee  is  now  sub- 
mitted. The  remarkable  unanimity  with  which  these  initiatory  proceed- 
ings have  been  concluded,  after  a  thorough  and  frank  discussion  of  the 
basis  of  Union,  is  full  of  encouragement ;  and  whatever  may  be  the  ulti- 
mate result,  much  has  already  been  accomplished  for  the  healing  of  our 
divisions,  and  the  promotion  of  peace  and  good-will  in  the  Presbyterian 
body. 

Impressed  with  these  considerations,  and  gratefully  recognizing  therein 
the  guiding  providence  of  God  in  the  successive  stages  of  this  work  of 
concord,  and  especially  in  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  love  given  to  His  ser- 
vants in  their  several  conferences,  we  do  recommend,  that  this  Assembly 
approve  of  the  whole  action  of  its  Special  Committee  as  declared  in  their 
Report,  and  that  the  same  Committee  be  continued  for  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  constituted. 

There  is  a  single  point  on  which  the  Joint  Committee  ask  instructions 
from  the  two  General  Assemblies.  It  relates  to  the  changes  in  represen- 
tation, etc.,  which  will  be  required  to  adapt  our  ecclesiastical  system  to 
the  necessities  and  circumstances  of  the  united  Church.  We  would  rec- 
ommend, that  it  be  left  to  the  Joint  Committee  to  examine  carefully  the 
whole  subject,  and  suggest  such  changes  in  the  Constitution  as  in  their 
wisdom  they  may  deem  requisite. 

It  is  further  recommended,  that  the  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  be 
published  under  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly,  for  general  dis- 
tribution among  our  ministers  and  churches. 

It  is  also  reconnuended,  that  the  Assembly  appoint  the  several  gentle- 
men designated  by  the  Joint  Committee  as  legal  advisers,  and  tliat,  in 
case  of  the  inability  of  any  one  of  them  to  serve,  the  Committee  have 
power  to  fill  his  place. 

It  is  indicative,  we  would  believe,  of  the  temper  of  this  Assembly,  the 
largest  during  our  history  of  thirty  years  since  the  separation,  that  your 


PRELIMINAEY    PRINCIPLES.  67 

Committee,  though  representing  the  extremes  of  our  territory,  and  even 
the  lingering  memories  of  the  conflict  which  culminated  in  the  division, 
are  of  one  mind  in  desiring  the  speedy  and  permanent  Reunion  of  our 
beloved  Church.  It  is  but  reasonable  to  anticipate,  that  the  same  spirit 
will  characterize  the  action  of  the  other  Assembly,  in  the  recollection  of 
the  fraternal,  not  to  say  magnanimous,  advances  made  one  year  ago,  and 
which  gave  rise  to  present  measures  for  Reunion,  and  the  hope  increas- 
ingly and  fondly  cherished  in  the  great  Presbyterian  household.  Other 
members  of  that  renowned  family,  than  those  represented  in  the  two  As- 
semblies now  in  session,  at  home  and  across  the  sea,  are  stirred  in  sym- 
pathy at  the  goodly  prospect.  The  friends  of  Christian  Union  every- 
where claim  an  interest  in  the  completion  of  our  work,  so  happily  begun, 
as  another  sign  of  the  predicted  day  when  all  Christ's  people  shall  be  one, 
keeping  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace. — 1867,  pp.  485. 
486,  N.  S. 

[The  Committee  was  continued,  and  in  1868  presented  the  following.] 

EEPOET  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OX  REUXIOX. 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1866  to  confer 
with  a  similar  Committee  of  the  other  Assembly,  in  regard  to  the  Re- 
union of  the  two  Branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  continued 
by  the  Assembly  of  1867,  with  directions  and  instructions  to  co-operate 
with  the  other  Committee  in  furtherance  of  the  object,  and  "  report  to  the 
General  Assemblies  of  1868  any  modification  of  the  terms  of  Union  which 
might  seem  desirable  to  the  Joint  Committee,  in  view  of  any  new  light 
that  may  have  been  received  during  the  year" — would  now  respectfully 
report : 

That  the  two  Committees  again  assembled  in  joint  meeting,  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  on  Wednesday  A.  M.,  the  11th  of  March,  1868,  and  con- 
tinued in  conference,  reviewing  the  terms  of  Union,  with  the  further  light 
which  they  had  received,  till  Saturday  afternoon  the  14th,  when,  having 
finished  the  important  business  with  which  they  were  intrusted,  they 
finally  adjourned. 

Every  member  of  these  large  Committees  was  present  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Rev.  Dr.  Hitchcock,  of  Ohio,  absent  in  Europe,  Rev.  Dr. 
Howard,  of  Pennsylvania,  detained  by  severe  illness,  and  Judge  Strong, 
of  Missouri,  prevented  by  unavoidable  professional  engagements.  Rev. 
Dr.  Patterson,  of  Illinois,  arrived  from  a  foreign  voyage,  after  a  long  ab- 
sence, in  season  to  meet  the  Committee ;  but  feeling  himself  obliged  to 
leave  for  home  on  Thursday  afternoon,  did  not  participate  in  the  final 
action.  This  large  and  patient  attendance  was  a  new  indication  of  the 
deep  interest,  which  is  felt  throughout  the  country  in  the  subject  under 
consideration,  and  also  of  the  profound  sense  of  responsibility  on  the  part 
of  the  several  members  of  the  .Joint  Committee,  charged  to  take  action 
in  a  matter,  which  must  aftect  extensively  and  permanently  the  interests 
of  our  country  and  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

To  our  regret,  the  report  expected  from  the  Legal  Advisers  appointed 
to  investigate  questions  of  property  and  vested  rights  was  not  received, 
owing  to  the  death  of  INIr.  Daniel  Lord,  and  the  fact  that  Judges  Strong 
and  Sharswood  had  declined  to  act  in  the  premises,  because  of  their  pres- 
ent ofiicial  position  on  the  Bench.  After  filling  a  vacancy  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Hon.  William  A.  Porter,  of  Philadelphia,  we  requested  the  Legal 
Committee  to  meet  as  soon  as  practicable  and  prepare  their  report,  which 
will  be  submitted  by  them  directly  to  the  Assemblies. 


68  FORM   OF   GOYERXMENT. 

To  affirm  that  all  the  meetings  of  the  Joint  Committee  were  distin- 
guished, as  heretofore,  by  Christian  courtesy  and  kindness,  would  be  but 
a  faint  expression  of  the  truth.  This  sentiment  of  fraternal  confidence 
and  regard  assumed  such  forms  of  expression,  that  all  who  participated 
in  the  conference  will  be  sure  to  remember  it,  as  one  of  the  greatest  and 
happiest  privileges  of  their  lives.  This  kindness  of  feeling,  however,  did 
not  repress  or  modify  the  utmost  frankness  in  the  statement  of  difficulties, 
real  and  alleged,  on  either  side.  It  ought  to  be  stated  distinctly,  in  justice 
to  all  the  many  interests  and  sections  represented  by  these  Committees, 
that  there  was  not  the  least  reserve  in  the  expression  of  the  objections, 
which  had  been  urged  in  any  quarter,  against  the  proposed  reunion.  So 
frank  and  explicit  was  this  utterance,  that  at  times  it  appeared  as  if  hon- 
est differences  of  opinion  would  render  success  uncertain.  But  the  effect 
of  continued  and  candid  conference  was  the  increase  of  confidence,  through 
the  correction  of  misapprehensions  and  the  removal  of  obstacles,  so  that 
the  very  clouds,  which  threatened  to  obscure  the  light,  arranged  them- 
selves at  last  so  as  to  reflect  and  increase  what  they  could  not  hide.  The 
prayers  of  many  churches  and  Conventions,  in  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, known  to  the  Committee  to  be  ascending  to  God  in  their  behalf,  were 
abundantly  answered  in  the  entire  harmony  and  unanimity  to  which  they 
eventually  attained.  By  this  unanimity  it  is  not  meant,  that  in  every 
article  and  act  of  the  Committee  the  preferences  of  each  member  were 
fully  met ;  but  that  all  were  finally  agreed,  that  the  basis  of  Union  now 
to  be  reported  was,  in  the  circumstances,  the  best  that  could  be  framed  in 
the  way  of  adjusting  divers  conflicting  views  and  interests  ;  and  as  such 
it  was  adopted  in  the  final  vote,  with  entire  unanimity,  pledges  of  cordial 
support,  and  sincere  thanks  to  Almighty  God. 

Your  Committee  are  fully  persuaded  that,  if  the  ministers,  elders,  and 
members  of  both  branches  of  the  Church  had  been  present  at  our  recent 
conferences,  seen  what  we  saw,  and  heard  what  we  heard,  they  would 
heartily  join  in  the  result  which  was  reached  by  their  representatives. 
With  this  belief  the  Committee  have  judged  it  expedient  and  proper,  to 
accompany  their  report  with  such  explanatory  words,  as  may  serve  to 
convey  to  others  the  facts  and  motives  which  proved  of  such  weight  to 
themselves. 

Your  Committee  were  not  at  liberty  to  forget  or  overlook  the  premises 
upon  which  they  received  their  appointment.  The  Resolution  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  (O.  S.)  in  which  this  movement  originated,  expressed  the 
"  earnest  desire  "  of  that  body  for  reunion  at  the  earliest  time  consistent 
with  agreement  in  doctrine,  order,  and  polity,  on  the  basis  of  our  common 
standards  and  the  prevalence  of  mutual  confidence  and  love.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  (N.  S.),  in  responding  to  this  action  by  a  similar  vote, 
expressed  "  its  earnest  ivish  for  reunion  "  on  a  similar  basis. 

This  EARNEST  DESiKE  for  uniou,  as  confessed  by  both  bodies,  is  a  fact 
which  antedates  the  appointment  of  your  Committee.  They  were  not 
commissioned  to  inquire  whether  it  existed,  or  to  take  measures  to  excite 
and  promote  it.  The  existence  of  this  acknowledged  sentiment  was  the 
basis  upon  which  the  two  Committees  were  appointed.  Tliese  premises 
assumed,  the  position  occupied  by  the  Joint  Committee,  and  the  point  of 
view  from  which  they  should  survey  their  work,  were  already  decided  by 
both  Assemblies. 

The  desirableness  of  reunion,  if  it  can  be  consummated  on  satisfiictory 
terms,  is  not  to  be  treated  and  put  aside  as  a  blind  and  imbecile  impulse ; 
it  is  the  act  and  expression  of  Christian  wisdom.  The  movement,  thus 
inaugurated  and  advanced,  was  not  made  necessary  by  the  condition  or 


PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  69 

prospects  of  either  of  the  bodies  now  in  conference.  Each  is  thoroughly 
organized,  equipped,  and  prosperous.  Neither  needs  the  accession  of  the 
other  for  its  own  sake  merely.  The  motives  which  impel  to  union  are 
higher  and  greater  than  any  which  pertain  to  denominational  advantage. 
They  relate  to  the  welfare  of  the  whole  country,  and  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  in  all  the  earth.  On  this  high  ground,  chosen  for  them  in  the  prov- 
idence of  God,  by  the  action  of  both  Assemblies,  the  two  Committees  took 
their  stand,  inclined  in  advance,  when  any  concessions  were  to  be  made, 
that  the  lesser  preference  should  defer  to  the  greater  and  the  stronger. 

The  changes  which  have  occurred  in  our  own  country  and  throughout 
the  world,  during  the  last  thirty  years — the  period  of  our  separation — ar- 
rest and  compel  attention.  Within  this  time  the  original  number  of  our 
States  has  been  very  nearly  doubled.  It  was  in  the  year  1837  that  what 
is  now  the  great  and  prosperous  State  of  Michigan  was  admitted  into  the 
Union.  Florida,  Texas,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  California,  Minnesota,  Oregon, 
Kansas,  Nevada,  Nebraska,  have  followed  in  rapid  succession ;  with  nu- 
merous territories  already  organized,  soon  to  take  their  places  in  the  Na- 
tional Union.  And  all  this  vast  domain  is  to  be  supplied  with  the  means 
of  education  and  the  institutions  of  religion,  as  the  only  source  and  pro- 
tection of  our  national  life.  The  population  crowding  into  this  immense 
area  is  heterogeneous.  Six  millions  of  emigrants,  representing  various 
religions  and  nationalities,  have  arrived  on  our  shores  within  the  last 
thirty  years ;  and  four  millions  of  slaves,  recently  enfranchised,  demand 
Christian  education.  It  is  no  secret  that  anti-Christian  forces — Roman- 
ism, Ecclesiasticism,  Rationalism,  Infidelity,  Materialism,  and  Paganism 
itself — assuming  new  vitality,  are  struggling  for  the  ascendency.  Chris- 
tian forces  should  be  combined  and  deployed,  according  to  the  new  move- 
ments of  their  adversaries.  It  is  no  time  for  small  and  weak  detachments 
which  may  easily  be  defeated  in  detail.  A  lesson  has  been  given  us  in 
recent  years,  as  to  the  ease  with  which  diversities  of  sentiment  may  be 
harmonized  and  combined  in  one  purpose  to  maintain  the  national  life. 
The  time  has  come  when  minor  motives  should  be  merged  in  the  mag- 
nanimous purpose,  inspired  both  by  patriotism  and  religion,  to  Christian- 
ize the  whole  country. 

The  necessity  of  a  closer  union  among  Christians  of  a  common  faith 
and  order  has  come  to  be  felt  in  a  new  sense,  by  the  members  of  our  sev- 
eral churches.  It  cannot  be  denied,  that  there  exists  a  widespread  and 
earnest  longing  for  more  of  visible  unity  among  all  classes  of  Christian 
people.  This  is  especially  noticeable  among  the  most  intelligent,  active, 
and  generous  in  our  coiuiection.  Responding  to  the  teachings  and  chal- 
lenges of  the  pulpit,  the  laity  in  our  large  cities  and  towns  have  entered 
upon  a  new  stage  of  Christian  activity,  demonstrating  the  possibility  of 
practical  union  in  the  stewai-dship  of  Christ.  In  many  quarters  there  is 
an  evident  increase  of  evangelic  life  and  energy.  With  these  facts  well 
authenticated  before  them,  your  Committee  feel  that,  should  the  elements 
now  stirred  and  converging  toward  union  be  diverted  and  repelled  from 
their  object,  the  effect  would  be  most  disastrous  on  the  prospects  of  true 
religion.  If  the  hearts  of  Christian  people,  combined  already  throughout 
the  land  in  Christian  work,  should  be  disappointed  as  to  that  organic  union 
which  they  crave,  and  this,  through  differences  asserted  by  die  clergy, 
which  the  laity  either  do  not  understand  or  with  which  they  have  no  sym- 
pathy, the  certain  effect  will  be  to  lessen  the  sentimeut  of  respect  and  con- 
fidence on  their  part  toward  their  appointed  leaders,  and  weaken  the  force 
of  paramount  motives. 

Nor  is  the  proposed  union  desirable  on  our  own  account  only.     It  is 


70  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

inevitable  that  its  effects  should  be  felt  throughout  the  whole  of  Christen- 
dom. Many  of  the  ecclesiastical  organizations  of  Protestant  Europe  had 
their  origin  in  remote  controversies  connected  with  the  Ileforniation. 
That  was  a  time  for  the  assertion  of  truth,  rather  than  for  the  expression 
of  love.  It  was  not  so  much  a  season  for  extending  Christianity  as  for 
purifying  and  preparing  it  for  future  aggression.  If  we  must  judge  now, 
that  segregation  was  then  carried  to  an  extreme  beyond  what  was  required 
by  necessity  and  Christian  charity,  surely  we  possess  peculiar  advantages 
in  this  country  and  ago,  for  availing  ourselves  of  a  wiser  and  happier 
policy.  Nothing  is  so  long-lived  and  inveterate  as  ancestral  memories 
and  prejudices.  Before  the  world  we  are  now  engaged,  as  a  nation,  in 
solving  the  problem  whether  it  is  possible  for  all  the  incongruous  and 
antagonistic  nationalities  thrown  upon  our  shores,  exerting  their  mutual 
attraction  and  repulsion,  to  become  fused  in  one  new  American  sentiment. 
If  the  several  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country,  rep- 
resenting to  a  great  degree  ancestral  differences,  should  become  cordially 
united,  it  must  have  not  only  a  direct  effect  upon  the  question  of  our 
national  unity,  but  reacting  by  the  force  of  a  successful  example  on  the 
Old  World,  must  render  aid  in  that  direction,  to  all  who  are  striving  to 
reconsider  and  readjust  those  combinations,  which  had  their  origin  either 
in  the  faults  or  the  necessities  of  a  remote  past.  The  results  of  our 
present  movement  are  eagerly  observed  by  many,  and  its  success  or  fail- 
ure must  inevitably  affect  other  efforts,  at  home  and  abroad,  looking  to 
the  consolidation  of  other  branches  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  nor  can  we 
doubt  that,  if  any  hindrance  should  frustrate  the  consummation  of  that 
union  now  contemplated  by  ourselves,  a  pang  of  grief  and  disappoint- 
ment would  be  felt  not  only  in  our  own  country,  but  throughout  Protest- 
ant Christendom. 

The  third  of  a  century,  the  life  of  a  whole  generation,  has  indeed 
wrought  wondrous  changes,  of  the  greatest  promise  for  the  future.  An- 
other order  of  things  exists.  Old  causes  of  irritation  are  removed.  A  new 
generation  in  the  ministry  and  the  membership  of  the  Church  has  arisen, 
with  little  sympathy  for  those  controversies  that  resulted  in  division.  A 
new  evangelic  spirit  is  abroad,  like  the  breath  of  Spring,  inviting  to  a 
new  style  of  action. 

It  would  have  betrayed  a  criminal  temper,  on  the  part  of  your  Com- 
mittee, had  they  been  indifferent  to  those  events  and  sentiments  to  which 
they  owe  their  own  appointment,  and  under  the  influence  of  which  they 
addressed  themselves  honestly,  patiently,  and  prayerfully  to  the^  duty 
assigned  to  them.  The  result  of  their  deliberation  is  embodied  in  the 
following  document,  which  they  now  submit  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Assemblies : — 

PROPOSED  TERMS  OF  REUNION  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  BRANCHES 

OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 

AMERICA. 

The  Joint  Committee  of  the  two  General  Assemblies  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  api)ointed  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  on  the  desirable- 
ness and  practicability  of  uniting  these  two  bodies,  deeply  impressed  with 
the  responsibility  of  tlie  work  assigned  us,  and  having  earnestly  sought 
Divine  guidance,  and  patiently  devoted  ourselves  to  the  investigation  of 
the  (luestions  involved,  agree  in  presenting  the  following  for  the  considera- 
tion, and,  if  they  see  fit,  for  the  adoption,  of  the  two  General  Asseml)lies. 

Believing  that   the   interests  of  the   Redeemer's   kingdom  would   be 


PEELIMINAEY   PEINCIPLES.  71 

promoted  by  healing  our  divisions;  that  practical  union  would  greatly 
augment  the  efficiency  of  the  whole  Church  for  the  accomplishment  of  its 
divinely-appointed  work ;  that  the  main  causes  producing  division  have 
either  wholly  passed  away,  or  become  so  far  inoperative,  as  that  Reunion 
is  now  "  consistent  with  agreement  in  doctrine,  order,  and  polity,  on  the 
basis  of  our  common  standards,  and  the  prevalence  of  mutual  confidence 
and  love ;"  and  that  two  bodies,  bearing  the  same  name,  adopting  the 
same  Constitution,  and  claiming  the  same  corporate  rights,  cannot  be 
justified  by  any  but  the  most  imperative  reasons  in  maintaining  separate 
and,  in  some  respects,  rival  organizations;  and  regarding  it  as  both  just 
and  proper,  that  a  Reunion  should  be  effected  by  the  two  Churches,  as 
independent  bodies,  and  on  equal  terms ;  we  propose  the  following  Terms 
and  Recommendations,  as  suited  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  case : 

1.  The  Reunion  shall  be  effected  on  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  basis 
of  our  common  standards  ;  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
shall  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  inspired  Wor-d  of  God,  and  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  the  Confession  of  Faith  shall  con- 
tinue to  be  sincerely  received  and  adopted,  "  as  containing  the  system  of 
doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;"  it  being  understood,  that  this 
Confession  is  received  in  its  proper,  historical — that  is,  the  Calvinistic 
or  Reformed — sense ;  it  is  also  understood,  that  various  methods  of  view- 
ing, stating,  explaining,  and  ilkistrating,  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession 
which  do  not  impair  the  integrity  of  the  Reformed  or  Calvinistic  system, 
are  to  be  freely  allowed  in  the  united' Church,  as  they  have  hitherto  been 
allowed  in  the  separate  Churches:  and  the  Government  and  discipline  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  shall  be  approved  as  con- 
taining the  principles  and  rules  of  our  polity. 

2.  All  the  ministers  and  Churches,  embraced  in  the  two  bodies,  shall  be 
admitted  to  the  same  standing  in  the  united  body,  which  they  may  hold 
in  their  respective  connections  up  to  the  consummation  of  the  union ;  im- 
perfectly organized  churches  shall  be  counseled  and  expected  to  become 
thoroughly  Presbyterian,  as  early,  within  the  period  of  five  years,  as  is 
permitted  by  the  highest  interests  to  be  consulted ;  and  no  other  such 
churches  shall  be  hereafter  received, 

3.  The  boundaries  of  the  several  Presbyteries  and  Synods  shall  be  ad- 
justed by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  united  Church. 

4.  The  official  records  of  the  two  Branches  of  the  Church,  for  the 
period  of  separation,  shall  be  preserved  and  held  as  making  up  the  one 
history  of  the  Church  ;  and  no  rule  or  precedent,  which  does  not  stand 
approved  by  both  the  bodies,  shall  be  of  any  authority,  until  re-established 
in  the  united  body,  except  in  so  far  as  such  rule  or  precedent  inay  attect 
the  rights  of  property  founded  thereon. 

5.  The  corporate  rights,  now  held  by  the  two  General  Assemblies,  and 
by  their  Boards  and  Committees,  shall,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  consoli- 
dated, and  applied  for  their  several  objects,  as  defined  by  law. 

6.  There  shall  be  one  set  of  Committees  or  Boards  for  Home  and 
Foreign  Missions,  and  the  other  religious  enterprises  of  the  Church,  which 
the  churches  shall  be  encouraged  to  sustain,  though  free  to  cast  their 
contributions  into  other  channels,  if  they  desire  to  do  so. 

7.  As  soon  as  practicable  after  the  union  shall  be  effected,  the  General 
Assembly  shall  reconstruct  and  consolidate  the  several  Permanent  Commit- 
tees and  Boards,  which  now  belong  to  the  two  Assemblies,  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  represent,  as  far  as  possible,  with  impartiality,  the  views  and 
wishes  of  the  two  bodies  constituting  the  united  Church. 

8.  The  publications  of  the  Board  of  Publication,  and  of  the  Publica- 


72  FORM    OF   GOV^ERNMEXT. 

tion  Committee,  shall  contiuue  to  be  issued  as  at  present,  leaving  it  to  the 
Board  of  Publication  of  the  united  Church  to  revise  these  issues,  and 
perfect  a  catalogue  for  the  joint  Church,  so  as  to  exclude  invidious  refer- 
ences to  past  controversies. 

r  ""^9.  In  order  to  a  uniform  system  of  ecclesiastical  supervision,  those  Theo- 
logical Seminaries  that  are  now  under  Assembly  control  may,  if  their 
Boards  of  Direction  so  elect,  be  transferred  to  the  watch  and  care  of  one 
or  more  of  the  adjacent  Synods ;  and  the  other  Seminaries  are  advised  to 
introduce,  as  far  as  may  be,  into  their  Constitutions,  the  principle  of  Sy- 
nodical  or  Assembly  supervision  ;  in  which  case,  they  shall  be  entitled  to  an 
oflicial  recognition  and  approbation  on  the  part  of  the  General  Assembly. 

^ —  10.  It  is  agreed,  that  the  Presbyteries  possess  the  right  to  examine 
ministers  applying  for  admission  from  other  Presbyteries ;  but  each  Pres- 
bytery shall  be  left  free  to  decide  for  itself  when  it  shall  exercise  the 
right. 

11.  It  shall  be  regarded  as  the  duty  of  all  our  judicatories,  ministers, 
and  people  in  the  united  Church,  to  study  the  things  which  make  for 
peace,  and  to  guard  against  all  needless  and  offensive  references  to  the 
causes  that  have  divided  us;  and,  in  order  to  avoid  the  revival  of  past 
issues,  by  the  continuance  of  any  usage  in  either  Branch  of  the  Church 
that  has  grown  out  of  our  former  conflicts,  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to 
the  lower  judicatories  of  the  Church,  that  they  conform  their  practice  in 
relation  to  all  such  usages,  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  their  convictions  of 
duty,  to  the  general  custom  of  the  Church  prior  to  the  controversies  that 
resulted  in  the  separation. 

12.  The  Terms  of  the  Reunion,  if  they  are  ap])roved  by  the  General 
Assemblies  of  1868,  shall  be  overtured  to  the  several  Presbyteries  under 
their  care,  and  shall  be  of  binding  force,  if  they  are  ratified  by  tiiree 
fourths  of  the  Presbyteries  connected  with  each  Branch  of  the  Church, 
within  one  year  after  they  shall  have  been  submitted  to  them  for 
approval. 

18.  If  the  two  General  Assemblies  of  1869  shall  find,  that  the  plan  of 
Reunion  has  been  ratified  by  the  requisite  number  of  Presbyteries  in  each 
body,  they  shall,  after  the  conclusion  of  all  their  business,  be  dissolved 
by  their  respective  Moderators,  in  the  manner  and  form  following,  viz. : — 
Each  Moderator  shall  address  the  Assembly  over  which  he  presides,  say- 
ing, "  By  virtue  of  the  authority  delegated  to  me  by  the  Church,  and  in 
conformity  with  the  Plan  of  Union  adopted  by  the  two  Presbyterian 
Churches,  let  this  Assembly  be  dissolved ;  and  I  do  hereby  dissolve  it, 
and  require  a  General  Assembly,  chosen  in  the  same  manner,  by  all  the 
Presbyteries  in  connection   with  this  body,  and  all   those   in    connection 

with  the  General  Assembly  meeting  this  year  in ,  to  meet  in , 

on  the day  of  May,  A.  D.  1870;   and  I  do  hereby  declare  and  ])ro- 

claim,  that  the  General  Asseml)ly  tluis  constituted  will  be  the  rightful  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, now,  by  the  grace  of  God,  happily  united." 
Signed,  by  order  of  the  Joint  Committee, 

Charles  C.  Beatty,  Chairman. 

Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  Secretary. 

Philadelphia,  March  14,  A.  D.  1S68. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  Committee  have  agreed  upon  a  few  modifi- 
cations of  the  Basis  of  Union,  reported  in  May,  1867;  this,  not  so  much 
from  any  change  of  opinion  on  their  own  part,  a.s  with  a  view,  if  possible, 


PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  73 

of  preventing  or  correcting  misapprehension,  and  to  meet,  more  fully,  the 
vie\vs  and  wishes  of  the  bodies  which  they  represent. 

In  reference  to  the  First  Article,  containing  the  doctrinal  basis,  the 
language  employed  is  so  explicit,  that  the  Committee  believe  it  will  prove 
satisfactory  to  all  who  desire  union  on  the  terms  of  Christian  confidence 
and  honor.  First  of  all,  following  the  order  of  the  "  Constitutional  Ques- 
tions "  proposed  by  our  Form  of  Government  to  all  who  are  ordained  to 
the  Ministry  and  Eldership  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  assert  the 
great  Protestant  principle — the  sole  supremacy  and  undivided  authority 
of  the  Word  of  God,  in  all  matters  of  faith  and  practice :  assigning  to 
this  the  foremost  place  above  Church,  Creed,  Confession,  School,  and 
System. 

Magnifying  the  Inspired  Scriptures,  we  next  adopt,  endorse,  and  honor, 
our  common  Confession,  as  "  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures."  So  far  as  they  were  concerned  themselves,  the 
Committees  would  have  been  content  to  rest  in  this  prescribed  form  of 
words,  as  received  and  used  by  Christian  brethren.  Unhappily,  misap- 
jDreheusion,  prejudices,  and  distrust  are  engendered  by  divisions,  to  obviate 
which  the  Committee  have  endeavored  to  modify  the  language  of  their 
former  report,  thought  by  some  to  be  ambiguous,  so  as  to  make  it  precise, 
without  surmising  or  exaggerating  differences  of  ojoiniou. 

In  their  judgment,  the  line  of  distinction  between  the  two  Assemblies, 
as  now  drawn,  does  not  consist,  as  some  have  supposed,  merely  in  theo- 
logical diversities.  The  same  Confession  is  adopted  by  all.  It  is  adopted 
in  the  same  tei-nis  as  containing  the  same  system.  To  make  this  agree- 
ment the  more  determinate,  the  Committee  have  given  this  system  its 
historic  name.  At  the  same  time  that  we  mutually  interchange  these 
guarantees  for  orthodoxy,  we  mutually  interchange  guarantees  for  Chris- 
tian liberty.  Differences  always  have  existed  and  been  allowed  in  the 
Presbyterian  Churches  in  Europe  and  America,  as  to  modes  of  explain- 
ing and  theorizing  within  the  metes  and  bounds  of  the  one  accepted 
system.  What  exists  in  fact,  we  have  undertaken  to  express  in  words. 
To  put  into  exact  formulas  ivhat  opinions  should  be  allowed  and  what 
interdicted,  woukl  be  to  write  a  new  Confession  of  Faith.  This  neither 
branch  of  the  Church  desires.  Your  Committee  have  assumed  no  such 
work  of  supererogation.  Neither  have  they  made  compromises  or  con- 
cessions. They  append  no  codicil  to  the  old  symbols.  They  have 
asserted,  as  being  essential  to  all  true  unity,  the  necessity  of  adopting  the 
same  Confession  and  the  same  System,  with  the  recognition  of  liberty  on 
either  hand,  for  such  differences  as  do  not  impair  the  integrity  of  the  sys- 
tem itself;  which  is  all  the  liberty  that  any  branch  of  the  great  Calvinistic 
family  of  churches  has  ever  claimed  or  desired.  Your  Committee  cannot 
see  how  it  was  possible  for  them  to  employ  language  more  precise  and 
guarded,  unless  they  were  prepared  to  substitute  "private  interpretations" 
for  the  recognized  standards  of  the  Church.  To  go  further  in  either 
direction  than  they  have  done,  would  certainly  lead  to  useless  and  endless 
"  strifes  of  words."  Language  somewhere  must  find  a  limit.  It  would 
be  impossible  so  to  frame  expressions  on  thi.s  subject,  that  those  who  are 
opposed  to  reunion  may  not  find  occasion  to  cavil  and  object.  But  the 
Committee  hope  and  trust  that  the  Article  now  reported  will  commend 
itself  to  all  fair-minded  men,  as  containing  what  is  precise,  yet  not  ex- 
clusive ;  definite,  yet  not  rigid ;  specific,  yet  not  inflexible ;  liberal,  with- 
out laxity ;  catholic,  without  latitudinarianism.  If  exact  uniformity  in 
all  shades  of  opinion,  in  technical  adjustments,  in  philosophic  theories,  be 
regarded  as  essential  to  union,  we  should  earnestly  recommend  the  in- 

10 


74  FORM   OF   GOYERNMEXT. 

definite  adjoururaent  of  the  present  movement.  Nor  would  consistency 
allow  us  to  rest  here;  our  present  organizations  should  be  dissolved  and 
exchanged  for  disintegration  and  individualism. 

Nothino;  need  be  said  in  vindication  of  the  Second  Article,  to  those  who 
are  fully  informed  concerning  the  churches  referred  to  therein.  Your 
Committee  had  to  deal,  not  with  abstractions,  but  with  facts  and  realities. 
The  churches  here  described  originated  in  a  policy  which  was  itself  inau- 
o-urated  by  a  remote  necessity;  their  number  is  limited,  and  cannot  be 
increased;  the  terms  of  their  relationship  are  prescribed  and  limited  also; 
their  Presbyterial  relationship  is  at  present  cordial,  happy,  and  eminently 
useful ;  and  some  of  them  are  deemed,  by  the  Presliyteries  with  which 
thev  are  connected,  as  among  their  most  cfRcient  and  excellent  churches. 
As  nothing  is  intended  by  our  action  to  disturb  the  present  relations  of 
these  churches,  so  nothing  is  designed  to  be  done,  at  any  time,  which  can 
be  regarded  as  inconsistent  with  good  faith  and  honor;  but  such  state- 
ments were  made  by  those  members  of  the  Joint  Committee  more  imme- 
diately representing  the  sections  of  country  in  which  these  churches  exist, 
as  led  the  Committee  to  believe,  that  the  friendly  counsel  contained  iu 
this  Article  would  prove  not  unacceptable  to  these  churches  themselves, 
and  that  the  specification  of  a  definite  time  might  be  an  aid  to  them  in. 
perfecting  that  organization  which  is  now  suggested  by  Christian  ex- 
pediency. 

The  several  Articles,  which  contemplate  the  combination  and  re-ad- 
justment of  the  respective  Boards  and  Committees  of  the  two  Assemblies, 
look  only  to  economy  and  increased  efficiency. 

The  recommendation  contained  in  the  Eighth  Article  calls  for  the  brief- 
est explanation,  as  it  is  believed  that  it  will  prove  more  satisfactory  than 
the  former  Article,  to  which  various  objections  were  made.  No  dispo- 
sition was  manifest  in  the  Committee  to  press  invidious  distinctions  and 
preferences.  Neither  Publishing  Committee  is  to  supersede  or  endorse  the 
other.  Both,  earnestly  engaged  at  present  in  publishing  what  is  received 
by  the  churches  at  large,  as  valuable  literature  in  tlieology  and  practical 
religion,  are  advised  to  continue  as  now  organized,  till  such  a  new  Board 
or  Committee  shall  be  appointed  in  the  united  Church,  as,  it  may  be  sup- 
posed, would  be  prompted,  by  every  instinct  of  Christian  propriety,  to 
omit  painful  and  invidious  references  to  past  strifes,  leaving  undisturbed 
what  is  now,  and  ever  must  be,  highly  prized  by  all  our  ministers  and 
churches. 

As  to  the  action  of  the  Committee  concerning  Theological  Seminaries, 
as  embodied  in  Article  Ninth  of  their  report,  all  difficulty  springs  from 
the  obvious  fact,  that  there  is  no  authority  which  is  competent  to  forbid 
the  endowment  of  Seminaries  at  any  time  by  any  individuals  in  our  con- 
nection. Those  Theological  Seminaries  which  are  now  independent  of 
ecclesiastical  control,  were  founded  before  the  disrvption,  and  endowed  by 
men  representing  alike  what  are  now  known  as  Old-  and  New-School 
Churches.  What  was  done  then  may  be  repeated  again,  A  recommenda- 
tion, looking  to  some  unii'ormity  of  ecclesiastical  supervision,  is  all  which 
the  Committee  felt  to  1)0  within  their  province  or  that  of  the  Assembly  : 
except  that  those  Seminaries,  now  belonging  to  either  branch  of  the 
Church,  should  have  every  guarantee  and  protection  for  their  chartered 
rights  which  they  might  desire. 

A  new  Article,  here  designated  as  the  Tenth,  has  been  introduced,  m 
which  some  concession  has  been  made  on  both  sides,  designed  to  reconcile 
conflicting  claims  and  usages.  IMany  churches  and  presbyteries,  in  both 
Assemblies,  claim  the  right,  as  now  expressed  iu  formal  vote,  of  pro- 


PRELIMINARY    PRINCIPLES.  75 

nouncing  upon  the  expediency  of  admitting,  to  their  own  membership, 
those  who  bear  testimonials  from  correlative  bodies.  One  Assembly  now 
makes  this  obligatory  upon  all  the  Presbyteries.  The  Committee  recom- 
mend the  recognition  of  the  right,  and  the  abolition  of  the  imperative 
rule.  As  all  difficulties  springing  from  this  cause  had  their  origin  in 
times  of  suspicion  and  distrust  which,  it  is  hoped,  are  passing  away,  it  is 
believed  that  the  whole  matter  may  safely  be  left  to  adjust  itself  in  a  new 
era  of  confidence  and  harmony.  In  this  connection,  however,  the  Com- 
mittee would  particularly  refer  to  the  next  Article  (No.  11),  which  em- 
phasizes the  duty  of  all  our  judicatories  to  study  the  things  which  make  for 
peace,  and  earnestly  recommends  to  the  Presbyteries  to  conform  to  earlier 
and  more  ancient  usages.  The  examination  of  ministers  passing  from 
one  Presbytery  to  another  is  altogether  unknown  to  the  Presbyterian 
Churches  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  ;  nor  was  it  originally  practiced  in  our 
own.  The  extent  of  territory  covered  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  may  have  been  one  reason  for  another  method,  in  later 
years,  in  our  own  country;  but,  inasmuch  as  the  right  and  usage  asserted 
and  defended  by  some,  and  denied  and  discarded  by  others,  were  related 
to  controversies  which  are  past,  the  Committee  are  confident  that  practical 
difficulties,  from  this  quarter,  will  be  obviated  by  the  adoption  of  their 
entire  action  in  the  premises.  Amid  the  diversified  practices  which  now 
prevail  as  to  the  subject  in  both  branches  of  the  Church,  this  recommen- 
dation of  the  Committee  was  designed  to  allay,  and  not  to  promote  dis- 
trust and  suspicion. 

That  some  changes  must  be  made  in  the  present  method  and  ratio  of 
representation  is  apparent  from  the  size  of  the  two  Assemblies.  Differ- 
ences of  opinion  also  have  long  existed  in  both  branches,  as  to  the  powers 
and  prerogatives  of  the  General  Assembly  as  now  exercised.  INIany  are 
jealous  and  apprehensive  lest  these  may  transcend  the  limits  of  expedi- 
ency and  constitutional  law.  Whether  the  proposed  reunion  would  create 
the  necessity  of  enlarging  the  authority  of  the  local  Synods  and  modifying 
somewhat  the  power  and  province  of  the  General  Assembly,  is  a  subject 
upon  which,  as  not  having  been  referred  to  them,  the  Committees  have 
not  felt  at  liberty  to  make  suggestions  or  to  take  action,  beyond  that  of 
commending  it  to  the  attention  of  the  two  Assemblies,  which  they  do  in 
the  following  terms,  to  wit: 

"The  Joint  Committee  recommend  that  each  of  the  two  General  Assem- 
blies of  1868  appoint  a  Committee  of  five,  to  constitute  a  Joint  Committee 
of  ten,  whose  duty  shall  be  to  prepare  and  propose  to  the  first  General 
Assembly  of  the  united  Church  a  proper  adjustment  of  the  boundaries  of 
Presbyteries  and  Synods. 

"  Tliis  Committee  shall  also  recommend  to  the  General  Assembly  any 
amendments  of  the  Constitution,  which  they  may  think  necessary  to  se- 
cure efficiency  and  harmony  in  the  administration  of  a  Church  so  greatly 
enlarged  and  so  rapidly  extending." 

Thus  have  the  Committee  discharged  the  duty  with  which  they  were 
entrusted.  Having  acted  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  according  to  all  the 
wisdom  they  could  command,  their  responsibility  ceases.  The  grave  ne- 
cessity of  decisive  action  is  now  devolved  on  the  respective  Assemblies 
and  Presbyteries  of  the  Church.  That  this  responsibility  transcends  what 
ordinarily  occurs  in  the  life  of  men,  no  one  will  question. 

The  union  contemplated  in  this  report  is  one  based  on  "mutual  confi- 
dence and  love."  The  Committees  are  aware  that  they  have  jDcrsonally 
enjoyed  peculiar  opportunities,  in  the  way  of  intimate  fraternal  inter- 
course, for  the  cultivation  and  expression  of  these  Christian  sentiments. 


76  FORM   OF   GOYERXMENT. 

Whatever  differences  may  exist  among  themselves  on  subordinate  matters, 
they  have  come  to  rest  in  mutual  confidence  concerning  that  ^vhich  is  of 
paramount  importance.  If  the  same  sentiment  prevails  throughout  the 
whole  Church,  organic  union  cannot  be  prevented  ;  if  it  should  prove  to 
be  wanting,  no  technical  formulas,  no  cautious  definitions,  no  Avell-guarded 
conditions,  can  produce  union  of  any  value  or  permanence.  There  is  a 
so-called  unity,  which  is  like  the  freezing  together  into  one  solid  mass  of 
all  incongruous  and  heterogeneous  substances.  Such  icy  compression  is 
undesirable.  There  is  another  unity,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  com- 
pared to  the  living  "  body  fitly  joined  together,  and  compacted  by  that 
which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  effectual  working  in  the 
measure  of  every  part,"  making  "  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  edifying 
of  itself  in  love."  Such  is  the  Divine  model  of  ecclesiastical  Union,  com- 
bining diversity  and  harmony,  liberty  and  love,  and  the  whole  instinct  with 
life,  and  predestined  to  growth  and  perfection.  Love  demands  few  con- 
ditions, and  confidence  builds  on  something  better  than  verbal  guarantees. 
Your  Committee  have  never  expected  to  reconcile  all  local  interests,  all 
private  preferences,  all  personal  memories  and  prejudices.  Content  are 
they,  if  the  Articles  of  Agreement,  herewith  reported  and  recommended, 
approve  themselves  to  the  thoughtful  and  judicious  in  both  branches  of 
the  Church,  as  suited  to  promote,  not  the  advantage  of  any  school  or  sect, 
but  the  healthful  vigor  of  the  entire  Church,  the  prosperity  of  the  whole 
country,  the  honor  of  our  adorable  Lord. 

We  make  no  computation  of  majorities  and  minorities,  in  the  united 
Church,  as  related  to  past  distinctions.  We  recognize  no  such  idea  as  one 
body  absorbing  the  other ;  our  whole  action  is  based  on  the  principle  of 
two  bodies,  now  independent  and  equal,  becoming  assimilated  and  fused 
together  in  cordial  "  agreement  as  to  doctrine,  order,  and  polity,  on  the 
basis  of  our  common  standards,  and  the  prevalence  of  mutual  confidence 
and  love."  In  such  a  sublime  act,  something  must  be  trusted  to  the 
power  of  Christian  sentiment ;  something  left  to  be  accomplished  by  faith 
in  one  another,  as  well  as  in  our  common  Lord.  Signs  are  visible  in 
every  quarter  of  increased  confidence  among  Christian  churches  and  min- 
isters, long  separated  by  ecclesiastical  differences,  now  yearning  for  more 
of  unity.  As  well  might  we  deny  the  return  of  Spring  and  the  putting 
forth  of  buds  and  the  tender  grass,  as  question  this  obvious  fact.  Do  not 
events  indicate  a  Divine  Leadership  which  it  is  our  wisdom  to  observe 
and  obey?  Results  have  already  been  reached,  under  Pentecostal  efilisions 
of  the  Spirit  from  on  high,  surpassing  the  most  sanguine  expectations,  re- 
buking unbelief,  dissolving  prejudice,  and  betokening  greater  things  to 
come.  Some  things  must  be  referred  to  the  past.  If  we  face  the  sun,  our 
shadows  are  behind  us.  "  Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead."  It  is  our  Lord 
himself  who  teaches  us,  that  all  which  is  })ersonal  and  private  should  be 
held  subordinate  to  the  chiims  and  affinities  of  his  kingdom.  What  was 
tolerated  once  may  not  be  justified  now.  The  future  cheei's  and  aninuites 
us  with  brightest  prospects.  The  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  rebukes  the 
weakness  and  wickedness  of  schism,  and  enjoins  the  unity  of  faith  and 
love.  Hope  anticipates  the  time  when,  every  dissension  healed  and  for- 
gotten by  Christian  charity,  all  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Churcii,  in 
all  sections  of  our  common  country,  holding  the  same  Standards,  shall  be 
drawn  together  by  patriotic  and  evangelical  sympathies  in  cordial  and 
indissoluble  union.  Glorious  things  are  promised  to  the  Church,  "in  the 
day  that  the  Lord  bindeth  up  the  breach  of  his  people  and  healeth  the 
«troke  of  their  wound." 

Surely  it  will  be  for  good  and  not  evil,  for  joy  and  not  sorrow,  for 


PEELIMIXARY    PRINCIPLES.  77 

strength  and  not  weakness,  if  henceforth  our  rule  shall  be  "One  body  and 
one  spirit,  even  as  '  we '  are  called  in  one  hope  of  '  our '  calling.  One  Lord, 
one  taith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all  and 
through  all  and  in  'us'  all." 

"Now  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that 
we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  him  be 
glory  in  the  Church,  by  Christ  Jesus,  throughout  all  ages,  world  without 
end,  Amen  !"         Signed  by  order  of  the  Committee, 

Charles  C.  Bea.tty,  Chairman. — 1868,  pp.  669-677,  O.  S. 
William  Adams,  Chairman. — 1868,  pp.  26-38,  N.  S. 

a.  The  terms  of  Reunion,  thus  proposed  by  the  Joint  Committee,  were 
"approved"  by  the  O.  S.  Assembly  and  sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries  for 
their  action  by  a  vote  of  Ayes  188,  Nays  70.  Excused  1. — 1868,  p. 
628,  O.  S. 

It  was  also,  on  motion  of  Judge  Leavitt, 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  the  basis  of  the 
union  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Church  now  made,  be,  and  the  same  is 
hereby,  accepted,  and  the  terms  of  Reunion  are  hereby  approved  by  this 
Assembly  ;  and  it  is  ordered  that  the  whole  be  sent  down  to  the  Presby- 
teries for  their  hnal  action  upon  said  terms  of  Reunion. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  Presbyteries  l)e  requested  to  report  to  the  Stated 
Clerk  their  action  approving  or  disapproving  the  proposed  basis  of  union, 
before  tlie  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  1869. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  Stated  Clerk  be  directed  to  cause  to  be  printed, 
at  an  early  day,  five  thousand  copies  of  the  entire  report  of  the  Joint  Com- 
mittee, at  the  expense  of  the  Board  of  Publication,  for  distribution  to  the 
ministers  and  sessions  of  the  churches. — 1868,  p.  631,  O.  S. 

b.  In  the  N.  S.  Assembly  on  the  consideration  of  the  report  of  a  special 
Committee,  recommending  the  approval  of  terms  of  Reunion  as  above  :  It 
was — 

Resolved,  That,  before  proceeding  to  take  the  vote  upon  the  report  of 
the  Special  Committee  of  Reunion,  the  roll  be  called,  that  any  member 
may  express  his  dissent  from  any  article  of  the  proposed  terms  of  Reunion, 
and  that  such  dissent  be  entered  on  the  n  coid. 

In  accordance  with  this  action,  the  roll  was  called,  and  the  followino- 
members  expressed  their  dissent  from  the  2d  and  lOth  articles  of  the  Basis 
proposed  by  the  Joint  Committee  on  Reunion,  n;imely  :  the  Rev.  Henrv  A. 
Nelson,  D.D.,  Rev.  Timothy  Hill,  and  Elder  Jason  Yarann  ;  Elder  Eli  R. 
Miller  expressed  his  dissent  from  the  2d  article ;  and  the  following  mem- 
bers expressed  their  dissent  from  the  10th  article,  namely  :  Ministers, Wil- 
liam Waith,  T.  Ralston  Smith,  I).  D.,  William  T.  Eva,  Joseph  Vance, 
Frederick  A.  Noble,  William  A.  McCorkle,  Ira  M.  Weed,  Charles  S. 
Adams,  C.Solon  Armstrong,  Henry  B.  Eldred,  Warren  Taylor,  David  E. 
Beach,  Edward  D.  Morris,  D.  D.,  A.  Alexander  Jimeson,  Evan  L.  Davies, 
Charles  H.  Marshall,  Henry  S.  Little,  John  B.  Fowler,  George  Duffield, 
Jr.,  George  M.  Jenks,  Robert  W.  Patterson,  D.  D.,  Arthur  Swazey,  John 
H.  Walker,  George  D.  Young,  John  M.  Brown,  and  Thomas  Brown ;  and 
the  Elders,  Hon.  Frederick  H.  Hastings,  Merrill  N.  Hutchinson,  Samuel  ' 
T.  Bodine,  Daniel  B.  Greene,  Matthew  Newkirk,  Daniel  S.  Beaver,  and 
John  de  Clue. 

The  report  of  the  Special  Committee  was  then  taken  up,  amended,  and 
unanimously  adopted.  The  Rev.  Robert  W.  Patterson,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Ar- 
thur Swazey,  the  Rev.  J.  Ambrose  Wight,  and  Elder  Richard  Edwards 
were  excused  from  voting, — 1368,  pp.  25,  26,  N.  S. 


78  FORM   OF   GOVEKKMENT. 

[The  above  vote  approved  of  the  "proposed  terms  of  Reunion  between 
the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  United  States  of 
America,"  as  also  of  the  report  of  the  Special  Committee,  viz. :] 

Resolved,  That  this  Committee  recommend  to  the  General  Assembly 
the  approval  of  the  proposed  terms  of  Reunion  as  given  on  pages  <S,  9, 
and  10  of  the  report,  and  also  the  article  on  page  14,  with  the  accom- 
panying interpretations  and  explanations  of  the  Joint  Committee,  and  that 
the  same  be  sent  down  as  an  overture  to  our  Presbyteries. 

24.  Report  of  the  Special  Comniittee  (N.  S.)  on  the  foregoing  Report. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  Report  of  the  General  Com- 
mittee on  Reunion,  respectfully  make  their  report : — 

This  Report  of  the  General  Committee  of  this  Assembly  contains  the 
"Terms  and  Recommendations"  for  Reunion,  as  the  Report  of  the  Joint 
Committee  of  both  Assemblies,  and  which  "  Terms  and  Recommenda- 
tions "  have  mauifestly  been  most  carefull}'  prepared,  are  clear  in  state- 
ment, comprehensive  of  the  whole  subject  of  Reunion,  and  present  a  plain 
and  intelligible  basis  on  which  the  divided  portions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  may  again  stand  together.  Summarily,  the 
basis  is  as  follows  :  The  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments ;  the 
Confession  of  Faith  as  a  System  of  Doctrine,  and  this  to  be  received  in 
the  Reformed  or  Calvinistic  sense ;  and  the  allowance  of  philosophical 
views  and  explanatory  statements  in  the  united  Church  which  do  not  im- 
pair the  integrity  of  the  Calvinistic  system.  To  these  particulars,  as  the 
substance  of  the  basis,  other  "  Terms  and  Recommendations  "  are  given, 
"which  maybe  considered  as  complementary  to  the  former;  and  on  this 
ground  it  is  proposed  that  the  two  bodies  again  become  permanently  one. 

To  these  "  Terms  and  Recommendations,"  the  Report  of  the  General 
Committee  of  this  Assembly  appends,  as  prefatory,  such  historic  and  ex- 
planatory statements  "  as  may  serve  to  convey  to  others  the  facts  and 
motives  which  proved  of  such  weight  to  themselves ;"  and  also,  as  supple- 
mentary, a  very  clear  and  full  comment  on  the  body  of  the  "  Terms  and 
Recommendations "  contained  in  the  Joint  Committee's  Report.  The 
General  Committee  of  the  other  Assembly  append  also,  in  their  report  to 
that  body,  the  same  comments  and  statements  to  these  same  joint  "  Terms 
and  Recommendations."  These  appended  statements  and  comments,  it  is 
understood,  have  been  personally  signed  or  expressly  assented  to  by  nearly 
all  the  members  of  the  Joint  Committee.  This  is  deemed  to  be  a  very 
valuable  and  important  part  of  the  Report  which  has  been  put  into  our 
hands,  constituting  an  official  and  authoritative  exposition  of  the  meaning 
of  the  "Terms  and  Recommendations,"  and  which  exposition  is  given  as 
clearly  and  conclusively  as  language  can  be  used  to  explain  language.  It 
must  ])reclude  the  practicability  of  any  judicial  application  of  the  "Terms 
and  Recommendations"  beyond  the  meaning  here  affixed  to  them  by  the 
authors  themselves.  Though  not  the  covenant  itself  of  Reunion,  it  is  a 
direct  official  interpretation  of  it,  and  such  that  any  attempt  to  override 
it  would  be  i-epelled  by  all  the  force  of  virtuous  Christian  indignation 
throughout  the  religious  world. 

While  the  basis  of  Reunion,  given  in  these  "  Terms  and  Recommenda- 
tions," may  hopefully  be  expected  to  be  found  acceptable  and  even  satis- 
factory to  most  of  the  members  of  both  Branches  of  the  Church,  it  has 
already  become  manifest  that  it  is  not  acceptable  to  all.  Difficulties  and 
objections,  of  probably  opposite  bearings,  will  be  found  in  the  different 
divisions  of  the  Church  ;  but  it  is  of  importance  here  to  us,  that  we  re- 
cognize only  such  as  it  may  be  apprehended  will  be  felt  and  urged  in  our 


PRELIMIXARY    PRIXCIPLES.  79 

own  body.  Among  the  most  prominent  will  be,  doubtless,  found  a  meas- 
ure of  hesitation  and  difficulty  from  objections  somewhat  in  the  following 
form  : 

"  Various  methods  of  viewing,  stating,  explaining,  and  illustrating  the 
doctrines  of  the  '  Confession  of  Faith  '  are  to  be  freely  allowed  in  the 
united  Church,  as  they  have  hitherto  been  allowed  in  the  separate 
churches,"  only  they  must  "not  impair  the  integrity  of  the  Calviuistic 
system."  And  now,  who  shall  decide  whether  the  views  do  impair  the 
integrity  of  the  system  ?  If  there  be  a  strenuous  and  rigid  umpire,  such 
will  doubtless  be  found  intolerant  of  opinions  and  interpretations  contrary 
to  its  own.  A  mind  cautious  and  jealous  of  all  encroachment  on  religious 
liberty  will  doubt,  and  in  proportion  to  his  fears,  he  will  hesitate  or  object. 

But  is  the  danger  hei'e  really  formidable?  Admit  the  majority  of  the 
ecclesiastical  body  must  decide  ;  but,  in  the  way  the  members  of  our  Pres- 
byteries now  will  have  their  standing  in  the  united  Church  then,  will  they 
be  unsafe  and  exposed  to  oppression  ?  Aside  from  the  manifest  liberality, 
and  confidence,  and  love,  which  there  must  be  in  the  members  of  tlie  op- 
posite branch  before  three  quarters  of  its  Presbyteries  shall  vote  us  to- 
gether, there  are  these  quite  impregnable  safeguards.  The  man  whose 
sentiments  do  not  violate  the  Calviuistic  system  cannot  be  hurt.  And  if 
the  fear  still  is  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  judicatory,  the  sentiment  may 
be  in  violation  of  the  integrity  of  the  Calviuistic  system,  and  that  this 
opinion  of  the  judicatory  must  rule,  the  answer  at  once  is,  not  the  judi- 
catory on  its  own  opinion,  but  the  judicatory  as  convinced  that  the  oppo- 
site Branch  of  the  Church  has  allowed  or  not  allowed  the  sentiment  to  be 
in  consonance  with  the  Calviuistic  system.  If  the  man  is  not  out  of  the 
pale  of  his  former  church's  orthodoxy,  he  cannot  be  in  danger  from  any 
ecclesiastical  court's  rigidity  or  bigotry. 

Danger  from  this  cannot  be  further  pressed  without  directly  questioning 
the  candor  and  honesty  of  the  judicatory,  and  then  we  are  at  once  beyond 
all  Christian  redress  or  regulation. 

Another  difficulty  is  with  the  churches  that  have  their  standing  on  the 
Plan  of  Union.  They  are  to  stand  in  the  United  Body  as  they  now  stand 
in  the  New  School  Body.  They  are,  however,  to  be  counseled,  and  ex- 
pected to  become  thoroughly  Presbyterian.  So  far  there  is  no  appre- 
hension of  comi)laint.  But  they  are  to  be  counseled  and  expected  to  do 
this  "  as  early,  within  the  period  of  five  years,  as  is  permitted  by  the  high- 
est interests  to  be  consulted  ;"  and  in  this  there  is  fear  of  injury.  Why 
specify  five  years?  The  inference  prompted  by  the  fear  is,  that  such 
churches,  remaining  after  the  five  years'  counseling,  are  to  be  excluded. 
But  such  inference  is  wholly  gratuitous.  The  five  years  is  put  to  give 
earnestness  to  the  counsel  and  definiteness  to  the  expectation.  Counsel  to 
become  thoroughly  Presbyterian,  and  expectation  that  it  will  so  be  at  a 
period  running  beyond  five  years,  would  be  weakness.  If  this  cannot  be 
gained  within  that  time,  both  counsel  and  expectation  may  there  cease. 
This  is  as  long  as  self-respect  in  the  counselor  will  allow  of  his  working 
and  waiting. 

But  what  if  all  this  fails,  and  some  of  these  churches  stand  still  on  the 
old  Plan  of  Union?  The  answer  is,  that  though  the  inviolable  agreement 
still  allows  them  the  same  standing  in  the  United  Body,  yet  that  no  more 
such  churches  are  to  be  organized,  and  these  few  will  not  greatly  trouble 
us,  nor  will  they  probably  long  desire  to  maintain  their  partial  connection 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

One  other  source  of  apprehended  difficulty  only  need  now  be  men- 
tioned.    It  is  in  the  expressed  agreement  "  that  the  Presbyteries  possess 


80  FORM   OF   GOVERXMENT. 

the  right  to  examine  Ministers  applying  for  admission  from  "  another 
Presbytery.  The  ])osition  from  which  the  objection  comes  is  that  the 
Presbyterian  Church  is  a  confederate  body,  and  the  confederacy  is  a  unit, 
and  membership  in  one  place,  with  fair  paper  of  transfer,  confers  the  right 
of  membership  in  all  places  in  the  confederacy.  This  is  doubtless  safe 
practice  and  principle  in  all  ordinary  cases.  But  extremities  become  often 
necessities. 

And  now,  suppose  we  take  this  doctrine  of  previous  examination  in 
cases  of  last  extremities,  or  even  suppose  it  to  be  held  as  very  commonly 
allowable,  what  danger  of  oppression  is  there?  Let  the  examination  be 
as  common  or  as  rigid  as  it  may,  the  judicatory  can  do  nothing  against 
the  man  who  is  still  within  the  pale  of  orthodoxy,  according  to  the  allow- 
ance of  the  old  body  with  which  he  is  in  sympathy.  The  united  Church 
is  to  fellowship  the  orthodoxy  of  both  the  present  Churches. 

Considerations  like  these  induce  your  Committee  to  the  conviction  that, 
if  the  "  Terms  and  Recommendations"  are  not  all  that  one  would  wish, 
and  even  in  some  things  are  what  one  would  wish  they  were  not,  yet,  at 
the  worst,  they  are  not  open  to  an  oppressive  or  a  dangerous  use.  There 
is  a  defence  erected  over  which  nothing  but  dishonesty  can  come  to  work 
us  harm.  The  blessing  of  union,  so  accomplished,  need  not  be  feared  as 
if  about  to  be  counter balivnced  by  coming  injuries. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  your  Committee  are  convinced  that  there  is  not 
only  danger  of  losing  the  possibility  of  Reunion,  but  of  incurring  very 
hazardous  and  perhai)s  ruinous  results  if  the  action  be  longer  delayed. 
Should  modifications  be  ])roposed,  or  conditions  and  new  explanations  be 
voted  by  ourselves,  besides  the  certain  distrust  and  jealousy  promoted, 
there  will  inevitably  be  the  meeting  of  this  by  counter-modifications,  con- 
ditions, and  explanations,  and  we  shall  run  at  once  into  the  temper  and 
spirit  of  theological  controversy.  The  heart  of  brotherly  unity  will  be 
wounded,  alienated,  and  abandoned  by  both  sides. 

Should  we  determine  to  postpone  action  till  another  year,  many  of  the 
churches  will  not  delay.  They  will  come  together  desultorily  and  more 
or  less  disorderly.  Others  will  seek  other  connections,  and  confusion  and 
disintegration  will  in  wide  regions  ensue.  The  conviction  of  the  import- 
ance of  Reunion  and  the  hope  of  its  i)Ossession  have  been  stricken  too  deeply 
into  the  heart  of  the  churches  to  be  now  checked  in  safety.  Even  with 
much  doubt  of  the  wisdom  of  some  of  the  "  Terms  and  Recommenda- 
tions," your  Committee  deem  it  best  that  the  matter  go  down  to  the  Pres- 
byteries for  their  decision.  Divisions  and  alienations  among  ourselves 
will  be  best  precluded  by  letting  the  grand  issue  be  at  once  decided. — 1868, 
pp.  38-41,  N.  S. 

25.  Subsequently  to  the  action  of  the  O.  S.  Assembly  approving  of 
the  proposed  plan— 

a.  Dr.  Monfort  moved  the  following  as  an  addition  to  the  action  of  the 
Assembly  on  this  subject,  and  it  was  adopted. 

Resolved,  4.  While  the  Assembly  has  ajiproved  of  the  report  of  the 
Joint  Committee  on  Reunion,  it  exjiresses  its  preference  for  a  change  in 
the  first  item  in  the  basis, "leaving  out  the  f  )llo\ving  words,  viz.,  "  It  being 
understood  that  the  Confession  is  I'eceived  in  its  historical — that  is,  the 
Calviuistic  or  Reformed  sense.  It  is  also  understood  that  various  methods 
of  viewing,  stating,  explaining  and  illustrating  the  doctrines  of  the  Con- 
fession, which  do  not  imj)air  the  integrity  of  the  Reformed  or  Calvinistic 
system,  are  to  be  freely  allowed  in  the  united  Church,  as  they  have  hith- 
erto been  in  the  separate  churches."     The  Assembly  believes  that,  by 


PRELIMINARY    PEIXCIPLES.  81 

omitting  these  clauses,  the  l^asis  will  be  more  simple  and  more  expressive 
of  mutual  confidence,  and  the  Permanent  Clerk  is  directed  to  telegraph 
this  proposed  amendment  to  the  Assembly  at  Harrisburg,  and  if  that 
Assembly  shall  concur  in  the  a'nendment,  it  shall  become  of  effect  as  the 
action  of  this  Assembly  also. 

The  Assembly  also  appoints  the  Rev.  C.  C.  Beatty,  D.  D.,  Rev.  \.  D, 
Reed,  D.  D.,  and  ruling  elders  Robert  Carter  and  Henry  Day,  a  Commit- 
tee to  proceed  at  once  to  Harrisburg  and  personally  to  lay  this  action 
before  the  other  Assembly. — 1868,  p.  631,  O.  S. 

This  Committee  proceeded  to  Harrisburg,  and  after  conference  the 
following  paper  was  adopted  by  the  N.  S.  Assembly,  viz. : 

b.  The  Assembly  has  heard  with  profound  satisfaction,  and  reciprocates 
with  cordial  fellowship,  the  statement  of  the  Delegation  from  the  General 
Assembly  at  Albany  about  the  plan  of  Reunion. 

In  respect,  however,  to  the  proposition  for  a  change  in  Article  1st,  as 
our  Assembly  is  on  the  eve  of  au  adjournment  and  greatly  reduced  iu 
numbers — 

Resolved,  That  we  regret  that  no  action  can  now  be  had  upon  this  sub- 
ject, as  it  cannot,  according  to  our  rules,  be  reconsidered  and  amended  at 
the  present  sessions  of  the  assembly  ;  nor  can  the  proposed  amendment  be 
now  sent  down  to  our  Presbyteries  in  such  a  form  as  that  its  adoption 
would  be  of  any  legal  effect. 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  on  Reunion  be  continued,  and 
that  the  other  Assembly  be  requested  to  appoint  a  similar  Committee,  to 
co-operate  with  this,  in  furnishing  such  information  as  they  may  deem 
best  to  the  churches,  in  order  to  secure  intelligent  action  on  the  subject 
of  Reunion.— 1868,  p.  59,  N.  S. 

26.  [In  the  Assembly,  O.  S.] 
"  The  Committee  to  prepare  an  answer  to  the  protest  of  Dr.  E.  P.  Hum- 
phrey and  others,  reported  an  answer,  which  was  read  and  adopted,  and 
ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  INlinutes.     The  Protest  and  Answer  are  as 
follo^YS . 

a.  PEOTEST. 

The  undersigned  respectfully  request  that  the  following  protest  be  entered  upon 
the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly. 

We  do  not  now  protest  against  the  reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  our  Church  ; 
nor  against  the  measures  inaugurated  for  tiie  accomplishment  of  that  object,  but  sim- 
ply against  the  Terms  of  Union  approved  by  the  Assembly,  and  its  action  in  relation 
to  them. 

The  first  article  of  the  plan  proposes  that  "  the  Reunion  shall  be  effected  on  the 
doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  b.isis  of  our  common  standards,"  ...  "it  being  under- 
stood that  various  methods  of  viewing,  stating,  explaining,  and  illustrating  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Confession,  wliich  do  not  impair  the  integrity  of  the  Keformed  or  Cal- 
vinistic  system,  are  to  be  freely  allowed  in  the  united  Church  as  they  have  been  hith- 
erto allowed  in  the  separate  churches." 

Under  this  term  of  the  compact,  we  shall  be  bound  to  allow  all  those  forms  of  doc- 
trine which  the  New  School  Church  has  hitherto  allowed. 

This  interpretation,  the  article  in  question  will,  in  our  judgment,  fiiirly  admit,  it 
is  so  interpreted  by  the  other  party  to  the  contract ;  and  it  is  so  understood  by  the 
public. 

We  protest  against  its  adoption,  first,  because  it  utterly  unsettles  our  standard  of 
doctrine.  That  standard  ceases  to  be  the  system  of  doctrine  contained  in  our  Con- 
fession, but  that  system  as  interpreted  by  "the  New  School  Church  in  their  past  his- 
tory. Secondly,  because  that  article  binds  us  to  approve  of  doctrines  which  our  Gen- 
eral Assembly  has  formally  condemned. 

We  distinctly  disavow  any  intention  of  imputing  error  in  doctrine  to  the  mass  of 
our  New  School  brethren.  With  equal  distinctness  and  earnestness  we  disavow  any 
impeachment  of  their  sincerity  or  integrity.     We  only  say  that  they  regard  as  con- 

11 


82  FORM   OF   GOVEENMENT. 

sistent  with  our  standards,  forms  of  doctrine  which  our  branch  of  the  Chnrch  ha? 
officially,  earnestly,  and  constantly  condemned.     What  those  are,  may  be  learned  by 
a  reference  to  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  1837,  by  which  they  were  condemned. 
Some  of  the  more  important  of  the  errors  there  specified  or  implied  are : 

1.  The  denial  of  original  righteousness.  It  is  assumed  that  moral  character  pre- 
supposes moral  conduct,  and  therefore,  that  there  can  be  no  moral  character  prior  to 
moral  action  ;  consequently  it  cannot  be  true  that  man  was  created  after  the  image  of 
God,  in  knowledge,  righteousness,  and  holiness. 

2.  As  it  regards  our  relation  to  our  first  parents,  it  is  denied  that  there  was  any 
covenant  made  with  Adam  ;  that  all  mankind  descending  from  him  by  ordinary  gen- 
eration, sinned  in  him,  and  fell  with  him  in  his  first  transgression.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  maintained  that  every  man  stands  or  falls  for  liimself. 

3.  As  to  original  sin,  while  it  may  be  admitted  that  men  are  depraved  by  nature, 
and  come  into  the  world  with  a  bias  to  sin,  it  is  denied  that  there  is  anything  of  the 
nature  of  sin,  or  any  desert  of  condemnation,  until  there  is  the  personal  and  volun- 
tary violation  of  known  law.  On  this  subject  our  standards  teach,  in  accordance  with 
the  Scriptures,  and  with  the  faith  of  every  historical  church  in  Christendom,  that  the 
inherent,  hereditary  corruption  of  nature  derived  from  Adam  is  truly  and  properly 
sin.  This  great  doctrine  is  the  foundation  of  the  whole  plan  of  redenii)tion,  and  is 
professed  and  symbolized  in  every  act  of  infant  baptism. 

4.  In  reference  to  the  inability  of  sinners,  it  is  taught  tiiat  the  distinction  between 
moral,  natural,  and  gracious  ahility  is  worthless.  Inability  of  any  kind  is  inconsist- 
ent with  moral  obligation. 

5.  It  is  taught  that  regeneration  is  the  sinner's  own  act.  It  consists  either  in  the 
change  of  his  governing  purpose,  or  in  the  choice  of  (lod,  instead  of  the  world,  as 
the  source  of  happiness.  It  is  not  the  act  of  God,  because  God  cannot  efiectually 
conti'ol  the  acts  of  free  agents.  He  cannot  prevent  sin,  or  liie  jjresent  amount  of  sin, 
in  a  moral  system,  lie  can  enlighten,  persuade,  and  remonstrate;  he  can  use  all  the 
means  of  moral  suasion;  but  he  cannot  efficaciously  or  certaiidy  determine  the  will. 
He,  in  fact,  does  all  he  can  do  (consistently  with  their  liberty)  to  convert  all  who 
hear  the  gospel.  This  is  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  Scriptures  and  to  our  stand- 
ards, which  teach  tliat  regeneration  is  effected  by  the  mighty  power  of  (lod,  analogous 
to  the  power  which  he  wrought  in  Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and 
therefore,  that  the  action  of  the  Spirit  in  regeneration  is  sovereign,  certainly  effica- 
cious, and  irresistible. 

6.  Election  to  life  is  not  founded  on  the  mere  good  pleasure  of  God.  He  elects 
tliose  whom  he  foresees  he  can  persuade  to  repent  and  believe. 

7.  Wliile  it  is  admitted  that  the  work  of  Christ  may  be  called  a  satisfaction  to  the 
law  and  justice  of  God,  if  by  justice  we  understand  a  benevolent  regard  to  the  intents 
of  his  moral  government,  it  is  denied  that  it  was  a  satisfaction  to  distributive  or  vin- 
dicatory justice.  It  is  denied  that  his  sufferings  were  penal,  or  vicarious  in  tiie  estab- 
lished sense  of  tliat  word,  securing  the  salvation  of  none,  but  simply  rendeiing  the 
salvation  of  some  possible.  They  were  not  jutlicially  iniiicted,  so  that  those  to  udiom 
the  merit  of  liis  obedience  and  death  is  imputed,  are  free  from  the  demands  of  justice 
and  become  righteous  in  the  sight  of  the  law. 

8.  Justification,  according  to  our  standards,  is  an  act  of  God's  free  grace,  wherein 
lie  pardons  all  our  sins,  and  accepts  us  as  righteous  in  his  sight,  only  for  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ  imputed  to  us  and  received  by  faith  alone.  This  is  denied.  In 
what  is  called  justification,  nothing  more  occurs  than  when  the  executive  pardons  a 
criminal,  and  that  criminal  is  restored  to  his  civil  rights.  He  is  not  declared  just. 
Tiiere  is  no  imputation  to  him  of  righteousness.  There  is  no  pretence  that  he  has 
satisfied  the  demands  of  the  law.  This  error,  therefore,  involves  the  denial  of  the 
essential  idea  of  justitication  as  presented  in  oiu-  standards. 

We  are  f;\r  from  believing  or  insinuating  that  these  doctrines  are  geneially  a|)- 
proved  by  the  New  School  Clnirch.  We  have  no  doubt  ihey  are  repudiated  by  many 
in  that  Church,  as  sincerely  as  they  are  by  us.  But  they  are  allowed  by  theiu,  as 
consistent  with  the  system  of  doctrine  contained  in  our  Confession.  This  fact  is  no 
torious.  It  is  confessed  and  avowed.  These  doctrines  have  been  for  years,  matters 
of  public  discussion.  They  have  been  taught  in  some  of  the  Theological  Seminaries 
of  our  land.  Students  from  those  Seminaries,  professing  these  errors,  are  freely  ad- 
mitted into  the  New  School  Presbyteries.  Men  of  the  higliest  eminence  in  the  other 
branch  of  the  Church,  te«ich  them  publicly  from  the  ])nlpit  and  the  press.  They  are 
contained,  more  or  less  of  them,  and  some  of  the  most  serious,  in  books  and  tracts 
is,sujsd  by  the  Publication  Committee  of  the  New  School  body.  They  are  openly 
avowed  in  some  of  the  periodicals  sustained  by  the  ministers  of  that  Church,  and 
apologized   for  by  others.     These  are  not  matters  of  siicculation   belonging  to  the 


PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  83 

Schools,  bat  concern  doctrines  taught  in  the  catechism,  and  presumed  to  be  known 
even  by  the  children  of  the  Ciuirch. 

There  are  other  points  in  the  proposed  terms  of  union,  to  which  we  have  strong 
objection,  wliich,  out  of  regard  to  the  pressure  on  the  time  of  the  Assembly,  we  ab- 
stain from  mentioning.  There  are  two  provisions  of  the  plan,  however,  which  we 
cannot  overlook.  In  the  eighth  article  it  is  provided,  that  publications  of  the  New 
School  Committee  of  Publication  "shall  continue  to  be  issued  as  at  present,"  until 
otherwise  ordered. 

Although  the  whole  Church  cannot  be  justly  held  responsible  for  all  the  works 
issued  by  its  Board,  it  becomes  thus  responsible  when  it  deliberately  sanctions  their 
publication.  Believing,  as  we  do,  that  there  are  books  published  by  the  New  School 
Committee,  containing  doctrines  inconsistent  with  our  Confession,  we  are  constrained 
to  protest  against  the  sanction  given  to  tlieir  publication. 

Again,  in  article  fourtli,  it  is  provided  that,  "  no  rule  or  precedent,  which  does  not 
stand  approved  by  both  bodies,  siinll  be  considered  of  any  antiiority,  until  re-estab- 
lislied  in  tlie  united  body,  except  in  so  far  as  such  rule  or  precedent  may  aflect  the 
riglits  of  property  founded  theieon."  This  unsettles  to  an  indefinite  degree  our  past 
acts  and  deliverances.  It  is  well  known  as  one  of  tlie  characteristic  differences  be- 
tween the  two  bodies,  that  the  one  holds  a  much  higher  doctrine  as  to  the  preroga- 
tives of  church  judicatories,  than  the  other.  The  Congregational  element,  which, 
frotn  the  beginning,  has  so  largely  pervaded  the  New  School  branch,  has  naturally 
led  our  brethren  in  tiiat  branch  to  resist,  in  many  cases,  the  exercise  of  powers  which 
Old  School  men  believe  to  belong,  by  Divine  right,  to  tlie  courts  of  the  Ciuirch,  and 
especially  to  the  General  Assembly.  This  being  the  case,  we  know  not  to  what  ex- 
tent we  are  renouncing  our  Presbyterian  principles  in  the  adoption  of  that  article. 

We  respectfully  protest  not  only  against  the  terms  of  union  as  they  have  been 
adopted  by  this  house,  but  also  against  the  action  of  the  Assembly  in  regard  to  them. 

In  oiir  view  tlie  parties  to  this  negotiation  for  Reunion  are  the  two  General  Assem- 
blies. They  were  to  endeavor  to  agree  on  the  terms  of  union,  and  when  agreed,  to 
send  them  down  to  their  respective  Presbyteries.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that  our 
General  Assembly  intended  so  to  tie  its  own  hands,  or  so  to  strip  itself  of  its  most  im- 
jiortant  prerogatives,  as  to  commit  to  any  ten  or  fifteen  men  the  work  of  deciding  on 
what  terms  a  union,  confessedly  so  momentous  in  its  consequences,  should  be  con- 
summated ;  reserving  to  the  Assembly  the  poor  ])rerogative  of  adopting  those  terms 
as  a  whole,  or  of  rejecting  them  as  a  whole.  The  duty  of  the  Joint  Committee,  in 
our  judgment,  was  simply  to  confer  among  themselves  as  to  the  terms  of  union,  and 
when  agreed,  to  refer  them  to  the  two  Assemblies  for  those  bodies  to  consider,  to  mod- 
ify, to  adopt  some  and  not  others,  or  to  approve  or  reject  the  whole.  In  this  way  a 
basis  mutually  acceptable  might  have  been  intelligently  adopted.  Now  we  are  in  the 
dark.  These  terms  admit  of  a  two-fold  construction.  This  Assembly  may,  and 
probably  does,  put  one  interpretation  upon  them  ;  and  the  New  School  Assembly  an 
opposite  one.  Thus,  if  this  plan  be  carried  through,  we  shall  be  hurried  into  a  union 
with  cross  purposes,  which  must  inevitably  result  in  the  renewal  of  our  former 
troubles. 

Instead  of  the  Assembly  taking  this  view  of  the  case,  no  modification  of  the  pro- 
posed terms  was  allowed.  Amendment  after  amendment,  to  the  number  of  six  or 
eight,  was  summarily  laid  on  the  table  without  debate.  These  amendments  were  not 
offered  in  a  factious  s[)irit,  or  with  the  design  of  preventing  Reunion,  but  with  the 
honest  purpose  of  putting  the  terms  into  a  form  in  which,  with  a  good  conscience, 
they  could  be  adopted  by  the  Presbyteries  which  we  represent. 

We  regard  this  as  a  wrong  done  to  the  ministry,  and  a  much  more  serious  wrong  to 
the  chui'clies. 

Under  this  head  we  specially  protest  against  the  laying  the  first  amendment  offered 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey  upon  the  table  without  consideration.  That  amendment 
simply  provided  for  fidelity  to  our  former  testimony  against  false  doctrines.  The 
action  of  the  Assembly,  however  intended,  we  regard  as  a  virtual  renunciation  of  our 
former  status,  and  as  committing  the  Church,  contrary  to  the  Constitution  which  is 
and  must  continue  to  be  binding  on  our  conscience,  to  recognize  as  orthodox  the 
errors  which  it  ha.s  hitherto  condemned. 

Grateful  to  God  tor  the  Christian  spirit  which,  notwithstanding  our  conscientious 
differences,  has  characterized  our  deliberations,  we  submit  with  all  deference  this  our 
protest  to  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  and  of  the  churches. 

J.  I.  Landes,  H.  S.  Morrison,  T.  S."  C.  Smith,  Moses  Hyde,  Daniel  C.  Wisner, 
Joseph  Peirce,  William  T.  Carr,  A.  A.  Hodge,  Owen  Riedy,  D.  W.  Woods,  S.  T. 
Thompson,  J.  S.  Clayton,  William  T.  Hendren,  Henry  Fulton,  Charles  E.  Vail, 
James  V.  A.  Shields, "George  Junkin,  Jr.,  John  Chesterj  E.  L.  Belden,  H.  N.  Brins- 


84  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

made,  Edward  P.  Humphrey,  Charles  Hodge,  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  John  C.  Backus, 
H.  L.  Doolittle,  George  Hill,  Eobert  Carothers,  R.  M.  Wallace,  James  F.  Kennedy, 
Asahel  Munsen,  George  J.  Eeed,  Alexander  Rankin,  Benjamin  F.  Avery,  Samuel 
VYherritt,  Charles  Crosbv,  Samuel  Fisher,  S.  J.  Milliken,  James  M.  Shields,  J.  C. 
Barr,  J.  A.  Neil,  J.  M.  Reid,  John  C.  Rhea,  Watson  Russell,  John  K.  Findlay,  L.  P. 
Stone,  William  Rankin,  Jr.,  A.  Van  der  Lippe,  J.  R.  Findley,  Charles  G.  Milnor,  L. 
J.  Halsey,  Eliphalet  Wood,  E.  B.  Miller,  Adam  Craig,  J.  A.  Cornelison,  William  B. 
Canfield,  Robert  Scott,  F.  B.  Hodge,  James  Smith. 

b.  ANSWER  TO  THE  PROTEST. 

In  reply  to  the  Protest  against  its  action  on  the  Terms  of  Union,  the 
Assembly  observes : 

The  authors  of  the  Protest  first  speak  of  a  series  of  doctrinal  errors  and  heresies, 
which  maybe  concisely  stated  as  follows:  (1.)  There  is  no  moral  character  in  man 
prior  to  moral  action,  and  therefore  man  was  not  created  holy.  (2.)  There  was  no 
covenant  made  with  Adam,  his  posterity  did  not  fall  with  him,  and  every  man  stands 
or  falls  for  himself.  (3.)  Original  sin  is  not  truly  and  properly  sin  bringing  condem- 
nation, but  only  an  innocent  tendency  leading  to  actual  transgression.  (4.)  Inability 
of  any  and  every  kind  is  inconsistent  with  moral  obligation.  (5.)  Regeneration  is 
the  sinner's  own  act,  and  consists  in  the  change  of  his  governing  purpose.  (6.)  God 
cannot  control  the  acts  of  free  agents,  and  therefore  cannot  prevent  sin  in  a  moral 
svstem.  (7.)  Election  is  founded  upon  God's  foreknowledge  that  the  sinner  will 
repent  and  believe.  (8.)  The  sufferings  of  Christ  are  not  penal,  and  do  not  satisfy 
retributive  justice.  (9.)  .Justification  is  pardon  merely,  and  does  not  include  resto- 
ration to  favor  and  acceptance  as  righteous. 

These  doctrinal  errors  the  authors  of  the  Protest  are  careful  to  say  are  repudiated 
bv  the  great  mass  of  the  New  School  Church.  They  say  that  "they  are  far  from  be- 
lieving or  insinuating  that  these  doctrines  are  generally  approved  by  the  New  School 
Church" — that  "they  do  not  impute  these  errors  to  a  majority,  or  to  any  definite 
proportion  of  our  New  School  brethren." 

The  charge  that  is  made  in  this  Protest,  and  the  only  charge  made  in  this  refer- 
ence, is,  that  while  the  other  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  repudiate  these 
doctrines  for  them.selves,  they  at  the  same  time  hold  that  they  are  consistent  with  the 
Cohinism  of  the  Confession  of  Faith.  The  authors  of  the  Protest  allege  that  it  is  the 
judgment  of  the  New  School  body  that  a  person  can  logically  and  consistently  accept 
the  Westminster  symbol  and  these  nine  or  ten  Pelagian  and  Arminian  tenets  at  one 
and  the  same  time.     This  is  the  substance  of  their  charge. 

The  Assembly  pronounces  this  allegation  to  be  without  foundation,  because: 

1.  Such  a  position,  if  taken  by  the  New  School  Cliurch,  or  by  any  church  whatso- 
ever, would  simply  be  self-stultifying  and  absurd.  That  a  great  religious  denomina- 
tion, which  from  tlie  beginning  of  its  organization  in  1837,  down  to  the  present  time, 
has  held  up  the  Westminster  Confession  as  its  symbol,  has  compelled  every  one  of 
its  ministers  and  elders  to  subscribe  to  that  symbol,  and  has  received  its  membership 
into  church  comnnuiion  upon  professing  faith  in  the  doctrines  of  that  symbol ;  that 
an  ecclesiastical  body  which  has  thus  stood  before  the  other  churches  of  this  and 
other  lands  as  a  Cu'lvinistic  body,  and  has  been  reckoned  and  recognized  as  such, 
should  at  the  same  time  be  jealous  in  behalf  of  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of  Pela- 
gianism  and  Arminianism,  and  insist  that  these  latter  are  consistent  with  the  former, 
and  are  to  be  tolerated  in  a  Calvinistic  body,  is  too  much  for  human  belief.  The 
entire  history  of  the  Ciiurch  does  not  present  such  a  phenomenon  as  that  of  a  denom- 
ination adopting  before  the  world  a  definite  tyi)e  of  doctrine,  and  at  the  same  time 
claiming  that  exactly  the  contrary  ty])e  of  doctrine  is  compatible  with  it,  and  nuist 
be  tolerated  within  its  comnninion.  If  the  New  School  Church  are  really  doing  what 
the  signers  of  this  Protest  allege  they  are,  then  their  position  l)cfore  the  churches 
and  the  world  would  be  as  absurd  as  would  have  been  the  position  of  the  Nicene 
Church  if,  at  the  very  time  that  it  adopted  and  defended  the  Trinitarianism  of  Atha- 
nasius,  it  had  insisted  that  the  tenets  of  Arius  or  those  of  the  Humanitarians  were 
consistent  with  those  of  the  great  father  of  orthodoxy,  and  must  be  nllo\yed  in  the 
catholic  Church.  The  human  nund,  even  in  its  natural  condition,  never  did  work  in 
this  manner,  and  never  will ;  and  still  less  will  the  human  mind,  when  renewed  and 
sanctified  by  divine  grace,  be  guilty  of  such  a  palpable  inconsistency. 

2.  These'vcry  errors,  charged  l)y  the  signers  of  the  Protest  as  allowed  by  the  New 
School  Presbyterians,  have  already  been  distinctly  repudiated  by  them.  The  Auburn 
Convention,  held  in  1837  under  the  influence  and  doctrinal  guidance  of  that  excellent 
and   sound  divine,  the  late  Dr.  Richards,  specified   sixteen  doctrinal  errors,  which 


PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  85 

contain  the  very  same  latitudinarian  and  heretical  tenets  mentioned  in  the  Protest, 
rejected  them  in  toto  and  set  over  against  them  sixteen  "true  doctrines,"  which  em- 
brace all  tlie  fundamentals  of  the  Calvinistic  creed.  This  Assembly  regards  the 
"Auburn  Declaration"  as  an  authoritative  statement  of  the  Kew  School  type  of  Cal- 
vinism, and  as  indicating  how  far  they  desire  to  go,  and  how  much  liberty  they  wish 
in  regard  to  what  the  Terms  of  Union  call  "  the  various  modes  of  explaining,  illus- 
trating, and  stating"  the  Calvinistic  faith.  "We  believe  that  a  large  number  of  our 
New  School  brethren  would  prefer  the  modes  of  "explaining  and  illustrating"  the 
tenets  of  Calvinism  which  are  employed  by  the  authors  of  tliis  Protest  themselves, 
and  the  other  portions  of  the  body  claim  only  that  degree  of  variation  from  these 
modes  which  would  be  represented  by  the  theology  of  Eichards  and  the  Auburn 
Declaration. 

The  Assembly  is  fully  satisfied  that  any  instances  of  laxity  of  doctrine  among  the 
New  School  which  have  been  exhibited,  are  exceptional  cases,  and  that  the  great  body 
of  tlie  other  Church  sincerely  and  firmly  stand  upon  the  basis  of  our  common  stand- 
ards. The  many  disclaimers  of  the  unsound  views  charged,  and  declarations  that 
the  standards  are  received  as  by  us,  which  have  been  made  by  distinguished  and  rep- 
resentative men,  and  in  the  periodicals  of  the  New  School  Church,  leave  no  room  to 
doubt  that  the  interests  of  sound  doctrine  will  be  safe  in  the  united  Church. 

4.  That  the  allegation  of  this  Protest  is  unfounded  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  the 
New  School  Church  have  adopted,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  the  Basis  of  Doctrine  pre- 
sented by  the  Joint  Committee.  Whatever  may  be  the  prefei'ences  and  opinions  of 
individuals  respecting  particular  clauses  in  the  first  article  in  this  basis,  tliis  General 
Assembly  holds  and  affirms  that  it  not  only  commits,  but  hinds  any  ecclesiastical  body 
that  should  receive  it  to  pure  and  genuine  Calvinism.  It  will  be  so  understood  by 
all  the  world.  For  it  expressly  lays  down  the  Westminster  symbol  as  the  doctrinal 
platform,  and  expressly  requires  that  no  doctrine  shall  be  taught  that  is  not  Calvin- 
istic in  the  old,  ancestral,  "historical"  meaning  of  this  term,  or  that  "impairs  the 
integrity"  of  the  Calvinistic  system.  We  afiirai  that  there  is  not  a  man  upon  the 
globe,  possessed  of  a  sane  mind,  and  acquainted  with  the  subject  of  doctrine,  who 
would  assert  that  the  list  of  errors  and  heresies  mentioned  by  the  signers  of  this  Pro- 
test is  "Calvinistic"  in  the  accepted  and  historical  signification  of  the  term,  or  that 
their  reception  would  not  impair  the  integrity  of  the  Calvinistic  system. 

And  it  must  be  distinctly  observed  that  if  any  doctrines  had  been  hitherto  allowed 
by  the  New  School  body  which  "impair  the  integrity  of  the  Calvinistic  system,"  they 
are  not  to  be  allowed  in  the  united  Church  under  the  terms  of  union.  Such  doctrines 
are  condemned,  and  any  one  who  may  teach  thena  will  be  subject  to  discipline.  It 
is  the  testimony  of  some  of  the  protesters  themselves  that  the  great  body  of  the  New 
School  are  sound  in  doctrine ;  our  own  body  belug  the  large  majority  in  the  union, 
when  fortified  by  the  accession  of  the  great  body  of  sound  men  in  the  other,  will 
establish  and  confirm  the  testimony  of  the  Church  to  the  truth;  will  preserve  it,  by 
God's  help,  from  error,  and  maintain  intact,  while  it  extends,  the  purifying  and 
saving  power  of  our  venerated  Confession. 

5.  The  errors  and  heresies  alleged  in  the  Protest  are  combated  and  refuted  in  the 
Theological  Seminaries  of  the  New  School. 

Such  Seminaries,  in  any  denomination,  are  important  exponents  of  its  doctrinal 
position  and  character.  The  Assembly  knows  that  in  the  three  Seminaries  of  our 
New  School  brethren,  Westminster  Calvinism  is  fully  and  firmly  taught.  The  Pro- 
fessors in  these  are  obliged  to  subscribe  the  Westminster  Confession,  and  heretical 
teaching  throws  the  Professor  out  of  his  chair  by  the  very  constitution  of  these  Sem- 
inaries. The  Assembly  notices  this  point  particularly,  because  the  authors  of  the 
Protest  assert  that  the  doctrinal  errors  specified  by  them  "  have  been  taught  in  some 
of  the  Theological  Seminaries  of  our  land."  This  is  not  the  proper  manner  in  which 
to  afiix  so  grave  and  damaging  a  stigma  upon  our  New  School  Presbyterian  brethren. 
The  authors  of  this  Protest  ought  to  have  made  this  allegation,  not  in  the  way  of  in- 
simiation,  but  by  distinct  assertion 'and  proof.  Many  things  are  "taught  in  the  The- 
ological Seminaries  nf  our  land,"  which  are  not  taught  in  ihe  Presbyd-rian  Seminaries 
of  the  land,  either  New  School  or  Old. 

6.  The  Protest  alleges  it  to  be  a  "notorious  fact"  that  the  New  School  Church  in- 
sists that  the  heresies  mentioned  are  compatible  with  Calvinism.  If  the  alleged  fact 
had  been  so  "notorious,"  as  the  Protest  afiirms,  it  would  certainly  have  been  known 
to  this  Assembly,  and  would  have  made  it  simply  impossible  lo  have  secured  for  the 
Basis  of  the  Joint  Committee,  or  for  any  other  conceivable  basis,  any  favorable  con- 
sideration.    The  idea  of  reunion  would  not  have  been  entertained  for  a  moment. 

Furthermore,  this  Assembly  emphatically  h(jlds  up  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world, 
that  it  receives  into  its  ministry  and  membership  those  who  adopt  "  the  .system  of 


86  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

doctrine  taught  in  our  Confession,"  and  that  it  never  has  held,  and  does  not  now  hold, 

that  its  ministers  or  members  shall  "  view,  state,  or  explain"  that  system  in  any  otlier 
than  the  words  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  our  standards ;  and  to  show  that  this  is 
the  sentiment  not  only  of  the  Assembly,  but  of  the  protesters  themselves  also,  the 
Assembly  here  cites  the  testimony  of  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Protest,  whose  words 
have  been  referred  to  in  the  discussions  just  closed.     Says  Dr.  Hodge : 

"  If  a  man  comes  to  us,  and  says  he  adopts  *  the  system  of  doctrine  '  taught  in  our  Con- 
fession, we  have  a  right  to  ask  him,  'Do  you  believe  there  are  three  persons  in  the 
Godhead — the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost — and  that  these  three  are  one 
God,  the  same  in  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory  ?*  If  he  says.  Yes,  we  are  sat- 
isfied. We  do  not  call  upon  liim  to  explain  how  three  persons  arc  one  God,  or  to 
determine  what  relations  in  the  awful  mysteries  of  the  Godhead  are  indicated  liy  the 
terms  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  If  we  ask.  Do  you  believe  that  '  God  created 
man  male  and  female,  after  his  own  image,  in  knowledge,  righteousness  and  holiness, 
with  dominion  over  the  creatures?'  and  he  answers,  Yes,  we  are  satisfied.  If  he  says 
he  believes  that  '  the  covenant  being  made  with  Adam,  not  only  for  himself,  but  for 
his  posterity,  all  mankind  descending  from  him  by  ordinary  generation,  sinned  in 
him,  and  fell  with  him,  in  his  first  transgression,'  we  are  satisfied.  If  he  says  that 
he  believes  that  'the  sinfulness  of  that  estate  whereinto  man  fell  consists  in  the  guilt 
of  Adam's  first  sin,  the  want  of  original  righteousness,  and  the  corruption  of  his 
whole  nature,  which  is  commonly  called  original  sin,  together  with  all  actual  trans- 
gressions which  proceed  from  it,'  we  are  satisfied.  If  he  says,  '  Christ  executes  the 
office  of  a  priest  in  his  once  ofi'ering  himself  a  sacrifice  to  satisfy  Divine  justice,  and 
reconcile  us  to  God,  and  in  making  continual  intercession  for  us;'  we  are  satisfied. 
If  he  says  he  believes  justification  to  be  '  an  act  of  God's  free  grace,  wherein  he 
pardoneth  all  our  sins,  and  accepteth  us  as  righteous  in  his  sight,  only  for  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ  imputed  to  us,  and  received  by  faith  alone,'  we  are  satisfied.  Is  not 
this  what  is  meant  when  a  man  says  he  adopts  our  '  system  of  doctrine '?  Is  not  this 
— nothing  more  and  nothing  less — that  which  we  are  authorized  and  bound  to  re- 
quire ?  God  grant  that  we  may  unite  on  terms  so  simple,  so  reasonable,  and,  I  must 
liope,  so  satisfactory  to  every  sincere,  humble,  Christian  brother." — [Eemarks  of  the 
Rev.  Charles  Hodge,  D.  D.,  in  the  Philadelphia  Convention.) 

The  Assembly  cannot  enlarge  the  basis  beyond  the  platform  of  God's  truth  as 
stated  in  onr  standards,  and  it  would  not  narrow  the  basis  by  taking  one  tittle  from 
the  form  of  sound  words  therein  contained.  We  declare  our  willingness  to  unite 
with  all  those  who  profess  their  fitith  in  the  Lord  .Jesus  Christ,  and  their  adoption  of 
''the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Form  of  Government"  of  our  beloved  Church. 

The  protesters  object  to  the  eighth  item  of  the  Basis,  because  it  makes  the  united 
Churcli  responsible  for  the  publications  of  the  New  School  Committee.  This  is  a 
misapprehension.  The  publications  of  the  New  School  Committee  and  our  Board 
are  to  be  issued  as  now,  with  the  imprint  of  each,  until  the  new  Board  shall  prepare 
a  new  catalogue,  for  which  alone  the  united  Church  will  be  responsiljle. 

Again,  the  protesters  object  to  the  fourth  article  as  unsettling  })ast  acts  of  our 
Church.  This  is  a  matter  of  necessity  where  the  action  of  the  two  bodies  differs.  It 
is  believed,  however,  that  except  in  the  case  of  the  imperative  clause  of  the  examina- 
tion rule  of  18;57,  no  important  ditlerence  can  be  found.  If  it  is  otherwise,  the 
united  Church  is  the  proper  body  to  establish  its  own  usages.  We  do  not  believe 
that  our  brethren  of  the  New  School  Church  have  now  any  sympathy  with  Congrega- 
tional views  of  government,  or  any  objection  to  usages  that  are  strictly  IVeshyterian. 

The  various  amendments  proposed  Ijy  the  protesters  were  laid  on  the  table,  not  be- 
cause they  were  contrary  to  the  sentiment  of  the  Assembly,  but  because,  luuler  the 
circumstances,  it  was  not  possible  to  engraft  them  upon  the  terms  of  the  imion,  and, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  they  were  not  essential  to  the  integrity  of  the  Cal- 
vinistic  basis  on  which  the  union  is  to  be  effected. 

Wm.  G.  T.  Shedd,  J.  G.  Monfort,  S.  Irenteus  Prime,  H,  H.  Leavitt,  Eobert  Mc- 
Knight,  Committee. — 1869,  pp.  658-665,  O.  S. 

27.  Answer  of  the  Presbyteries  to  overtures  on  Reunion. 
To  the  overtures  on  Reuniou,  the  following  answers  were  received,  as 
reported  by  the  iStated  Clerks  of  the  two  Assemblies,  respectively,  viz. : 

a.  Of  the  Old  School. 

One  hundred  and  forty-three  Presbyteries  have  been  entitled  to  vote 
on  the  overtures  sent  down  by  the  last  General  Assembly.     Three  fourths 


PEELIMINARY    PEINCIPLES.  87 

of  these,  required  in  the  terms  of  the  Basis  for  Reunion,  must  be  one  hun- 
dred and  eight.  The  whole  number  of  answers  received,  according  to 
the  constitutional  mode  of  sending  them  up,  is  one  hundred  and  ten. 
These  are  almost  as  much  diversified  in  form  as  in  number ;  and  in  many 
instances,  the  same  Presbytery  has  sent  two  or  three  answers,  unlike  each 
other,  if  not  irreconcilable,  indicating  an  unsettled  and  fluctuating  judg- 
ment, which  is,  probably,  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  our  Church. 
Often,  also,  the  particular  vote  is  reported  revealing  a  large  minority  ;  in 
some  instances  almost  equal  to  the  majority  itself 

Although  the  mass  of  the  returns  would  seem  to  defy  analysis,  the  fol- 
lowing attempt  to  classify  them  is  respectfully  submitted,  as  near  enough, 
perhaps,  to  satisfy  the  purpose  of  the  Assembly  : 

Thirty-eight  Presbyteries  have  approved  of  the  Basis  ;  but  all  of  them, 
with  only  one  exception — Susquehanna — express,  also,  either  willingness  or 
preference  for  union  on  the  Standards  alone.  They  are  Albany,  Allegheny, 
Allegheny  City,  Buffalo  City,  Chicago,  Chillicothe,  Cincinnati,  Columbus, 
Connecticut,  Crawfordsville,  Des  Moines,  Erie,  Findlay,  Holston,  Kaskas- 
kia,  Londonderry,  Luzerne,  Madison,  ISIarion,  Miami,  Michigan,  Missouri 
River,  Muhlenberg,  Muucie,  Nashville,  Neosho,  New  Albany,  Raritan, 
Sidney,  Southw'est  Missouri,  Steubenville,  Stockton,  Susquehanna,  Topeka, 
Troy,  Vinton,  White  Water,  and  Wooster. 

Against  the  Basis  are,  first,  those  that  make  exception  to  it  while  other- 
wise approving  ;  the  exception  being  generally  to  the  qualifying  clauses  in 
the  first  article.  These  are,  Carlisle,  Corisco,  Elizabethtown,  Fairfield, 
Logansport,  New  Orleans,  New  York  Second,  Oxford,  Peoria,  Richland, 
Saltsburg,  Schuyler,  Western  Reserve,  and  West  Virgima  ;  fourteen  iu 
number. 

The  next  class  are  those  Presbyteries  which  reject  the  Basis,  Avith  formal 
expression,  as  a  whole ;  and  indicate,  in  some  one  of  many  difierent  ways, 
a  willingness  or  desire  to  unite  on  the  basis  of  the  Standards  alone,  in 
doctrine,  polity,  and  worship,  without  qualification.  They  are,  Beuicia, 
Blairsville,  Bloomington,  Bureau,  Burlington,  Chippewa,  Clarion,  Donegal, 
Dubuque,  Ebenezer,  Frankville,  Fort  Wayne,  Highland,  Huntingdon, 
Lafayette,  Leavenworth,  Maumee,  Monmouth,  Nafsau,  New  Brunswick, 
New  Castle,  New  Lisbon,  Newton,  New  York,  North  River,  Northumber- 
land, Ohio,  Oregon,  Passaic,  Philadelphia,  Philadelphia  Central,  Philadel- 
phia Second,  Potosi,  Rochester  City,  Santa  Fe,  St.  Clairsville,  St.  Louis, 
Siam,  Vincennes,  Warren,  Washington,  West  Jersey,  and  Winnebago ; 
fortij-three  in  number. 

The  third  classification  against  the  Basis  consists  of  Presbyteries  that 
express  no  wish  for  Union,  at  present,  on  any  specified  Basis;  but  with 
much  variety,  also,  in  the  greater  or  less  unwillingness  indicated.  These 
are,  Concord,  Dane,  Genesee  River,  Hudson,  Iowa,  Lewes,  Lodiana,  Long 
Island,  Louisville,  Paducah,  Potomac,  Transylvania,  Upper  Missouri, 
West  Lexington,  and  Zaueyille  ',  fifteen  iu  number. 

If  we  count  against  it,  also,  the  thirty-three  Presbyteries  which  have 
not  answered  regularly  at  all,  there  is  an  aggregate  of  one  hundred  and 
five  in  rejecting  the  Basis  ;  the  great  majority  of  these,  however,  indicating 
plainly  a  desire  for  Reunion,  on  terms  that  will  not  override  the  Confession 
of  Faith  with  any  special  stipulations. 

Another  peculiarity  in  most  of  these  answers  is,  deliverance  on  a  ques- 
tion which  was  not  sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries  at  all,  by  the  General 
Assembly,  viz..  Whether  the  General  Assembly  should  be  authorized  to 
consummate  Reunion  with  the  other  Branch  on  a  difierent  basis  from  that 
which  was  overtured,  without  sending  thiii  also  down  to  the  Presbyteries  ? 


88  FORM   OF   GOVERXMEXT. 

This  different  basis,  though  mentioned  with  great  variety  of  formula,  is 
the  Standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  without  qualification.  The 
Presbyteries  favoring  immediate  consummation  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly are  not  agreed  among  themselves  that  the  Assembly  really  has  this 
power,  and  many  of  them  submit  the  question  doubtfully  and  conditionally. 
They  are  the  following,  viz.,  Albany,  Butialo  City,  Chicago,  Chill icotlie, 
Cincinnati,  Connecticut,  Des  Moines,  Dubuque,  Erie,  Highland,  Lafavette, 
Leavenworth,  Luzerne.,  Madison,  Marion,  Maumee,  Miami,  Missouri  l\iver, 
Monmouth,  31  uhlenberg,  Nassau,  Neosho,  New  Lisbon,  New  Orleans,  New 
York,  New  York  Second,  Ohio,  Peoria,  Philadelpliia  Central,  Karitan, 
Richland,  Schuyler,  Sidney,  Southwest  Missouri,  Steubenville,  Topeka, 
Vinton,  Warren,  Washington,  West  Jersey,  and  Wooster ;  forty-one  in 
nundjer. 

But  against  such  consummation  the  following  Presbyteries  have  declared 
themselves;  some  of  them,  because  it  is  inexpedient,  and  others,  with 
solemn  protest,  because  it  is  unconstitutional.  They  are,  Blairsville, 
Bloomington,  Bureau,  Burlington,  Concord,  Dane,  Donegal,  Ebenezer, 
Genesee  River,  Hudson,  Huntingdon,  Iowa,  Lewes,  Louisville,  Michigan, 
New  Brunswick,  New  Castle,  Newton,  North  River,  Northumberland, 
Paducah,  Philadelphia,  Potomac,  Potosi,  St.  Clairsville,  Transylvaiiia, 
Western  Reserve,  West  Lexington,  Winnebago,  and  Zanesville ;  thirti/  in 
number. 

Adding  to  these  the  Presbyteries  which  are  silent  on  the  subject, 
whether  answering  or  not  the  overture  sent  down,  we  have  an  aggregate 
against  consummation  by  the  General  Assembly  itself  of  o»e  hundred  and 
three. 

Another  deliverance,  on  a  question  not  overtured  by  the  Assembly,  is 
made  by  seven  Presbyteries,  to  the  effect  that  they  are  willing  to  dispense 
with  the  tenth  article  of  the  Basis,  respecting  the  right  of  examination, 
for  the  sake  of  consummating  the  Reunion.  These  are,  Allegheny  City, 
Cincinnati,  Kaskaskia,  Miami,  Nashville,  AVashington,  and  Wooster. — 
1869,  pp.  947,  948,  O.  S. 

b.  Of  the  New  School. 

The  Special  Committee  ajipointed  to  collate  the  answers  of  the  Presby- 
teries to  the  Overture  on  the  subject  of  Reunion  sent  down  to  them  by 
order  of  the  last  Assembly,  respectfully  report:  That  the  following 
Presbyteries  have  expressed  their  apjiroval,  giving  their  consent  to  the 
Reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States,  on  the  basis  proposed  by  the  Joint  Committee  of  thirty,  and  ap- 
])roved  by  the  two  Assemblies  meeting  in  May,  18()8,  respectively,  in 
Albany,  IS".  Y.,  and  Hari'isburg,  Pa.,  viz.: — Champlain,  Troy,  Albany, 
Columbia,  Catskill,  St.  Lawrence,  Watertown,  Oswego,  Utica,  Onondaga, 
Cayuga,  Cortland,  Tioga,  (Jeneva,  Steuben,  Chemung,  Ithaca,  Wellsljor- 
ough,  Lyons,  Otsego,  Chenango,  Delaware,  Buffalo,  Ontario,  Pocln'ster, 
Genesee,  Niagara,  Genesee  Valley,  Hudson,  North  Iviver,  Long  Island, 
New  York  3d,  New  York  4th,  I'rooklyn,  Newark,  Rockaway.  Montrose, 
Wilmington,  Philadelphia  od,  Philadelphia  4th,  Harrisl)urg,  Erie,  Mead- 
ville,  Pittsburg,  ^lonroe,  Marsiiall,  Kalamazoo,  Coldwater,  Lansing,  (irand 
River,  Huron,  Truml)ull,  Cleveland  and  Portage,  Athens,  Pataskala, 
Franklin,  Scioto,  Cincinnati,  Rijiley,  Dayton,  Hamilton,  Salem,  Madison, 
Indianapolis,  Green  Castle,  Crawfordsville,  St.  Joseph,  L()gansj)orl,  Fort 
Wayne,  Illinois,  Schuyler,  Wabash,  Alton,  Ottawa,  Knox,  Bloomington, 
Milwaukie,  Fox  River,  Colunduis,  Lake  Superior,  Des  Moines,  Keokuk, 


PRELIMINAEY   PRINCIPLES.  89 

Iowa  City,  Dubuque,  Cedar  Eapicis,  Omaha,  Mankato,  Minnesota,  Dakota, 
St.  Louis,  Osage,  Lexington,  Kansas,  Union,  Holston,  San  Francisco, 
Northern  Missouri,  Nevada,  San  Jose,  and  Humboldt.     In  all  100. 

The  following  Presbyteries  have  answered  the  overtui-e  in  the  negative : 
District  of  Columbia,  Detroit,  Washtenaw,  Chicago. — 4. 

The  Committee  also  report,  for  the  information  of  the  Assembly,  the 
action  of  its  Presbyteries  on  the  general  subject  of  Reunion  in  the  follow- 
ing particulars :  First,  the  Presbyteries  assenting  to  the  amending  of  the 
Basis  by  the  omission,  first,  of  that  part  of  the  Basis  in  the  first  article 
which  begins  with  the  words  "  it  being  understood,"  and  ends  with  the 
words  "  in  the  separate  churches ;"  and,  second,  of  the  whole  of  the  tenth 
article;  are  as  follows:  Troy,  Albany,  Columbia,  Watertown,  Utica,  Onon- 
daga, Cayuga,  Cortland,  Geneva,  Chemung,  Wellsborough,  Tioga,  Otsego, 
Ontario,  Rochester,  Genesee,  Genesee  Valley,  Hudson,  North  River,  Long 
Island,  New  York  3d,  New  York  4th,  Brooklyn,  Newark,  Montrose, 
Philadelphia  4th,  Harrisburg,  District  of  Columbia,  Erie,  Detroit,  Mon- 
roe, Marshall,  Saginaw,  Lansing,  Grand  River,  Huron,  Trumbull,  Cleve- 
land and  Portage,  Maumee,  Athens,  Pataskala,  Franklin,  Scioto,  Cincin- 
nati, Ripley,  Dayton,  Salem,  Indianapolis,  Green  Castle,  Crawfordsville, 
St.  Joseph,  Logansport,  Fort  Wayne,  Illinois,  Schuyler,  Wabash,  Ottawa, 
Knox,  Chicago,  Bloomingtou,  Fox  River,  Lake  Superior,  Des  Moines, 
Mankato,  Minnesota,  Winona,  Dakota,  St.  Louis,  Lexington,  Chariton, 
Cedar  Rapids,  Belvidere,  San  Jose,  Humboldt,  Holston. — 75.  The  Pres- 
byteries expressing  their  dissent  to  these  proposed  amendments  of  the 
Basis  are  :  Catskill,  Pittsburg,  Dubuque. — 3. 

The  following  Presbyteries  express  rather  a  preference  or  a  willingness 
to  have  the  Reunion  accomplished  upon  the  simple  Basis  of  the  standards: 
Genesee  Valley,  Wilmington,  Meadville,  Pataskala,  Rochester,  Niagara, 
Huron,  Cincinnati,  Dayton,  Hamilton,  Columbus,  Kansas,  Chariton,  Che- 
nango.— 14. 

The  Presbyteries  of  Scioto,  Logansport,  Ottawa,  Lyons,  and  Northern 
Missouri  add  to  this  expression  of  their  willingness  to  have  the  Reunion 
thus  accomplished,  the  condition  that  three-fourths  "  of  the  Presbyteries 
assent." 

The  following  Presbyteries  express  a  desire  that  the  General  Assembly 
should  consummate  this  Reunion  without  again  referring  the  proposed 
Basis  of  it  to  them,  and  in  their  own  language  empower  and  authorize  the 
Assembly  so  to  do :  Champlain,  Troy,  Albany,  St.  Lawrence,  Watertown, 
Oswego,  Cayuga,  Otsego,  Buffalo,  North  River,  Detroit,  Grand  River  Val- 
ley, Athens,  Ripley,  Madison,  Wabash,  Keokuk,  Mankato,  St.  Louis,  Hum- 
boldt, Winona,  Steuben,  Knox,  Iowa  City,  Galena,  and  Belvidere. — 26. 

The  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia  4th  and  Pittsburg  express  their  op- 
position to  Reunion  upon  any  basis  that  has  not  been  specially  approved 
by  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries  of  each  class. 

Several  Presbyteries  append  to  their  action  on  this  question  certain  con- 
ditions besides  those  already  mentioned.  These  are  as  follows :  The  Pres- 
bytery of  Knox,  in  assenting  to  the  proposed  amendment  of  the  first  ar- 
ticle of  the  basis,  add,  "  Provided  all  reasonable  liberty  in  interpretation 
be  not  relinquished." 

The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  4th  say,  "It  must,  however,  be  well 
understood  that,  by  agreeing  to  the  omissions  in  question,  the  Presbytery 
do  not  relinquish  nor  deny  the  right  to  all  reasonable  liberty  in  the  state- 
ment of  views  and  the  interpretation  of  the  standards,  not  impairing  the 
integrity  of  the  Calvinistic  system." 

The  Presbytery  of  Huron  passed  the  following  resolution : 
12 


90  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Besohed,  That  we  say  to  the  General  Assembly  that  in  any  ease  we 
shall  always  claim  the  right,  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church 
and  the  Plan  of  Union,  to  deal  with  the  Congregational  churches  now  on 
our  roll  without  interference  from  the  higher  judicatories  of  the  Church. 

The  Presbytery  of  Maumee  ask  for  certain  specified  changes  in  the 
Becond  article  of  the  basis,  and  would  have  it  construed  as  directory  and 
advisory,  and  not  as  imperative. 

The  Presbytery  of  Washtenaw,  in  replying  negatively  to  the  motion  of 
the  Assembly,  express  conviction  that  the  first  step  in  the  negotiations  for 
Reunion  should  be  the  repeal  of  the  exscinding  acts  and  the  imperative 
rule  in  respect  to  Presbyterial  examinations. — 1869,  pp.  259-261,  N.  S. 

28.  GENERAL  ASSEMBLIES  OF  1809,  AT  NEW  YOEK. 
A  NEW  JOINT  COMMITTEE  APPOINTED. 

a.  [On  the  First  day  of  the  session.] 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Musgrave,  the  following  was  unanimously  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  Conference,  consisting  of  five  Ministers 
and  five  Ruling  Elders,  be  appointed  to  confer  with  a  similar  Committee, 
if  appointed  by  the  other  General  Assembly  now  in  session  in  this  city, 
on  the  subject  of  the  Reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  ;  to  report  during  the  present  sessions,  and  at  as  early  a  day  as 
practicable,  what  further  action,  if  any,  should  be  taken  on  the  subject. 

The  Moderator  appointed  as  said  Committee:  Ministers — George  W. 
Musgrave,  D.  D.,  A.  G.  Hall,  D.  D.,  L.  H.  Atwater,  D.  D.,  Willis  Lord, 
D.  D.,  and  Henry  R.  Wilson,  D.  D.  Ruling  Elders — Robert  Carter,  J. 
C.  Grier,  Charles  D.  Drake,  Henry  Day,  and  William  M.  Francis. — 1869, 
p.  890,  O.  S. 

h.  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  five  ministers  and  five  elders  be  ap- 
pointed to-morrow  morning,  b}'  the  Moderator,  to  confer  with  any  like 
Committee  of  the  Assembly  of  the  other  Branch,  on  the  subject  of  Reunion. 

Ministers. — William  Adams,  D.  D.,  Robert  SV.  Patterson,  D.  D.,  Sam- 
uel W.  Fisher,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Jonathan  F.  Stearns,  D.  D.,  James  B. 
Shaw,  D.  D.  Elders — Hon.  William  Strong,  Hon.  Daniel  Haines,  Hon. 
AVilliam  E.  Dodge,  Hon.  Jacob  S.  Farrand,  Hon.  John  L.  Kuight. — 
1869,  pp.  252-257,  N.  S. 

29.  The  follOAving  Report  of  the  Joint  Committee  was  presented 
in   both  Assemblies. 

The  Committee  of  Conference  appointed  by  the  two  General  Assemblies 
has  attended  to  the  duty  assigned  to  it ;  and  after  a  very  free  interchange 
of  views,  with  prayer  to  Almighty  God  for  his  guidance,  is  unanimous  in 
recommending  to  the  Assemblies  for  their  consideration,  and,  if  ihey  see 
fit,  their  adoption,  the  accompanying  three  papers,  to  wit: 

1.  Plan  of  lieuniou  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  iu  the  United  States 
of  America; 

2.  Concurrent  Declarations  of  the  General  Assemblies  of  1869;  and 

3.  Recommendation  of  a  Day  of  Prayer. 

I.  PLAN  OF  REUNION  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

Believing  that  the  interests  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  would  be  pro- 
moted by  the  healing  of  our  divisions,  and  that  the  two  bodies  bearing  the 
same  name,  having  the  same  Constitution,  and  each  recognizing  the  other 


PEELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  91 

as  a  sound  and  orthodox  body  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Con- 
fession common  to  both,  cannot  be  justified  by  any  but  the  most  impera- 
tive reasons  in  maintaining  separate  and,  in  some  respects,  rival  organiza- 
tions ;  we  are  now  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  reunion  of  those  bodies 
ought,  as,  soon  as  the  necessary  steps  can  be  taken,  to  be  accomplished, 
upon  the  Basis  hereinafter  set  forth  : 

1.  The  Presbyterian  Churches  in  the  United  States  of  America,  namely, 
that  whose  General  Assembly  convened  in  the  Brick  Church  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  on  the  20th  day  of  May,  1869,  and  that  whose  General 
Assembly  met  in  the  Church  of  the  Covenant  in  the  said  city,  on  the 
same  day,  shall  be  reunited  as  one  Church,  under  the  name  and  style  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  possessing  all 
the  legal  and  corporate  rights  and  powers  pertaining  to  the  Church  pre- 
vious to  the  division  in  1838,  and  all  the  legal  and  corporate  rights  and 
powers  which  the  separate  Churches  now  possess. 

2.  The  reunion  shall  be  efiected  on  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  basis 
of  our  common  Standards ;  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments shall  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  inspired  word  of  God,  and  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  the  Confession  of  Faith  shall  con- 
tinue to  be  sincerely  received  and  adopted  as  containing  the  system  of 
doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and  the  Government  and  Dis- 
cipline of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  shall  be  approved 
as  containing  the  principles  and  rules  of  our  polity. 

3.  Each  of  the  said  Assemblies  shall  submit  the  foregoing  Basis  to  its 
Presbyteries,  which  shall  be  required  to  meet  on  or  before  the  loth  day  of 
October,  1869,  to  express  their  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  same,  by  a 
categorical  answer  to  the  following  question : 

Do  you  approve  of  the  reunion  of  the  two  bodies  now  claiming  the 
name  and  rights  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  on  the  following  basis,  namely :  "  The  reunion  shall  be  effected 
on  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  basis  of  our  common  Standards;  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  shall  be  acknowledged  to  be 
the  inspired  word  of  God,  and  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice;  the  Confession  of  Faith  shall  continue  to  be  sincerely  received  and 
adopted  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures ;  and  the  Government  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  shall  be  approved  as  containing  the  principles  and 
rules  of  our  polity?" 

Each  Presbytery  shall,  before  the  1st  day  of  November,  1869,  forward 
to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  with  which  it  is  connected, 
a  statement  of  its  vote  on  the  said  Basis  of  Reunion. 

4.  The  said  General  Assemblies  now  sitting  shall,  after  finishing  their 
business,  adjourn,  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
second  Wednesday  of  November,  1869,  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M. 

If  the  two  General  Assemblies  shall  then  find  and  declare  that  the 
above-named  Basis  of  Reunion  has  been  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the 
Presbyteries  connected  with  each  branch  of  the  Church,  then  the  same 
shall  he  of  binding  force,  and  the  two  Assemblies  shall  take  action  accord- 
ingly. 

5.  The  said  General  Assemblies  shall  then  and  there  make  provision  for 
the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  United  Church  on  the  third 
Thursday  of  ]\Iay,  1870.  The  Moderators  of  the  two  present  Assemblies 
shall  jointly  preside  at  the  said  Assembly  of  1870  until  another  moder- 
ator is  chosen.  The  moderator  of  the  Assembly  now  sitting  at  the  Brick 
Church  aforesaid,  shall,  if  present,  put  all  votes,  and  decide  questions 


92  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

of  order;  aud  the  Moderator  of  the  other  Assembly  shall,  if  present, 
preach  the  openiug  Sermon  ;  and  the  Stated  Clerks  of  the  present  Assem- 
blies shall  act  as  Stated  Clerks  of  the  Assembly  of  the  united  Church 
until  a  Stated  Clerk  or  Clerks  shall  have  been  chosen  thereby ;  and  no 
Commissioner  shall  have  a  right  to  vote  or  deliberate  in  said  Assembly 
until  his  name  shall  have  been  enrolled  by  the  said  Clerks,  aud  his  com- 
mission examined  and  filed  among  the  papers  of  the  Assembly. 

6.  Each  Presbytery  of  the  separate  Churches  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
same  representation  in  the  Assembly  of  the  united  Church  in  1870  as  it  is 
entitled  to  in  the  Assembly  with  which  it  is  now  connected. 

II.  COXCUREENT  DECLARATIONS  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSE:\r-      ^ 

BLIESOF  1SG9. 

As  there  are  matters  pertaining  to  the  interests  of  the  Church  when  it 
shall  have  become  reunited,  which  will  manifestly  recjuire  adjustment  on 
the  coming  together  of  two  bodies  which  have  so  long  acted  separately, 
and  concerning  some  of  which  matters  it  is  highly  desirable  that  there 
should  be  a  previous  good  understanding,  the  two  Assemblies  agree  to 
adopt  the  following  declarations,  not  as  articles  of  compact  or  covenant, 
but  as  in  their  judgment  proper  and  equitable  arrangements,  to  wit: 

1.  All  the  ministers  and  churches  embraced  in  the  two  bodies  should 
be  admitted  to  the  same  standing  in  the  united  body,  which  they  may 
have  held  in  their  respective  connections,  up  to  the  consummation  of  the 
union. 

2.  Imperfectly  organized  churches  are  counseled  and  expected  to  be- 
come thoroughly  Presbyterian,  as  early  within  the  period  of  live  years  as 
may  be  permitted  by  the  highest  interests  to  be  consulted  ;  aud  no  other 
such  churches  shall  be  hereafter  received. 

3.  The  boundaries  of  the  several  Presbyteries  and  Synods  should  be 
adjusted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  united  Church. 

4.  The  official  records  of  the  two  Branches  of  the  Church,  for  the 
period  of  sepai'ation,  should  be  preserved  aud  held  as  making  up  the  one 
history  of  the  Church ;  and  no  rule  or  precedent,  which  does  not  stand 
approved  by  both  the  bodies,  should  be  of  any  authority,  until  re-estab- 
lished in  the  united  body,  except  in  so  far  as  such  rule  or  precedent  may 
affect  the  rights  of  property  founded  thereon. 

5.  The  corporate  rights,  now  held  by  the  two  General  Assemblies,  and 
by  their  Boards  and  Committees,  should,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  con- 
solidated, and  applied  for  their  several  objects,  as  defined  by  law. 

6.  There  should  be  one  set  of  Committees  or  Boards  for  Home  and 
Foreign  Missions,  and  the  other  religious  enterprises  of  the  Church  ;  which 
the  churches  sliould  be  encouraged  to  sustain,  though  free  to  cast  their 
contributions  into  other  channels,  if  they  desire  to  do  so. 

7.  As  soon  as  practicalile  after  the  union  shall  have  been  effected,  the 
General  Assembly  should  reconstruct  and  consolidate  the  several  Per- 
manent Committees  and  Boards,  which  now  belong  to  the  two  Assemblies, 
so  as  to  represent,  as  far  as  possible,  with  impartiality,  the  views  and 
wishes  of  the  two  bodies  constituting  the  united  Church. 

8.  The  publications  of  the  Board  of  Publication  and  of  the  Publication 
Committee  should  continue  to  be  issued  as  at  present,  leaving  it  to  the 
Board  of  Publication  of  the  united  Church  to  revise  these  issues,  and  per- 
fect a  catalogue  for  the  united  Church  so  as  to  exclude  invidious  refer- 
ences to  past  controversies. 

■  '  9.  In  order  to  a  uniform  system  of  ecclesiastical  supervision,  those 


PRELIMIXARY    PRINCIPLES.  93 

Theological  Seminaries  that  are  now  under  Assembly  control  may,  if 
their  Boards  of  Direction  so  elect,  be  transferred  to  the  watch  and  care 
of  one  or  more  of  the  adjacent  Synods ;  and  the  other  Seminaries  are  ad- 
vised to  introduce,  as  far  as  may  be,  into  their  Constitutions,  the  principle 
of  Synodical  or  Assembly  supervision  ;  in  which  case,  they  shall  be  entitled 
to  an  official  recognition  and  approbation  on  the  part  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

10.  It  should  be  regarded  as  the  duty  of  all  our  judicatories,  ministers, 
and  people  of  the  united  Church,  to  study  the  things  which  make  for 
peace,  and  to  guard  against  all  needless  and  offensive  references  to  the 
causes  that  have  divided  us ;  and,  in  order  to  avoid  the  revival  of  past 
issues,  by  the  continuance  of  any  usage  in  either  branch  of  the  Church 
that  has  grown  out  of  former  conflicts,  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to  the 
lower  judicatories  of  the  Church  that  they  conform  their  practice  in  re- 
lation to  all  such  usages,  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  their  convictions  of 
duty,  to  the  general  custom  of  the  Church  prior  to  the  coutrc)versies  that 
resulted  in  the  separation. 

III.  RECOMMEXDATIOX  OF  A  DAY  OF  PEAYER. 

That  the  counsels  of  infinite  Wisdom  may  guide  our  decisions,  and  the 
blessings  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  rest  upon  the  result  of  our 
efforts  for  Reunion,  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to  the  churches  throughout 
both  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  they  observe  the  second 
Sabbath  in  September,  1869,  as  a  day  of  fervent  and  united  prayer  to  Al- 
mighty God,  that  he  would  grant  unto  us  all  "  the  spirit  of  counsel  and 
might,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord,''  and,  in  the 
new  relations  now  contemi)lated,  enable  us  to  "  keep  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace." 

30.  [The  foregoing  report  was  adopted  by  the  Old  School  Assembly,  by 
a  vote  of  yeas  285,  nays  9  (p.  914) ;  by  the  New  School  Assembly  unani- 
mously (p.  275),  when — ] 

a.  On  motion  of  Ruling  Elder  Henry  Day,  it  was 

Besolved,  That  in  pursuance  of  the  foregoing  action  of  this  General 
Assembly,  the  Basis  of  Reunion  now  adopted  be  sent  down  to  the  Presby- 
teries for  their  approval  or  disapproval,  and  each  Presbytery  is  hereby 
required  to  meet  on  or  before  the  15th  day  of  October,  1869,  to  express  its 
approval  or  disapproval  of  the  same  by  a  categorical  answer  to  the  follow- 
ing question : 

Do  you  approve  of  the  Reunion  of  the  two  bodies  now  claiming  the  name 
and  rights  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
on  the  following  Basis,  viz. :  "  The  Reunion  shall  be  effected  on  the  doc- 
trinal and  ecclesiastical  Basis  of  our  common  standards  ;  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  shall  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  inspired 
word  of  God,  and  the  only  inflillible  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ;  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  shall  continue  to  be  sincerely  received  and  adopted  as  con- 
taining the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  and  the 
Government  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  shall  be  approved  as  containing  the  principles  and  rules  of  our  polity"  ? 

Each  Presbytery  is  also  hereby  required,  before  the  first  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1869,  to  forward  to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  this  General  Assembly  a 
statement  of  its  vote  on  the  said  Basis  of  Reunion. — 1869,  pp.  916,  917, 
O.  S. 

b.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  does  hereby  submit  to  the  Presbyteries 
in  connection  with  it  the  Basis  of   Reunion  adopted   May  27,  1869; 


94  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

aud  that  the  Presbyteries  be  required  to  meet  on  or  before  October  15th, 
1869,  to  express  their  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  same  by  a  categori- 
cal answer  to  the  following  question  : 

Do  you  approve  of  the  Keunion  of  the  two  bodies  now  claiming  the 
name  and  rights  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  on  the  following  Basis,  namely :  "  The  Reunion  shall  be  effected 
on  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  Basis  of  our  common  standards ;  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  shall  be  acknowledged  to  be 
the  inspired  word  of  God,  and  the  only  infollible  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice ;  the  Confession  of  Faith  shall  continue  to  be  sincerely  received  and 
adopted  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures ;  and  the  Government  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  shall  be  approved  as  containing  the  principles  and  rules 
of  our  polity  "  ? 

Resolved,  That  each  Presbytery  shall,  before  the  first  day  of  November, 
1869,  forward  to  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  a  statement 
of  its  vote  on  the  said  Basis  of  Reunion. — 1869,  p.  283,  N.  S. 

[In  accordance  with  the  plan  adopted  above,  the  two  Assemblies  ad 
journed  to  meet  in  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  Nov.  10,  A.  D.  1869,  at  11  o'clock  a.  m., 
The  one  in  the  First  Church,  the  other  in  the  Third  Church.] 

31.  Assemblies  at  Pittsburg-,  1869. 

a.  The  report  of  the  Stated  Clerk,  Rev.  A.  T.  McGill,  D.  D.,  on  the  vote 
of  the  Presbyteries,  was  read  and  amended,  so  as  simply  to  give  the  result 
of  the  vote,  after  which  it  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

The  Presbyteries  in  connection  with  this  General  Assembly  have  all 
reported,  in  writing,  on  the  overture  of  Reunion,  as  ordered  in' the  Brick 
Church,  at  New  York,  except  the  following  eleven,  viz.,  Austin,  Corisco, 
Knox,  Knoxville,  IMaury,  Milwaukee,  Ogdensburg,  Shantung,  Siam, 
Stockton,  and  Western  Africa.  The  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Santa  Fe  Presby- 
tery has  reported  by  letter  that  it  is  impossible  for  this  Presbytery  to  have 
a  meeting,  in  present  circumstances.  The  Presbyteries  of  Allahabad  and 
Canton,  being  unable  to  meet  within  the  time  specified,  have  sent  circulars, 
signed  by  a  majority  of  each,  to  indicate  the  will  of  the  Presbytery,  in 
favor  of  Reunion,  as  now  proposed  ;  but  these  are  not  counted  in  de- 
claring the  result.  Another  Presbytery,  Lahore,  formed  by  the  Synod  of 
Northern  India,  in  December  last,  but  not  I'egularly  reported  as  yet  by  any 
officer  of  that  Synod,  has  sent  its  answer  to  this  Overture,  in  written  form, 
and  this  has  been  counted,  on  the  presumption  that  the  Assembly  will 
recognize,  at  this  meeting,  the  existence  of  that  Presbytery  on  the  roll. 

We  have  thus  o)ie  hundred  and  forty-four  Vvc$hytevies.  One  hundred 
and  hveniy-six  of  these  have  answered  the  Overture  sent  down  affirma- 
tively, in  writing.  Three,  viz.,  Hudson,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  West  Lex- 
ington, have  answered  in  the  negative. 

On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Stated  Clerk  admit  to  record  the 
answer  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lahore  to  the  Overture  on  Reunion. 

The  Assembly  was,  on  motion,  led  in  prayer  by  Rev.  John  Hall,  D.  D., 
in  gratitude  for  the  result  of  the  negotiations  on  Reunion,  and  the  doxol- 
ogy  was  sung. — 1869,  p.  1158,  O.  S. 

b.  The  Stated  Clerk  presented  the  Report  of  the  Presbyteries  on  the 
Overture  for  Reunion,  as  follows: 

Report  of  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  on  the  answers  of  the 
Presbyteries  to  the  overtures  on  the  Reunion  of  the  two  Branches  of  the 
Church : 


PRELIMIXARY    PRINCIPLES.  95 

The  number  of  Presbyteries  connected  with  this  General  Assembly  is 
one  hundred  and  thirteen.  Official  responses  have  been  received  from 
every  one  of  them.  They  have  all  amwered  the  overture  in  the  affirmative. 
In  each  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Albany,  Wellsboro',  and  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia a  single  negative  vote  was  cast.  In  each  of  the  remaining  one 
hundred  and  ten  Presbyteries  the  vote  was  unanimous. 

Pvespectfully  subniitted.  Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  Stated  Clerk. 

Pittsburrj,  Fa.,  Nov.  10 th,  1869. 

The  Assembly  united  in  prayer  and  thanksgiving  to  God  for  this  au- 
spicious result.— 1869,  p.  485,  N.  S. 

32.  Report  of  Joint  Committee  of  Conference. 

"The  Joint  Committee  of  Conference  on  Reunion"  presented  its  Re- 
port, which  was  adopted,  and  is  as. follows,  viz.: 

1.  That  each  Assembly  should  declare  the  vote  of  the  Presbyteries  in 
the  following  language : 

"  This  Assembly  having  received  and  examined  the  statements  of  the 
votes  of  the  several  Presbyteries,  on  the  Basis  of  Reunion  of  the  two  bod- 
ies, now  claiming  the  name  and  rights  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  which  basis  is  in  the  words  following,  viz.,  'The 
Reunion  shall  be  effected  on  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  Basis  of  our 
common  standards ;  the  Scrijjtures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  shall 
be  acknowledged  to  be  the  inspired  word  of  God,  and  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  the  Confession  of  Faith  shall  continue  to  be 
sincerely  received  and  adopted,  as  containing  the  s^ystem  of  doctrine 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  government  and  discipline  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  shall  be  approved,  as  contain- 
ing the  principles  and  rules  of  our  polity:'  Does  hereby  find  and  declare 
that  the  said  Basis  of  Reunion  has  been  approved  by  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  Presbyteries  connected  with  this  branch  of  the  Church: 
and  whereas  the  other  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  now  sitting  in  the  Third  [or,  the  Firsf]  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  City  of  Pittsburg,  has  reported  to  this  Assembly  that  said 
Basis  has  been  approved  by  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  Presbyteries  con- 
nected with  that  branch  of  the  Church,  now,  therefore,  we  do  solemnly 
declare  that  said  Basis  of  Reunion  is  of  binding  force." 

2.  This  Committee  recommends  that  a  Special  Committee  of  five  from 
each  branch  of  the  Church,  shall  be  appointed  to  take  into  consideration 
the  atfaii's  of  each  of  the  Boards  and  Connnittees  of  both  branches  of  the 
Church,  and  to  recommend  to  the  Assembly  of  the  united  Church,  next 
to  be  held,  what  chauges  are  required  in  said  Boards  and  Committees. 

3.  That  each  Assembly  shall  also  pass  the  following:  Whereas,  it  is 
apparent,  from  the  size  of  the  two  Assemblies,  that  some  changes  must  be 
made  in  the  present  method  of  representation  :  therefore,  Be.^olved,  That 
each  of  the  Assemblies  of  1869  shall  appoint  a  Committee  of  five,  to  con- 
stitute a  joint  committee  of  ten,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  prepare  and 
propose  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  united  Church  a  proper  adjust- 
ment of  the  boundaries  of  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  and  the  ratio  of 
representation,  and  any  amendments  of  the  Constitution  which  they  may 
think  necessary  to  secure  efficiency  and  harmony  in  the  administration  of 
the  Church,  so  greatly  enlarged,  and  so  rapidly  extending. 

4.  That  the  Assemblies  shall  meet  at  9  o'clock  on  Friday  morning  next, 
and  that  the  vote  of  the  Presbyteries  be  declared  in  each  Assembly  at  10 
o'clock,  and  that  each  Assembly  be  then  dissolved  in  the  usual  manner 


96  FORM   OF   GOA^ERXMENT. 

prescribed  by  the  Form  of  Government.  That  each  Assembly  shall  im- 
mediately repair  to  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  in  this  city,  there  to 
hold  a  joint  meeting  for  prayer  and  praise ;  and  that  a  joint  communion 
service  be  held  on  the  same  day,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

That  all  business  before  each  Assembly  shall  be  concluded  this  (Thurs- 
day) evening,  and  no  new  business  taken  up  thereafter. 

5.  That  a  Committee  of  Arrangements,  consisting  of  two  from  each 
Church,  be  appointed  to  decide  upon  the  form,  manner,  and  place  of  our 
public  meeting,  and  to  prepare  a  statement  upon  the  subject  of  raising 
funds  for  the  use  of  the  Church,  which  shall  be  read  to  said  meeting.  It  is 
proposed  that  the  Rev.  A.  Gr.  Hall,  D.  D.,  Robert  Carter,  Esq.,  Rev.  S.  "W. 
Fisher,  D.  D.,  and  "William  E.  Dodge,  Esq.,  be  appointed  said  committee. 

6.  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  united  Church 
be  held  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Citv  of  Philadelphia,  on 
the  third  Thursday  of  Mav,  A.  D.  1870,  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M. 

— 1869,  pp.  1159,  1160,  0.  S. 
—1869,  pp.  495,  496,  N.  S. 

33.  Consuramation  of  the  Reunion  Declared. 

The  Declaration  was  adopted  unanimously  in  both  Assemblies,  by  a 
rising  vote,  as  follows,  viz.: 

This  Assembly  having  received  and  examined  the  statement  of  the 
votes  of  the  several  Presbyteries  on  the  Basis  of  the  Reunion  of  the  two 
bodies  now  claiming  the  name  and  the  right  of  the  Presb3'terian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  which  basis  is  in  the  words  following, 
namely:  "The  Union  shall  be  effected  on  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical 
Basis  of  our  common  standards;  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment shall  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  inspired  word  of  God  and  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  the  Confession  of  Faith  shall  con- 
tinue to  be  sincerely  received  and  adopted  as  containing  the  system  of 
doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and  the  government  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  shall  be  ap- 
proved as  containing  the  })rinciples  and  rules  of  our  polity:"  Does  hereby 
find  and  declare  that  said  Basis  of  Union  has  been  approved  by  more 
than  two-thirds  of  the  Presbyteries  connected  with  this  branch  of  the 
Church — and  whereas  the  other  branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States,  now  sitting  in  the  Third  [or,  the  Fiysf]  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  City  of  Pittsburg,  has  reported  to  this  Assembly  that  said 
basis  has  been  approved  by  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  Presb3'teries  con- 
nected with  that  branch  of  the  Church : 

Now    THEllEFOIlK    WE    DO    SOLEMNLY    DECLARE    THAT    SAID    BASLS    OF 

Reunion  is  of  binding  force. 

—1869,  p.  1163,0.  S. 
—1869,  p.  500,  N.  S. 

34.  The  Reunion  Convention. 

Pittsburg,  Pa.,  Friday,  November  12, 1869. 

The  two  General  Assemblies  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  meeting  re- 
spectively in  the  First  and  Third  Churches  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  having  both 
been  in  due  form  dissolved  on  Friday,  November  12,  1869,  at  10  o'clock 
A.M.,  a  Joint  Convention,  in  accordance  with  previous  mutual  agree- 
ment, was  held  immediately  after  in  the  Third  Church. 

The  members  of  the  late  N.  S.  Assembly,  preceded  by  their  ]\Ioderator, 
Clerks,  and  Reunion  Committee,  formed  in  order,  two  by  two,  and  pro- 
ceeded from  the  Third  Church  down  Sixth  Avenue  to  Wood  street,  and 


PEELIMINARY    PRINCIPLES.  97 

took  position  on  the  west  side  of  the  street,  opposite  the  First  Church. 
At  the  same  time,  the  members  of  the  late  O.  S.  Assembly,  preceded  in  like 
manner  by  their  Moderator,  Clerks,  and  Reunion  Committee,  came  forth 
from  the  First  Church  and  took  position  on  the  east  side  of  the  street, 
directly  opposite  the  other  column,  the  head  of  each  line  looking  south 
toward  Fifth  Avenue. 

The  following  gentlemen  had  been  appointed,  and  consented  to  serve  as 
marshals  of  the  day :  Gen.  J.  K.  Morehead  and  Messrs.  John  D.  McCord, 
William  Rea,  and  George  H.  Stuart. 

The  signal  for  the  march  having  been  given,  the  two  Moderators  met  in 
the  middle  of  the  street,  shook  hands,  and  joined  arms  ;  as  was  done  also 
by  the  Stated  Clerks,  the  Permanent  and  Temporary  Clerks,  the  two  Re- 
union Committees,  and  the  remainder  of  the  two  columns — the  joint  pro- 
cession meanwhile  marching  forward,  two  by  two.  Old  and  New  School 
interlocked  along  the  whole  line,  down  Wood  street  and  up  Fifth  Avenue, 
Smithfield  street  and  Sixth  Avenue  (the  whole  distance  attended  by  a  re- 
joicing crowd  of  people),  to  the  Third  Church. 

As  the  procession  entered  by  the  right  middle  aisle,  Wesley's  noble 
hymn, 

"  Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow,"  etc., 

was  sung  by  the  choir  and  the  ladies,  who  had  been  previously  admitted  to 
seats  assigned  them.  The  greater  part  of  the  procession  found  seats  on 
the  immense  platform  occupying  the  southern  end  of  the  great  Church,  the 
remainder  occupying  the  pews  in  front  of  the  platform ;  after  which  the 
doors  were  opened,  and  the  house  was  immediately  thronged  to  its  utmost 
capacity. 

The  services  commenced  at  11  o'clock  A.  m.,  and  were  continued  with 
unwearied  interest  for  more  than  three  hours.  Addresses  were  made  by 
the  Moderators  and  others,  both  ministers  and  elders,  previously  designated, 
intermingled  with  prayer  and  songs  of  devout  praise  and  thanksgiving. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  reported  in  behalf  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements,  by  the  Rev.  S.  W.  Fisher,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  were 
passed  unanimously : 

PREAMBLE  AND  RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED  IN  JOINT  CONVENTION 
BY  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  TWO  ASSEMBLIES— NOV.  12,  1SG9. 

In  the  Providence  of  God,  the  two  Branches  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  after  a  separation  of  more  than 
thirty  years,  are  again  united.  This  event,  in  its  magnitude,  is  unparal- 
leled in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  country  and  almost  of  the  world. 
It  evidences  to  all  men  the  presence  and  unifying  power  of  the  Divine 
Spirit.  A  fact  so  remarkable  and  significant  attracts  interest  and  creates 
expectation  among  even  worldly  minds.  It  awakens  the  sympathies  and 
the  hopes  of  all  who  truly  love  Christ  among  other  denominations.  It 
awakens  hope,  since  it  illustrates  the  evident  purpose  of  God  to  bring  all 
his  followers  into  closer  union  in  spirit,  combine  them  in  action  for  the 
overthrow  of  error  and  the  diffusion  of  his  truth ;  it  awakens  expectation, 
since  they  justly  anticipate,  on  our  part,  from  this  union  of  resources, 
spirit,  and  action,  a  far  more  vigorous  assault  upon  the  forces  of  darkness 
and  more  decided  efforts  to  spread  the  Gospel  among  all  classes  in  our 
own  and  other  lands. 

To  us,  as  a  Church,  it  is  an  era  in  our  history  most  memorable  and 
hopeful;  memorable,  as  it  signalizes  the  triumph  of  faith  and  love  over 

13 


98  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

the  strifes  and  jealousies  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century;  hopeful, 
since  it  is  not  the  result  of  decadence  and  torpor,  but  of  pi-ogress  and 
augmented  strength.  It  buries  the  suspicions  and  the  rivalries  of  the 
past,  with  the  sad  necessity  of  magnifying  our  differences  in  order  to  jus- 
tify our  separation.  It  banishes  the  spirit  of  division,  the  natural  foe  of 
true  progress.  In  this  union  are  seen  the  outflashing  of  a  divine  purpose 
to  lead  us  on  to  greater  self-sacrifice,  and  a  more  entire  consecration  to 
the  evangelization  of  the  world.  God  has  elevated  us  to  this  command- 
ing position,  that  we  may  see  his  glory,  and  in  the  strengthened  faith  it 
inspires  devote  our  united  resources  more  directly  and  efficiently  to  the 
salvation  of  men.  New  and  grander  responsibilities  rest  upon  us.  Jesus 
summons  us  to  a  holier  faith  and  more  perfect  consecration.  He  sum- 
mons this  Church  to  answer  his  loving-kindness  by  deeds  commensurate 
with  our  renewed  resources.  The  times  are  auspicious ;  everywhere  peace 
reigns ;  the  gates  are  open,  and  the  millions  of  our  own  and  other  lands 
wait  for  the  Gospel.  Our  position  is  commanding  ;  our  resources  great ; 
our  methods  of  action  well  settled,  simple,  and  efficient.  The  Spirit  of 
God  that  has  united  us  will  inspire,  direct,  and  bless  our  efforts.  While 
we  maintain  the  faith  which  Paul  so  fully  unfolded,  and  our  Church,  in 
the  centuries  past,  has,  through  manifold  persecution  and  martyrdom,  so 
gloriously  upheld,  we  are  summoned,  as  by  the  will  of  God,  to  .arise  and 
build,  to  form  new,  broader,  and  bolder  plans  for  the  extension  of  Christ's 
kingdom,  and  to  enter  upon  and  execute  them  with  apostolic  enthusiasm. 

Let  us  then,  the  ministers,  elders,  and  members  of  this  Church  here 
assembled,  as,  in  spirit,  standing  in  the  presence  of  and  representing  the 
entire  body  of  believers  in  our  connection,  and  the  beloved  missionaries  in 
foreign  lands  who  now  await,  with  tender  and  prayerful  interest,  this  con- 
summation of  our  union, — let  us,  in  humble  dependence  upon  our  dear 
Redeemer,  with  deep  humility  in  view  of  our  past  inefficiency  and  present 
unworthiness,  and  as  an  expression  of  our  devout  gratitude  to  Him  who 
has  brought  this  once  dissevered,  now  united  Chui-ch  up  to  this  Mount  of 
Tra)h</i(juration,  signalize  this  most  blessed  and  joyous  union  whh  an  offer- 
ino-  in  some  good  degree  commensurate  with  the  abundant  pecuniary  gifts 
that  he  has  bestowed  on  us.     And,  to  this  end,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  it  is  incumbent  on  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  one  in  organization,  one  in  faith,  and  one  in 
effort,  to  make  a  special  offering,  to  the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  of  FIVE 
MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS :  and  we  pledge  ourselves,  first  of  all,  to 
seek  in  our  daily  ])etitions  the  blessing  of  God  to  make  this  resolution 
effectual ;  and  second,  that  we  will,  with  untiring  perseverance  and  per- 
sonal effort,  endeavor  to  animate  the  whole  Church  with  the  purpose  to 
secure  the  accomplishment  of  this  great  work  before  the  tliird  Tinirsday 
of  May,  1871. 

34.  Resolved,  further.  That  the  Stated  Clerks  of  the  Assemblies  of  18G9 
be  requested  to  publi:ih  this  paper,  with  the  names  of  the  Moderators, 
Clerks,  and  Joint  Committee  on  Reunion,  and  the  Commissioners  now  iu 
attendance,  appended  thereto. 

At  3i  o'clock  P., INI.,  the  Convention  united  in  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  which  also  was  thronged 
in  every  part. 

1869,  pp.  502-504,  N.  S. 
1869,  pp.  1165-1167,  O.  S. 


PRELIMINARY   PRIXCIPLES.  99 

35.  The  Memorial  Contribution. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Five  Million  Memorial  Fund,  the  Joint  Com- 
mittee (all  the  members  being  present  but  two,  who  were  hindered  by  un- 
avoidable engagements),  after  most  careful  and  anxious  deliberation, 
agreed  unanimously  upon  the  following  resolutions: 

1.  That  notwithstanding  we  find,  on  examination,  that  the  terms  of  the 
resolution  adopted  on  the  subject  by  the  General  Assemblies  recently  met 
at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  do  not  distinctly  enjoin  the  duty  of  raising  the  pro- 
posed "Memorial  Fund"  upon  this  joint  Committee  ;  yet,  being  fully  per- 
suaded that  the  general  voice  and  expectation  of  the  Church  have  deter- 
mined, that  this  service  fairly  belongs  to  the  Committee ;  and,  further, 
inasmuch  as  funds  for  this  object  have  already  been  tendered  to  us,  we  as- 
sume this  to  be  a  duty  embraced  within  the  intention  of  the  Assemblies  in 
our  appointment;  and  therefore  we  conclude  to  initiate  this  work  at  once, 
and  to  conduct  it  until  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 

2.  That,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Joint  Committee,  it  is  not  within  the 
intention  of  the  Church,  to  include  in  this  fund  the  ordinary  contributions 
to  the  Church's  stated  work  (which  in  our  new  position  should  he  greatly 
advanced),  but  to  create  and  sti'engthen  permanent  institutions  at  home 
and  abroad,  to  meet  such  extraordinary  claims  as  arise  out  of  our  new 
position,  and  to  effect  such  objects  as  properly  commemorate  our  Union. 
By  these  we  mean  : 

I.  Theological  Seminaries,  Colleges,  and  Seminaries  for  the  education 
of  our  daughters,  including  buildings  and  endowments  of  the  same ;  it 
being  understood  that  such  Institutions  shall  be  chartered,  and  shall  be  in 
connection  with  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

II.  Literary  Institutions  for  the  raising  of  a  native  Gospel  ministry  in 
heathen  lands. 

III.  Church  buildings  and  Manses  originating  subsequently  to  the 
Union,  and  otherwise  entitled  to  public  aid ;  Hospitals  and  Orphan  Asy- 
lums in  connection  with  the  Church. 

IV.  Institutions  for  the  education  and  evangelization  of  the  Freedmen. 

V.  Special  contributions  for  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  Susten- 
tation  Fund,  which  shall  include  funds  to  be  appropriated  for  the  support 
of  Disabled  Ministers  and  their  Families. 

At  the  same  time  the  Committee  announced,  that  the  Hon.  William  E. 
Dodge,  as  Treasurer,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  Con- 
vention, would  receive  donations  for  these  objects,  said  donations  to  be  ap- 
plied hereafter,  at  the  discretion  of  the  General  Assembly. 

These  resolutions  were  extensively  published,  and,  while  much  diversity 
of  view  appears  to  prevail  regarding  details,  their  leading  principle  ap- 
pears to  have  secured  general  acceptance,  and  in  various  quarters  efforts 
have  been  inaugurated  in  accordance  with  it. 

The  Committee  having  considered  what  practical  measures  should  be 
suggested  to  the  General  Assembly,  with  a  view  to  realizing  the  Five 
Million  Memorial  Fund  before  the  third  Thursday  in  May,  1871,  accord- 
ing to  a  resolution  of  the  Pittsburg  Convention, 

It  was  unanimously  agreed  to  recommend — 

1st.  The  appointment  of  a  Committee  for  the  raising  and  disposition  of 
this  fund,  subject  to  the  principles  now  agreed  upon. 

2d.  That  this  Committee  shall  examine  the  claims  of  particular  insti- 
tutions seeking  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  fund,  either  by  direct  appropri- 
ation, or  their  own  efforts,  the  results  of  which  are  reckoned  as  part  of 
the  fund. 


100  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

3d.  That,  in  addition  to  other  efforts,  a  collection  be  made  in  all  our 
congregations,  as  nearly  simultaneously  as  practicable,  during  the  mouth 
of  January,  1871,  when  the  ministers,  having  prepared  the  way,  by  keep- 
ing the  subject  constantly  before  the  people  in  the  interval,  shall  more 
specially  urge  the  contribution  upon  them. 

4th.  That  the  Committee  constituted  by  the  first  resolution,  be  in- 
structed to  prepare  and  forward  to  each  congregation  through  the  pastor, 
stated  supply,  or  session,  to  be  laid  before  each  member  of  the  congrega- 
tion, a  dear,  distinct  and  minute  plan  for  subscribing,  reporting,  collecting 
and  fonvarding  the  amounts  contributed  to  this  fund,  and  also  to  prepare 
and  send  suitable  blanks  for  these  purposes. 

5th.  That  our  Presbyteries  and  Synods  be  instructed,  at  their  fall  meet- 
ings, to  make  careful  inquiry  of  each  pastor  and  elder,  and  know  if  these 
subscriptions  have  been  presented  to  the  individuals  of  all  our  congrega- 
tion ;  and  in  cases  of  failure  to  take  such  measures  as  may  best  secure  this 
result.— 1870,  pp.  74,  75. 

The  Committee  on  the  Memorial  Fund : 

Messrs.  Winthrop  S.  Oilman,  J.  Crosby  Brown,  John  E.  Parsons,  Alex- 
ander Whilldin,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Isaac  Scarritt,  William  T.  Booth, 
Archibald  McClure,  Jr.,  and  George  Junkin. — 1870,  p.  123. 

36.  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Memorial  Fund. 

The  unfinished  business  of  the  morning  session  was  resumed,  and,  after 
farther  discussion,  suspended,  to  take  up  the  second  order  of  the  day,  viz. : 
the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Five  Million  Memorial  Fund.  Mr. 
"Winthrop  S.  Gilman,  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  made  a  brief  state- 
ment, after  which  the  Report  of  the  Committee  was  presented  by  the  Rev. 
Frank  F.  Ellinwood,  D.  D.,  the  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  as  follows:— 

The  Committee  appointed  to  raise  and  disburse  the  Five  Million  Memo- 
rial Fund  was  organized  at  47  Exchange  Place,  New  York,  June  17th, 
1870,  the  Chairman,  Winthrop  S.  Gilman,  presiding.  It  was  resolved, 
that  Hon.  William  E.  Dodge  be  requested  to  continue  in  ofiice  as  Treas- 
urer, and  Rev.  F.  F.  Ellinwood  was  appointed  Corresponding  Secretary 
for  one  year,  for  the  general  supervision  of  the  work.  Steps  were  imme- 
diately taken  to  lay  before  the  churches  a  distinct  plan  for  subscribing, 
collecting,  reporting,  and  remitting  their  ofierings  according  to  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Assembly. 

The  Committee  learned  that,  during  the  interval  between  the  passage 
of  the  organized  resolution  at  Pittsburg  and  the  final  ratification  at  Phil- 
adelphia, only  about  $1900  had  been  contributed  to  the  Central  Treasury, 
though  beginnings  had  been  made  in  various  forms  of  home  work  among 
the  churches. 

The  greater  part  of  the  ^5,000,000  was  yet  to  be  raised,  and  eleven 
months  remained  for  the  work. 

The  small  amount  which  had  thus  far  been  contributed,  the  wide  differ- 
ences of  opinion  in  the  Church  as  to  the  uses  which  should  be  made  of 
the  fund,  and  the  general  demand  that  the  people  should  be  allowed  to 
judge  of  the  wisdom  and  necessity  of  their  own  disbursements,  rendered 
it  plain  that  success  could  be  attained  only  by  adopting  a  policy,  as  liberal 
as  the  instructions  of  the  Assembly  would  permit. 

The  great  object  in  view,  as  the  Committee  conceived  it,  was  to  render 
memorable  the  Presbyterian  Reunion  by  an  enlargement  and  strengthen- 
ing of  all  the  structural  interests  of  the  Church  as  a  permanent  token  of 
gratitude  to  God. 


PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  101 

The  motive  of  highest  utility  must  be  coupled  with  that  of  commemo- 
ration. 

Even  aside  from  the  question  of  what  was  feasible  and  what  was  not, 
of  what  might  succeed  and  what  would  inevitably  fail,  it  seemed  more 
important  to  secure  the  greatest  possible  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  than  to  present  imposing  results  before  men.  Evidently  no  Com- 
mittee could  realize  so  large  an  amount  as  five  millions  of  dollars,  without 
seeking  the  co-operation  and  subsidizing  the  manifold  interests  of  the 
Avhole  Church.  Each  Synod  and  each  Presbytery  must  take  up  its  own 
work ;  every  instiiution  of  learning  must  stimulate  the  exertions  of  its 
Alumni  and  its  local  friends ;  and  every  feeble  congregation  must  seize 
the  opportunity,  both  of  quickening  its  own  efforts,  and  of  gaining  help 
from  others.  The  Committee  have,  therefore,  from  the  first,  endeavored 
to  provoke  the  diligence  of  the  churches  in  those  forms  of  work,  within 
the  prescribed  classes,  which  in  their  judgment  should  present  the  strong- 
est claim  to  their  liberality.  They  have,  however,  urged  particularly  the 
general  objects  named  by  the  Assembly,  and  have  invariably  presented 
the  highest  and  most  spiritual  motives.  As  far  as  possible,  the  Committee 
have  been  personally  represented  in  the  various  Synods,  and  in  union 
meetings  of  tlie  churches  in  the  larger  towns.  In  order  to  secure  the 
more  thorough  co-operation  of  the  West  and  North-west,  Rev.  A.  G.  Ru- 
lifison  was,  on  the  1st  of  August,  appointed  Western  Secretary  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  fiscal  year;  and  the  Committee  have  had  abundant  reason 
to  rejoice  in  the  results  of  that  appointment. 

In  regard  to  the  range  of  objects  contemplated  in  this  work,  the  brief 
outline  recommended  by  the  former  Committee  of  Ten,  and  adopted  by  the 
last  Assembly,  has  proved  to  be  eminently  wise,  both  in  its  comprehensive- 
ness and  in  its  limitations.  It  confined  the  effort  to  the  main  departments 
cof  structural  and  permanent  interests,  and  yet  forbore  to  enter  into  details 
which  could  not  have  been  judiciously  imposed  beforehand,  and  Avhich 
could  only  have  exerted  a  disc-,  uraging  and  repressive  influence.  The 
structural  objects  which  were  indicated  by  the  Assembly  were  of  five 
classes,  viz. :  Churches,  Manses,  Literary  and  Theological  Institutions  at 
Home  and  Abroad,  Hospitals  connected  with  the  Church,  and  Houses  for 
the  use  of  the  Boards. 

What  proportion  of  the  aggregate  fund  should  be  allotted  to  each  of 
these  classes  the  Assembly  did  not  state ;  nor  has  the  Committee  felt  au- 
thorized to  decide.  If  one  class  has  been  found  to  absorb  too  much,  and 
another  has  received  too  little,  it  is  but  an  inevitable  result  of  that  discre- 
tionary freedom  which  the  plan  necessarily  involved.  To  these  permanent 
objects,  as  distinguished  from  all  current  work,  the  Committee  have  en- 
deavored to  confine  the  effort,  allowing  only  such  expansions  as  were  con- 
ceived to  exist  in  the  spirit  of  this  movement  as  first  proposed.  If,  in  the 
practical  exigencies  of  so  many  churches,  seemijig  changes  have  appeared 
in  the  plan,  they  have  been  only  those  of  natural  and  necessary  develop- 
ment, as  the  bulb  is  transformed  to  a  rooted  plant. 

Thus  the  principle,  which  admits  a  complete  Institution,  must  be  so 
ramified  as  to  cover  all  its  parts.  If  the  friends  of  a  particular  college, 
variously  offer  endowments,  new  building,  scholarships,  libraries,  repairs, 
canceled  mortgages,  and  grants  of  land,  they  must,  of  logical  necessity, 
be  included,  though  in  the  outset  no  such  variety  had  occurred  to  any 
mind.  So  of  churches ;  if  one  congregation  find  acce^Dtance  for  a  new 
sanctuary  complete  'n  all  its  parts  and  appurtenances,  no  pi'inciple  of  jus- 
tice can  exclude  the  poorer  flock  who  can  only  offer  a  part  of  a  church,  as 


102  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

an  eulargement,  or  a  new  roof,  or  an  organ,  or  a  bt-ll,  or  even  a  liorse- 
shed,  or  a  fence. 

It  is  true,  that  by  such  a  rule  some  humble  objects  are  included ;  but 
He  who,  in- the  construction  of  his  ancient  sanctuary,  invited  even  such 
offerings  as  a  ram's  skin  or  a  little  goat's  hair,  does  not  despise  a  humble 
gift.  It  is  a  beautiful  feature  of  our  common  memorial,  that  it  has  har- 
moniously combined  the  efforts  of  the  wealthy  and  the  poor.  The  affluent 
have  given  their  tens  of  thousands,  and  with  equal  acceptance  the  toiling 
needle-woman  has  offered  joyfully  her  mite;  the  merchant  prince  has 
drawn  his  check,  and  the  converted  Indian  on  the  frontier  has  given  his 
honest  score  of  days'  work  upon  the  walls  of  God's  house.  It  is  inevitable, 
that  the  general  principles  governing  so  great  an  undertaking  should 
sometimes  be  abused.  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  when  so  much  of 
worldly  motive  mingles  with  all  the  benevolences  and  all  the  services  of 
the  Church  ?  The  memorial  work  has  doubtless  been  marred  by  as  many 
exhibitions  of  a  selfish  spirit  as  appear  in  other  things ;  but  the  degree  of" 
selfishness  has  not  always  been  measured  by  mere  locality,  nor  the  kind 
of  memorial  object  chosen.  Hundreds  of  the  noblest  instances  of  self- 
sacrifice  have  been  shown  in  humble  congregations  which  were  struggling 
to  secure  a  sanctuary  for  themselves  and  their  neighbors  about  them.  A 
voluminous  record  might  be  given  of  incidents  and  illustrations  of  the 
most  touching  character,  and  affording  ample  proof  that  many  have  found 
the  Memorial  work  a  precious  means  of  grace. 

While  pursuing  a  liberal  policy  in  admitting  the  gifts  of  the  churches, 
the  Committee  have  confined  their  own  direct  disbursements  to  objects  of 
a  general  character  and  those  of  the  most  pressing  need.  They  have  had 
no  desire  to  secure  any  large  proportion  of  the  fund  to  the  general  Treas- 
ury, except  as  enabling  them  to  meet  this  class  of  wants.  They  would 
gladly  have  accomplished  more  in  this  respect  than  they  have. 

At  a  time  when  very  general  apprehension  existed  lest  the  Memorial 
should  seriously  embarrass  the  Church  Boards,  many  persons  in  various 
parts  of  the  Church  expressed  a  desire  to  devote  their  Memorial  offerings 
as  special  donations  for  the  relief  of  the  Boards.  As  such  gifts  found  no 
sauction  in  either  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  Assembly's  instructions, 
the  Committee  felt  that  they  had  no  authority  in  the  premises ;  but  they 
finally  resolved  to  admit  these  special  offerings  in  a  separate  class,  subject 
to  the  action  of  this  Assembly. 

In  the  midst  of  the  apprehensions  just  referred  to  the  Committee  have 
maintained  a  hopeful  spirit.  They  have  so  constantly  received  assurances 
that  the  churches  which  were  doing  most  for  the  Memorial  were  even 
increasing  their  gifts  to  the  Boards,  that  they  have  felt  confident  that  the 
end  of  the  year  would  show  very  slight  deficits  in  our  regular  benevo- 
lences, if  any  at  all.  And  it  is  with  rare  satisfaction  and  gratitude  that 
they  now  find  that  confidence  fully  justified. 

Comparing  the  Reports  of  the  Boards  just  rendered  to  this  Assembly 
with  those  presented  a  year  ago,  and  confining  the  estimate  to  the  actual 
gifts  of  churches  and  individuals,  as  distinguished  from  legacies  and  other 
casual  resources,  they  find  the  receipts  of  the  united  Boards,  compared 
with  the  aggregates  of  the  separate  Boards  of  the  two  branches  last  year, 
to  present  the  following  gains  as  compared  with  last  year: 

Home  Missions;  gain  over  last  vear,  $16,297.25:  Church  Erection; 
gain,  about  820,000:  Education;  deficit,  8964:  Publication;  deficit,  $9888: 
Freednien;  gain,  about  SoOO :  Ministerial  Belief;  gain,  813,687,27  :  For- 
eiirn  Missions;  gain,  837,296.89.  Aggregate  of  gains  of  the  Boards, 
^87,466.89  ;  net  gain,  876,502.89. 


PEELIMIXARY    PRINCIPLES.  103 

It  should  be  stated  that  the  gains  in  the  Foreign  Board  ai'e  mainly  due 
to  the  accession  of  churches  formerly  contributing  to  the  American  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions ;  but  it  should  also  be  said,  that  there  are  still  consid- 
erable amounts  in  the  Memorial  Treasury  for  the  Presbyterian  Board  not 
included  iu  their  Report. 

There  are  furthermore  some  differences  in  the  time  of  closing  the  fiscal 
year  of  the  Boards  as  compared  with  the  previous  year ;  but  these  differ- 
ences, together  with  the  fact  that  the  Memorial  Report  closes  latest  of  all, 
will,  on  the  whole,  rather  strengthen  the  exhibit  which  is  here  made,  and 
will  fully  establish  the  important  fact  that  during  the  Memorial  year 
churches  and  individuals  have  given  a  larger  aggregate  to  the  Boards  than 
in  any  previous  year  of  our  whole  histo7'y. 

It  may  be  proper,  also,  to  dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  direct  benefits 
which  the  Memorial  has  conferred  upon  the  various  Causes  which  the 
Boards  re])resent. 

On  the  Foreign  Mission  field  permanent  institutions  have  been  provided 
for  to  the  amount  of  nearly  $100,000. 

In  Church  Erection  on  the  Home  field,  a  careful  estimate  shows  that 
about  six  hundred  churches  and  chapels  have  been  reared  during  the 
year  and  a  half,  of  which  only  twenty-one  have  reported  a  cost  of  over 
$25,000.  About  three  hundred  of  these,  including  mission  chapels,  have 
directly  or  indirectly  received  aid  from  the  Memorial  Fund.  The  amount 
which  has  actually  been  received  into  the  Treasury  for  this  purpose  is 
$96,282.93. 

The  Cause  of  Publication  has  only  been  benefitted  in  the  enlargement 
of  the  Publishing  House  to  the  extent  of  about  $45,300. 

For  the  Freedmen's  Cause  less  has  been  done  than  was  desirable,  only 
about  $10,000  having  been  reported  for  schools  and  churches  devoted  to 
their  interests. 

The  Cause  of  Ministerial  Relief,  aside  from  special  gifts  already  esti- 
mated in  its  own  Reports,  has  received  some  small  amounts  for  a  perma- 
nent fund. 

How  far  the  Cause  of  Education  lias  been  advanced  may  be  judged  by 
the  fact  that  the  Church  has  added  nearly  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars 
to  her  educational  apparatus  in  various  permanent  forms. 

The  relation  of  the  Memorial  effort  to  Home  Missions  is  less  direct,  but 
none  the  less  important.  The  recent  Report  of  the  Home  Mission  Board 
shows  that  the  churches  under  their  care  have  raised  $228,627  for  the 
payment  of  church  debts.  This  amount,  at  the  safe  rate  of  8  per  cent, 
interest,  shows  a  saving  to  the  mission  churches,  and  virtually  to  the  Mis- 
sion Board,  of  $18,130  per  annum.  But  the  whole  amount  of  Memorial 
contributions  reported  from  Home  Mission  churches  is  $339,410,  and 
when  we  add  the  large  sums  given  them  by  others  for  churches,  manses, 
and  repairs,  we  shall  have  an  aggregate  increase  of  not  less  than  half  a 
million  of  church  property  in  the  Home  Mission  field,  the  effect  of  which 
will  raise  many  churches  at  once,  or  very  soon,  to  a  position  of  efficiency 
and  self-support.  And,  finally,  the  Memorial  effort  in  all  our  churches, 
rich  and  poor,  by  removing  obstacles,  and  enlarging  foundations,  and 
quickening  exertion,  has  prepared  the  way  for  the  j'uiure  work  of  the 
various  Boards -beyond  anything  in  the  history  of  the  past. 

The  Committee  are  led  to  believe  that  not  the  least  of  the  good  results 
of  this  effort  has  been  its  rallying  and  uniting  influence  upon  the  denomi- 
nation. It  seems  providential  that  the  reunion  should  have  been  followed 
by  a  common  and  enthusiastic  movement,  overpowering  and  obliterating 
all  the  old  lines  of  separation. 


104  FORM   OF    GOVERNMEXT. 

It  lias,  moreover,  strengthened  our  courage  by  the  development  of  im 
portant  principles.  It  has  shown  that  there  is  a  responsive  loyalty  among 
us  to  the  projects  and  behests  of  the  Assembly ;  it  has  demonstrated  tlie 
important  faft  that  we  are  a  thoroughly  organized  body,  and  that  by  our 
Presbyterian  polity  even  so  great  a  mass  may  be  marshaled  and  wielded 
in  the  great  \vork  of  Christian  conquest.  Nor  can  it  be  doubted  that  the 
experiment  of  this  i\[eniorial  htx^  pei'vunientlij  enlarged  the  scale  of  benev- 
olence among  us.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  use  which  the  churches 
have  made  of  their  gifts,  the  great  and  notable  fact  is  that  such  vast 
amounts  of  money  have  been  given  at  all  for  religious  purposes,  and  given 
mainly  with  a  sincere  desire  to  accomplish  the  highest  good.  It  is  not  a 
light  thing  that  in  this  worldly  age,  and  amid  the  business  discourage- 
ments which  have  marked  the  year,  and  Avith  the  current  expenditures 
of  all  the  churches  still  continued,  and  with  seven  regular  Boards  to  be 
maintained  in  full  operation,  so  many  extra  millions  of  dollars  should 
have  been  contributed  for  the  permanent  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom. 
The  fact  itself  is  the  best  possible  monument  of  reunion.  The  spectacle 
of  such  a  movement  is  full  of  encouragement  and  hope. 

And  lest  it  should  be  said  by  any  that  these  are  not  extra  amounts,  but 
that  we  have  only  recorded  the  average  structural  work  of  average  vears, 
the  Committee  have  been  at  some  pains  to  learn  what  has  been  done  outside 
of  the  ISIemorial  reckoning;  and  they  find  that  by  the  common  impulse, 
which  even  under  protest  could  not  wholly  be  resisted,  more  than  two 
millions  of  dollars,  not  included  in  this  report,  have  been  raised  during 
the  IMemorial  Period  for  the  same  kinds  of  work.  This  is  abundant 
proof  that  the  five  millions  which  it  was  resolved  to  raise  may  be  set  down 
as  a  clear  gain,  above  all  previous  years  of  our  history  as  a  Church.  The 
Committee  are  free  to  confess,  that  even  their  highest  hoj)es  have  been 
more  than  realized  in  this  respect.  And  when  they  contrast  the  discour- 
agements that  hung  over  their  early  efforts  with  the  general  response  that 
has  at  length  been  given,  they  are  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  result 
is  not  due  to  skillful  management,  nor  to  faithful  labors,  nor  to  any 
human  influence,  but  to  the  special  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  moving  so 
many  hearts  in  all  parts  of  the  land  to  a  common  effort. 

It  is  due  to  some  of  the  best  men  in  the  Church,  who  from  the  first  have 
doubted  the  policy  of  such  a  movement,  to  say  that  they  have,  neverthe- 
less, in  other  ways  helped  forward  the  cause  of  Ciirist  in  proportionate 
degrees.  It  is  partly  due  to  the  special  efforts  of  such  that  the  Boards 
have  been  so  well  sustained.  The  Committee  rejoice  in  their  efforts,  also, 
nay,  and  will  rejoice,  since  every  way  God  is  glorified. 

In  viewing  the  labors  of  the  year,  the  Committee  take  great  pleasure  in 
acknowledging  the  great  assistance  afforded  them  by  the  weekly  religious 
press  of  the  denomination.  Perhaps  never  before  has  the  power  of  the 
religious  press  in  promoting  great  Church  enterprises  been  so  fully  illus- 
trated. To  human  view  it  is  difficult  to  see  how,  without  this  valual)le 
agency,  the  work  of  the  Committee  could  have  been  accomplished.  To 
the  Evavr/elld,  the  Pre.shyterian,  the  Interior,  the  Observer,  the  Herald  and 
Fresbyfer,  the  Banner,  and  the  Occident,  the  thanks  not  only  of  the  Com- 
mittee, but  of  the  whole  Church,  are  due  for  their  efficient  aid.  The  Com- 
mittee would  also  make  grateful  mention  of  the  fact  that  furnislicd  offices 
have  been  placed  at  their  dis])osal  during  the  year  by  Phelps,  Dodge  &  Co., 
and  that  similar  courtesies  were  tendered  them  by  Brown  Brothers  &  Co. 
and  others  in  New  York, 

In  presentiuj^  the  actual  statistics  of  the  work,  it  should  be  premised 
that,  owing  to  the  tardiness  of  the  returns  from  many  churches,  our  Ke- 


PRELIMINARY   PRINCIPLES.  105 

port  is  nece&sarily  incomplete.  Much  work  known  to  have  been  accom- 
plished is  too  late  for  this  presentation.  Some  of  the  i-eturns  also  have 
been  so  indistinct  that  a  satisfaetoi-y  comparison  of  college  reports  with 
those  of  churches,  with  a  view  to  avoiding  repetition,  has  been  wellnigh 
impossible.  And,  as  the  Committee  have  preferred  to  err  on  the  safe  side, 
they  have  in  all  cases  of  uncertainty  ruled  out  college  reports,  though  fully 
persuaded  that  by  these  means  $200,000  are  excluded  from  their  footings. 
Owing  to  the  'same  difficulty,  no  account  has  been  made  of  the  reports  of 
special  Memorial  gifts  returned  by  the  Boards  and  by  the  Women's  Soci- 
eties. Large  sums,  also,  gathered  from  individuals  for  churches  in  the 
West,  have  been  excluded  on  account  of  uncertainty,  though  it  is  believed 
that  many  of  them  have  not  been  reported  by  donors.  It  was  the  first 
intention  of  the  Committee  to  report  individual  donors  in  some  cases  by 
name;  but  the  difficulty  of  a  proper  discrimination  has  been  found  to  be 
so  great,  that  such  names  are  simply  entered  on  the  Memorial  Records, 
while  to  the  public  they  are  reported  in  the  aggregate  under  a  general 
miscellaneous  head. 

The  classification  of  money  received  and  reported  thus  far  is  as  follows: 
For  new  Church  Buildings,  $3,236,475.61 ;  Manses,  $683,884.05;  Repairs 
and  Enlargement,  $733,707.60;  Payment  of  Debts,  $1,083,478.72;  Insti- 
tutions of  Learning,  $1,405,548.66;  Permanent  Institutions  in  Foreign 
Lands,  $93,509.96 ;  Special  Gifts  to  the  Boards,  $60,340.40 ;  Hospitals, 
$48,665.35;  Relief  Fund  and  Sustentation,  $41,150.46;  Presbyterian 
Houses,  $46,882.37 ;  amounts  not  specified  by  the  churches  reporting 
them,  $162,681.10;  expenses  of  the  Committee,  $11,175.63.  It  is  with 
profound  gratitude  to  God  that  the  Committee  announce  as  the  total 
amount  reported  up  to  12  o'clock  to-day,  seven  million,  six  hundred 

AND  SEVEN  THOUSAND,  FOUR  HUNDRED  AND  NINETY-NINE  DOLLARS  AND 
NINETY-ONE  CENTS  ($7,607,499.91). 

At  the  close  of  the  reading  of  the  Report,  the  whole  Assembly  arose 
spontaneously  and  sang  the  Doxology, 

"Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow," 

after  which,  by  invitation  of  the  Moderator,  the  Rev.  John  Hall,  D.  D., 
gave  thanks  to  God  for  his  great  goodness. 

The  Report  was  then  accepted,  and  referred  to  a  special  committee  of 
fifteen  to  suggest  suitable  action  thereon. — 1871,  pp.  513-519. 

[For  the  Report  of  the  above  Committee  see  Minutes  1871,  jjp.  552-555.] 

Final  Report  of  the  Memorial  Fund  Committee. 

The  order  of  the  da}-,  viz.,  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Me- 
morial Fund,  was  presented  and  approved,  as  follows: 

The  Memorial  Fund  Committee,  having,  by  order  of  the  last  General 
Assembly,  been  continued  for  another  year,  beg  leave  to  report,  that  they 
continued  to  admit  contributions,  as  directed,  till  August  1,  1871,  after 
which  preparations  were  made  for  the  publication  of  a  report  of  all  con- 
tributions from  all  churches,  arranged  by  Presbyteries  and  Synods.  That 
report  was  published  early  in  October  last,  and  a  copy  was  sent  to  each 
church  contributing  to  the  fund.  The  contributions  were  given  in  two 
classes  only,  and  the  gift  of  individuals,  not  embraced  in  church  contribu- 
tions, were  presented  in  the  aggregate.  With  this  tabular  report,  a  brief 
documentary  history  of  the  inception,  prosecution,  and  completion  of  the 
work  was  given,  and  the  whole  was  published  in  neat  form,  by  De  Witt  C. 
Lent  &  Co.,  451  Broome  street,  New  York,  from  whom  extra  copies  may 
14 


106  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

still  be  obtained,  at  75  cents  and  $1  per  copy,  according  to  the  style  of 
binding. 

The  Committee  has  not  dared  to  expect  that  no  errors  would  be  found 
in  a  work  which  embraces  nearly  $8,000,000,  reported  hurriedly,  and  in 
many  cases  very  imperfectly,  and  the  greater  part  within  a  few  weeks. 
But  it  has  been  agreeably  surprised  that  so  few  errors  have  been  pointed 
out,  and  those,  for  the  most  part,  such  as  rose  from  defective  reporting.  In 
order  to  secure  greater  accuracy,  the  manuscripts  were  ofiered  for  public 
inspection  at  the  last  Assembly,  and  Commissioners  from  the  various  Pres- 
byteries were  invited  to  aid  the  Committee  in  making  corrections. 

The  entire  amount  reported  as  subscribed,  up  to  August  1,  1871,  was 
87,833,983.85,  As  there  has  always  been  some  difference  of  sentiment,  in 
regard  to  the  range  of  objects  which  should  have  been  regarded  as  prop- 
erly jyiemorial  objects,  it  may  be  well  to  observe,  that  the  aggregate  was 
suihciently  large  to  admit  of  many  restrictions,  and  yet  leave  at  least  the 
$5,000,000,  which  the  Church  set  out  to  raise.  Deducting  all  special 
gifts  to  the  Boards,  and  all  that  was  expended  in  the  payment  of  church 
debts,  there  will  remain  $6,662,269.54,  Striking  out  $500,000,  as  prob- 
ably spent  in  repairs,  we  still  have  $6,162,269,54, 

With  even  the  strictest  construction,  therefore,  more  than  the  amount 
originally  intended  has  been  fairly  raised. 

The  number  of  certificates  issued  has  been  36,000.  They  have  been 
made  out  for  those  only  for  whom  they  have  been  requested,  and  all  names 
of  those  receiving  them,  so  far  as  given  to  the  Committee,  have  been 
recorded  in  the  books  of  registry  of  certificates,  constituting  three  volumes. 
There  has  in  many  cases  been  considerable  delay,  partly  due  to  the  late- 
ness of  the  applications  for  certificates,  and  partly  to  the  fiict  that  the  en- 
graved copies  could  not  be  supplied  with  sufhcient  rapidity  to  meet  the 
demand.  The  labor  of  filling  out  so  large  a  number  of  certificates,  and 
sending  them  to  their  proper  destination,  has  been  so  great,  that  for  some 
months  several  persons  were  employed,  wholly  or  in  part,  in  the  work. 
One  clerk  was  retained  for  this  purpose  until  January  1st  of  the  present 
year.  The  disbursements,  which  have  been  made  of  money  actually 
received  into  the  treasury  in  New  York,  are  given  in  a  tabular  statement. 
Many  of  these  were  directed  to  specified  objects  by  the  donors ;  in  other 
cases,  the  Committee  have  been  compelled  to  select,  from  a  large  number  of 
applicants,  those  which  seemed  to  them  to  have  the  highest  claim. 

The  Treasurer's  account,  which  is  also  appended,  has  been  audited  up 
to  date,  and  the  small  balance  of  $485.87  remaining  in  the  treasury,  after 
defrayiiiir  all  expenses,  has,  by  a  vote  of  the  Committee,  been  passed  over 
to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  for  permanent 
structures  on  a  foreign  field. 

It  is  recommended  that  the  records  of  the  Committee,  inchuling  regis- 
ters of  names,  letter-books,  etc.,  together  with  copies  of  the  pulilished 
report,  be  made  over  to  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society,  in  Philadel- 
phia. 

Copies  of  the  report  have  been  sent  to  the  libraries  of  the  various  Col- 
leges and  Theological  Seminaries  connected  with  the  Church. 

Having  thus  completed  the  work  assigned  to  it  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly, the  Committee  would  respectfully  ask  to  be  discharged.  The  mem- 
orial effort  now  belongs  to  the  past,  while  other  and  greater  interests  chal- 
lenge the  attention  of  our  beloved  Church. 

The  Committee  on  the  INIemorial  Fund  Avere,  at  their  own  request,  dis- 
charged.— 1872,  p.  16. 


OF  THE  CHURCH.  107 

CHAPTER  II. 

OF  THE  CHURCH. 

I.  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  now  exalted  far  above  all  principality  and 
power,  hath  erected  in  this  world,  a  kingdom,  which  is  his  church. 

II.  The  universal  church  consists  of  all  those  persons,  in  every 
nation,  together  with  their  children,  who  make  profession  of  the  holy 
religion  of  Christ,  and  of  submission  to  his  laws. 

III.  As  this  immense  multitude  cannot  meet  together,  in  one 
place,  to  hold  communion,  or  to  worship  God,  it  is  reasonable,  and 
warranted  by  Seriidure  example,  that  they  should  be  divided  into 
many  particular  churches. 

IV.  A  particular  church  consists  of  a  number  of  professing  Chris- 
tians, with  their  offspring,  voluntarily  associated  together,  for  divine 
worship,  and  godly  living,  agreeably  to  the  Holy  Scriptures;  and 
submitting  to  a  certain  form  of  government.* 

1.  Mode  of  Organization  of  Ne-w  Churches. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  recommitted  the  report  of  the  last  Assem- 
bly, on  the  organization  of  new  churches,  reported  again,  and  their  report 
was  read  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

That  a  particular  Presbyterian  church,  so  far  as  adults  are  concerned,  is 
constituted  and  organized  as  such,  by  a  number  of  individuals,  professing 
to  walk  together  as  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  on  the  principles  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Form  of  Government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  the  election  and  ordination  of  one  or  more  ruling  elders,  who,  by  the 
ordination  service  become  the  spiritual  rulei's  of  the  persons  voluntarily 
submitting  themselves  to  their  authority  in  the  Lord. 

a.  This  organization  ought  always  to  be  made  by  application  to  the  Pres- 
bytery, within  the  bounds  of  which  the  church  to  be  organized  is  found, 
unless  this  be  exceedingly  inconvenient,  in  which  case  it  may  be  done  by 
a  duly  authorized  missionary,  or  a  neighboring  minister  of  the  gospel. 

h.  At  the  time  appointed  for  the  purpose,  after  prayer  for  divine  direc- 
tion and  blessing,  the  presiding  minister,  or  committee  appointed  by  the 
Presbytery  should  first  receive  from  those  persons  to  be  organized  into  the 
new  church,  if  they  have  been  communicants  in  other  churches,  letters  of 
dismission  and  recommendation  ;  and  in  the  next  place,  examine  and  ad- 
rait  to  a  profession  of  faith,  such  persons  as  may  offer  themselves,  and 
may  be  judged  suitable  to  be  received  on  examination.  If  any  of  these 
persons  admitted  to  a  profession  on  examination,  have  not  been  baptized, 
they  should  in  this  stage  of  the  business  be  made  the  subjects  of  Christian 
baptism. 

c.  The  individuals  ascertained  in  the  foregoing  manner  to  be  desirous 
and  prepared  to  associate  as  a  church  of  Christ,  should  now,  liy  some  pub- 
lic formal  act,  such  as  rising,  joining  hands,  or  subscribiug  a  written  state- 

*  A  larger  type  is  used  to  indicate  to  the  reader  tliat  the  parts  thus  printed  are 
from  the  Form  of  Goverxmext,  Book  of  Disciplixe,  or  Directory  for  Wor- 
ship. 


108  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

ment,  agree  and  covenant  to  walk  together  in  a  church  relation,  accord- 
ing to  the  acknowledged  doctrines  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

d.  The  next  step  is  to  proceed  to  the  election  and  ordination  of  ruling 
elders,  in  conformity  with  the  directions  given  on  this  subject  in  the  Form 
of  Government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Deacons  are  to  be  elected  and  ordained  in  like  manner  as  in  the  case  of 
ruling  elders. 

e.  AVhen  a  church  has  been  organized  in  the  manner  already  described, 
report  of  the  same  should  be  made,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  the  Presby- 
tery within  whose  bounds  it  is  located.  And  when  a  missionary,  or  other 
minister  of  the  gospel,  not  especially  appointed  to  the  work  by  a  Presby- 
tery, has,  in  the  manner  above  specified,  organized  a  church,  not  within 
the  known  bounds  of  any  Presbytery,  the  church  thus  organized  should 
as  soon  as  practicable  make  known  to  some  Presbytery,  with  which  it  may 
be  most  naturally  and  conveniently  connected,  the  time  and  manner  of  its 
organization,  and  desire  to  be  received  under  the  care  of  said  Presbytery. 

In  cases  in  which  churches  are  to  be  formed  within  the  known  bound- 
aries of  any  Presbytery,  it  is  most  desirable  that  persons  wishing  to  be 
organized  as  a  Presbyterian  Church,  should  petition  that  Presbytery  to 
receive  them  under  its  care  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  them  in  due  form. 

/.  There  may  be  people  in  destitute  portions  of  our  land,  who  may  be 
disposed  to  associate  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Presbyterian  congrega- 
tion, when  no  minister  of  the  gospel  can  be  obtained  to  aid  them.  The 
forming  of  associations  for  such  a  purpose,  in  the  circumstances  contem- 
plated, should  be  considered  not  only  as  lawful,  but  highly  commendable. 
And  such  associations,  when  formed,  should,  as  speedily  as  possible,  take 
measures  for  obtaining  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  for  becoming  or- 
ganized as  regular  churches. 

g.  Cases  may  also  occur,  in  various  places,  in  which  a  collection  or 
association  of  people  may  desire  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  be  will- 
ing, in  whole  or  in  part,  to  support  it,  and  yet  may  not  have  suitable  men 
among  them  to  sustain  the  offtce  of  ruling  elders. 

Such  people  may  and  ought  to  obtain  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  to  labor 
among  them,  and  occasionally  to  administer  ordinances,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  some  Presbytery,  till  they  shall  find  themselves  in  circumstances 
to  make  a  proper  choice  of  ruling  elders,  and  to  have  them  regularly  set 
apart  to  their  office. — 1831,  pp.  326,  327. 

2.  "Who  are  the  Constituent  Members  of  a  Chm-ch  ? 

a.  "A  particular  church  consists  of  a  number  of  professing  Christians, 
with  their  offspring,  voluntarily  associated  together  for  divine  worship, 
and  godly  living,  agreeably  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  and  submitting  to  a 
certain  form  of  government." — Form  of  Government,  Ch.  ii..  Sec.  iv. 

b.  "  Children,  born  within  the  pale  of  the  visible  church,  and  dedi- 
cated to  God  in  baptism,  are  under  the  inspection  and  government  of  the 
church." — Directory,  Ch.  ix.,  Sec.  i. 

c.  "  Baptism  is  a  sacrament  of  the  New  Testament,  ordained  by  Jesus 
Christ,  .  .  .  for  the  solemn  admission  of  the  party  baptized  into  the  visible 
church.  .  .  ." — Confession,  Ch.  xxviii..  Sec.  i. 

d.  "Not  only  those  that  do  actually  profess  faith  in,  and  obedience  unto 
Christ,  but  also  the  infants  of  one  or  both  believing  parents  are  to  be  bap- 
tized."— lb.,  Ch.  xxviii.,  Sec.  iv. 

3.  Of  Trustees  and  Charters. 
a.   It  is  not  inconsistent  witli  tlie  Presbyterian  ])lan  of  government,  nor 
the  institution  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  Trustees,  or  a  committee 


OF   THE   CHURCH.  109 

chosen  by  the  congregation,  shoukl  have  the  disposal  and  application  of 
the  public  money  raised  by  said  congregation,  to  the  uses  for  which  it 
Avas  designed ;  provided  that  they  leave  in  the  hands  and  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  deacons,  what  is  collected  for  the  Lord's  table,  and  the 
poor.  And  that  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  have 
no  right  to  sit  with  or  preside  over  such  trustees  or  committees. — 1752, 
p.  249. 

h.  Considering  that  it  is  necessary  to  the  due  and  orderly  maintenance 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  its  various  provisions, 
that  care  be  taken,  in  obtaining  legal  enactments  of  a  secular  kind,  that 
they  be  so  formed  as  not  to  come  in  conflict  with  any  such  provisions — and 
whereas,  it  is  known,  that  instances  have  existed,  and  probably  do  still 
exist,  in  which  the  charters  of  churches,  and  perhaps  other  legal  instru- 
ments, are  so  framed  that  the  laws  of  the  Church  and  the  laws  of  the 
land  are  not  reconcilable  with  each  other :  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  the 
congregations  under  their  supervision,  that  in  resorting  to  the  legislatures 
or  tribunals  of  our  country,  they  use  the  utmost  care  to  ask  nothing 
which,  if  granted,  will  in  any  respect  contravene  the  principles  or  order 
of  our  Church ;  and  in  any  cases  in  which  civil  enactments,  heretofore 
obtained,  do  militate  with  any  of  the  principles  or  order  of  our  Church, 
they  endeavor,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  obtain  the  repeal  or  modification 
of  such  enactments,  so  as  to  make  them  consistent  with  the  ecclesiastical 
order  and  principles  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. — 1838,  p.  26,  O.  S. 

4.  Control  of  Trustees  over  a  House  of  Worship. 

Supposing  that  a  musical  convention  desire  the  use  of  the  Church  for 
its  sessions  and  exhibition;  can  the  Board  of  Trustees  give  the  use  of  the 
house  of  worship  for  that  purpose  without  the  consent  of  the  session  ? 

Resolved,  That  the  trustees  of  a  church  hold  the  property  for  religious 
purposes  ;  and  their  legal  rights  are  only  to  be  determined  by  the  State 
laws  and  charters  under  which  they  act  as  custodians  of  the  church. 
Still,  they  have  no  moral  right  to  convert  the  house  of  God  into  a  place 
of  business  or  amusement. — 1860,  p.  53,  54,  O.  S. 

5.  Respective  Rights  of  Trustees  and  Session  in  Controlling  the 

House. 

a.  Overture  No.  14,  being  a  request  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati, 
that  the  Assembly  define  the  respective  rights  of  the  trustees  and  session 
in  the  control  of  the  edifice  used  for  public  worship,  and  direct  what  steps 
be  taken  in  case  of  disagreement  or  collision  between  them,  with  a  report 
thereon  as  follows : 

Where  a  church  edifice  is  held  by  trustees,  the  legal  title  is  vested  in 
them  ;  and  having  the  title,  the  custody  and  care  of  the  property  pertains 
to  them,  for  the  uses  and  purposes  for  which  they  hold  the  trust.  These 
uses  and  purposes  are  the  worship  of  God,  and  the  employment  of  such 
other  means  of  spiritual  improvement  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  according  to  the  order  of  the  church :  to  which  may  be  added, 
congregational  meetings  for  business  relating  to  the  church  or  corporation. 
By  the  constitution  of  the  Church,  the  session  is  chai'ged  with  the  super- 
vision of  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  congregation  ;  and  this  includes  the 
right  to  direct  and  control  the  use  of  the  building  for  the  purposes  of  wor- 
ship, as  required  or  established  by  the  special  usage  of  the  particular 
church,  or  the  Directory  for  Worship.     This  being  the  principal  purpose 


110  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

of  the  trust,  the  trustees  are  bound  to  respect  the  wishes  aud  action  of 
the  session  as  to  the  use  and  occupation  of  the  house  of  worship.  The 
session  is  the  organ  or  agent  through  whom  the  trustees  are  informed  how 
and  when  the  church  buikling  is  to  be  occupied ;  aud  the  trustees  have  no 
right  to  refuse  compliance  with  the  action  of  the  session  in  this  regard. 
These  are  general  principles  applicable  to  all  cases,  except,  perhaps,  in 
some  localities  where  special  statutory  enactments  by  competeut  authority 
may  confer  other  rights,  or  prescribe  other  duties. 

But  there  are  other  purposes  for  which  the  use  of  the  church  edifice  is 
sometimes  desired,  which,  though  they  partake  of  a  religious  or  intellectual 
character,  do  not  fall  within  the  class  of  objects  which  are  properly 
desci'ibed  as  belonging  to  the  worship  of  that  congregation.  The  house, 
may  not  be  used  for  such  purposes  without  the  consent  of  the  trustees; 
and  this  consent  they  may  properly,  in  their  discretion,  refuse.  As  the 
function  to  determine  what  is  a  proper  use  of  the  house  is  vested  in  the 
session,  the  trustees  have  no  legal  right  to  grant  the  use  of  it  for  purposes 
which  the  session  disapprove.  And  as  the  strict  rights  of  those  who  are 
represented  by  the  session  to  the  use  of  the  house,  are  limited  to  the  wor- 
ship of  that  congregation,  the  trustees  are  under  no  obligation  to  grant  it 
for  any  other  purpose. 

When  the  trustees  grant  the  use  of  the  house  to  others,  contrary  to  the 
expressed  wishes  of  the  session,  and,  as  they  suppose,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
cause  of  religion  and  of  that  church,  the  proper  appeal  is,  first,  to  the 
persons  composing  the  congregation  to  whom  the  trustees  are  respons- 
ible ;  secondly,  to  the  Presbytery,  for  their  advice ;  and  finally,  if  neces- 
sary, to  the  legal  tribunals. 

The  report  was  accepted  and  adopted. — 1863,  pp.  43,  44,  O.  S. 

h.  The  Commissioners  from  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  have  been 
instructed  to  ask  information  of  the  Assembly  on  the  following  points : 

1.  Who  are  voters  in  an  election  for  trustees  of  a  church? 

2.  Who  have  power  to  call  a  meeting  for  the  election  of  trustees  of  a 
church  ? 

3.  Who  have  power  to  close  and  hold  possession  of  a  church — the  trus- 
tees or  the  session  ? 

The  Committee  reported : 

1.  That  the  questions  asked  are  wholly  legal  questions,  to  be  determined 
by  the  local  laws,  relating  to  church  property,  in  the  State  where  the 
church  lies. 

2.  That,  in  the  absence  of  any  statutory  law  relating  to  the  mode  in 
which  trustees  shall  proceed,  the  by-laws  of  the  corporation  shall  govern 
the  mode  of  proceeding. 

3.  That  in  the  absence  of  any  specific  rules  of  proceedings,  the  gen- 
eral principle  of  law,  that  the  trust  shall  be  executed  for  the  sole  use  of 
those  for  whom  it  is  held,  shall  govern  the  case. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1864,  p.  478,  N.  S. 

6.  Congregations    acting    through    Trustees    not    Responsible    as 
such  to  the  Presbytery. 

The  Judicial  Committee  report  a  paper  from  T.  C.  Connelly,  of  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  calling  attention  to  an  alleged  case  of  injustice  on  the  part 
of  a  congregation,  in  that  city,  toward  one  of  its  members. 

No  specific  action  of  the  Assembly  is  asked  for.  Kor  does  it  appear  that 
the  case  is  under  the  control  of  any  ecclesiastical  court.  Congregations, 
acting  through  a  Board  of  Trustees,  are  not,  as  such,  resi^ousible  to  the 
Presbyteries. 


OF  THE   CHUECH.  Ill 

On  recommendation  of  the  Committee,  the  whole  matter  was  dismissed. 
—1869,  p.  270,  K  S. 

7.  Relative  Rights  of  Session  and  Trustees  over  Houses  of  Wor- 
ship.— In  the  use  of  the  Property  for  all  Religious  Services  or 
Ecclesiastical  purposes,  the  Trustees  are  under  the  Control  of 
the  Session. 

[The  following  extract  from  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  Louisville  Walnut  Street  Church  case,  is  inserted  by 
order  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  answers  clearly  and  authoritatively 
most  of  the  questions  asked  above.  See  the  whole  decision  under  Form 
of  Government,  Chap,  xii.,  Sec.  v.] 

"  One  or  two  propositions,  which  seem  to  admit  of  no  controversy,  are 
proper  to  be  noticed  in  this  connection.  1.  Both  by  the  act  of  the  Ken- 
tucky Legislature,  creating  the  trustees  of  the  church  a  body  corporate, 
and  by  the  acknowledged  rules  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  trustees 
were  the  mere  nominal  title-holders  and  custodians  of  the  church  prop- 
erty ;  and  other  trustees  were,  or  could  be  elected  by  the  congregation,  to 
supply  their  places,  once  in  every  two  years.  2.  That  in  the  use  of  the 
property  for  all  religious  services  or  ecclesiastical  purposes,  the  trustees 
were  under  the  control  of  the  church  session.  3.  That  by  the  constitution 
of  all  Presbyterian  churches,  the  session,  which  is  the  governing  body  in 
each,  is  composed  of  the  ruling  elders  and  pastor ;  and  in  all  business  of 
the  session  a  majority  of  its  members  govern,  the  number  of  elders  for 
each  congregation  being  variable. 

The  trustees  obviously  hold  possession  for  the  use  of  the  persons  who, 
by  the  constitution,  usages,  and  laws  of  the  Presbyterian  body,  are  en- 
titled to  that  use.  They  are  liable  to  removal  by  the  congregation  for 
whom  they  hold  this  trust;  and  others  may  be  substituted  in  their  places. 
They  have  no  personal  ownership  or  right  beyond  this,  and  are  subject,  in 
their  official  relations  to  the  property,  to  the  control  of  the  session  of  the 
church. 

The  possession  of  the  elders,  though  accompanied  with  larger  and  more 
efficient  powers  of  control,  is  still  a  fiduciary  possession.  It  is  as  a  session 
of  the  church  alone  that  they  could  exercise  power.  Except  by  an  order 
of  the  session  in  regular  meeting,  they  have  no  right  to  make  any  order 
concerning  the  use  of  the  building;  and  any  action  of  the  session  is  neces- 
sarily in  the  character  of  representatives  of  the  church  body  by  whose 
members  it  was  elected. 

If,  then,  this  true  body  of  the  church — the  members  of  that  congrega- 
tion— having  rights  of  user  in  the  building,  have  in  a  mode  which  is 
authorized  by  the  canons  of  the  general  Church  in  this  country  elected 
and  installed  other  elders,  it  does  not  seem  to  us  inconsistent  or  at  vari- 
ance with  the  nature  of  the  possession  which  we  have  described,  and  which 
the  Chancery  Court  orders  to  be  restored  to  the  defendants,  that  they 
should  be  compelled  to  recognize  these  rights,  and  permit  those  who  are 
the  real  beneficiaries  of  the  trust  held  by  them  to  enjoy  the  uses  to  pro- 
tect which  that  trust  was  created. — 1872,  p.  181,  Appendix. 


112  FORM   OF   GOVERNMEXT. 

CHAPTER  III. 

OF  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

I.  Our  blessed  Lord  at  first  collected  his  Church  out  of  different  na- 
tions, and  formed  it  into  one  body  by  the  mission  of  men  endued 
with  miraculous  gifts,  which  have  long  since  ceased. 

II.  The  ordinary  and  perpetual  officers  in  the  Church  are  Bishops 
or  Pastors ;  the  representatives  of  the  people,  usually  styled  Ruling 
Elders  and  Deacons. 

[See  under  Chapters  iv.,  v.,  vi.] 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  BISHOPS  OR  PASTORS. 


The  pastoral  office  is  the  first  in  the  Church,  both  for  dignity  and 
usefulness.  The  person  icho  fills  this  office  hath  in  the  Scripture  ob- 
tained different  names  expressive  of  his  various  duties.  As  he  has 
the  oversight  of  the  flock  of  Christ,  he  is  termed  bishop.*  As  he 
feeds  them  with  spiritual  food,  he  is  termed  pastor.  As  he  serves 
Christ  in  his  Church,  he  is  termed  minister.  As  it  is  his  duty  to  be 
grave  and  prudent  and  an  example  of  the  flock,  and  to  govern  well 
in  the  house  and  kingdom  of  Christ,  he  is  termed  presbyter  or  elder. 
As  he  is  the  messenger  of  God,  he  is  termed  the  angel  of  the  Church. 
As  he  is  sent  to  declare  the  will  of  God  to  sinners  and  to  beseech 
them  to  be  reconciled  to  God  through  Christ,  he  is  termed  ambassa- 
dor. And  as  he  dispenses  tlie  manifold  grace  of  God  and  the  ordi- 
nances instituted  by  Christ,  he  is  termed  steward  of  the  mysteries  of 

God. 

1.  Stated  Supplies  have  not  a  Pastoral  Relation. 

a.  ''Resolved,  That  as  Mr,  Clapp  was  merely  a  stated  supply  of  the 
church  in  New  Orleans,  the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi  had  a  right,  and  it 
was  their  duty,  under  existing  circumstances,  to  adopt  measures  to  detach 
him  from  said  congregation." — 1831,  p.  340. 

b.  The  committee  on  Overture  No.  9,  viz.,  a  memorial  from  East 
Hanover  Presbytery  on  inefficiency  in  the  ministry,  made  the  following 
report,  which  was  adopted,  viz.:  ...  3.  That  it  be  enjoined  on  all  the 
Presbyteries  to  take  such  measures  as  they  may  deem  expedient  for  form- 
ing the  pastoral  relation  in  a  regular  manner  in  all  cases  where  churches,* 

*As  the  office  and  character  of  the  gospel  minister  is  particularly  and  fully  de- 
scribed in  the  Holy  Scriptures  under  the  title  of  "bishop,"  and  as  this  term  is  pecu- 
liarly expressive  of"  his  duty  as  an  overseer  of  the  flock,  it  ought  not  to  be  rejected. 


OF   BISHOPS   OR   PASTORS.  113 

are  now  served  by  stated  supplies,  unless  there  be  special  reasons  to  the 
contrary,  of  which  reasons  the  Presbytery  is  required  to  judge,  and  to 
make  their  judgment  matter  of  record  on  their  minutes. — 1834,  p.  450. 

c.  "Resolved,  Tliat  it  be  enjoined  on  all  the  Presbyteries  to  take  early 
and  efficient  measures  for  terminating,  as  far  as  possible,  the  growing  evil 
of  the  system  of  stated  supplies,  and  for  leading  all  our  chui'ches  to  seek 
the  regular  installation  of  their  stated  Teachers  as  Pastors  in  the  full 
sense  of  the  term,  as  used  in  our  Form  of  Government." — 1839,  p.  177, 
O.  S. 

d.  "  The  Pastoral  office  should  be  more  and  more  highly  appreciated, 
practically  honored  and  mainly  promoted  in  all  our  judicatories  and 
churches  as  the  ordinary,  the  permanent,  and  the  incomparable  way  of 
the  Lord  in  promoting  his  own  cause  and  in  educating  his  people  for 
heaven."— 1840,  p.  17,  N.  S. 

e.  "  That  the  relation  of  stated  supply  which  has  grown  w^  between  many 
of  our  churches  and  ministers  is  unknown  in  our  system,  and  tends  to  dis- 
order and  injury  in  many  ways.  The  Presbyteries  are  therefore  directed 
to  supplant  it,  as  far  as  possible,  in  all  cases  by  the  regular  pastoral  relation ; 
and  to  discountenance  it  as  a  permanent  relation." — 1842,  p.  28,  O.  S. 

/.  "  Churches  having  stated  supplies  only  are  not  such  churches  as  are 
contemplated  in  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  iv.,  and  have  a  right 
of  representation  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Form  of  Government, 
chap.  X.,  sec.  v." — 1851,  p.  15,  N.  S. 

g.  "  That  while  the  instability  of  the  pastoral  relation  arises  out  of  the 
uneasiness  incident  to  growing  and  changing  communities,  and  so  cannot 
be  removed  by  legislation,  still  the  Presbyteries  themselves  can  do  much 
to  abate  it  by  honoring  the  pastoral  relation,  and  declining,  except  in 
extraordinary  cases,  to  ordain  young  men  as  evangelists  to  serve  as  stated 
supplies."— 1869,  p.  262,  N.  S. 

2.  Fidelity  in  Pastoral  Duties  enjoined. 

a.  Upon  an  overture  to  the  Synod,  in  pursuance  of  an  order  of  the  com- 
mittee to  that  purpose,  viz.,  to  use  some  proper  means  to  revive  the  de- 
clining power  of  godliness,  the  Synod  do  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all 
our  ministers  and  members  to  take  particular  care  about  ministerial  visit- 
ing of  families,  and  press  family  and  secret  worship,  according  to  the 
"Westminster  Directory,  and  that  they  also  recommend  it  to  every  Presby- 
tery at  proper  seasons  to  inquire  concerning  the  diligence  of  each  of  their 
members  in  such  particulars. 

This  overture  was  approved  neviine  confradicente. — 1733,  p.  105. 

b.  And  the  Synod  does  further  recommend  unanimously  to  all  our  Pres- 
byteries to  take  effectual  care  that  each  of  their  ministers  are  faithful  in 
the  discharge  of  their  awful  trust.  And  in  particular,  that  they  fre- 
quently examine,  with  respect  to  each  of  their  members,  into  their  life 
and  conversation,  their  diligence  in  their  work,  and  their  methods  of  dis- 
charging their  ministerial  calling.  Particularly  that  each  Presbytery  do, 
at  least  once  a  year,  examine  into  the  manner  of  each  minister's  preach- 
ing, whether  he  insist  in  his  ministry  upon  the  great  articles  of  Christian- 
ity, and  in  the  course  of  his  preaching  recommend  a  crucified  Saviour  to 
his  hearers  as  the  only  foundation  of  hope,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of 
the  omnipotent  influences  of  the  divine  grace  to  enable  them  to  accept 
of  this  Saviour ;  whether  he  do,  in  the  most  solemn  and  affecting  manner 
he  can,  endeavor  to  convince  his  heai'ers  of  their  lost  and  miserable  state 
whilst  unconverted,  and  put  them  upon  the  diligent  use  of  those  means 
necessary  in  order  to  obtaining  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Spirit  of 

15 


114  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

God ;  whether  he  do,  and  how  he  doth,  discharge  his  duty  toward  the 
young  people  and  children  of  his  congregation  in  a  way  of  catechising 
and  familiar  instruction  ;  whether  he  do,  and  in  what  manner  he  doth, 
visit  his  flock  and  instruct  them  from  house  to  house. 

And  the  .Synod  hereby  orders  that  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  inserted 
into  the  b6oks  of  each  of  our  Presbyteries,  and  be  read  at  every  of  their 
Presbyterial  meetings,  and  a  record  of  its  being  read  minuted  in  said 
books  at  the  beginning  of  every  session,  and  that  there  be  also  an  annual 
record  in  each  Presbytery  book  of  a  correspondence  with  this  minute. 

And  in  case  any  minister  within  our  bounds  shall  be  found  defective  in 
any  of  the  above-mentioned  cases,  he  shall  be  subject  to  the  censure  of 
the  Presbytery,  and  if  he  refuse  subjection  to  such  censure,  the  Presbytery 
are  hereby  directed  to  represent  his  case  to  the  next  synod.  And  the 
Synod  recommends  to  each  of  the  ministers  within  our  bounds  to  be  as 
much  in  catechetical  doctrines  as  they  in  prudence  mav  think  proper. — 
1734,  p.  111. 

c.  That  in  the  discharge  of  pastoral  duties,  they  take  the  utmost  care 
that  the  word  of  God  l)e  known  and  understood  by  the  people,  and  that 
for  this  purpose,  in  their  public  instructions  the  practice  of  lecturing  on 
certain  portions  of  holy  Scripture  be  not  laid  aside,  l)ut  rather  revived  and 
increased  ;  that  they  endeavoi',  where  it  is  prudent  and  practicable,  to  in- 
stitute private  societies  for  reading,  prayer,  and  pious  conversation  ;  above 
all,  that  they  be  faithful  in  the  duties  of  family  visitation  and  the  cate- 
chetical instruction  of  children  and  youth.  And  that  in  order  to  aid 
these  views,  they  endeavor  to  engage  the  sessions  of  the  respective  congre- 
gations, or  other  men  most  distinguished  for  intelligence  and  piety  in 
them,  to  assume  as  trustees  the  superintendence  and  inspection  of  the 
schools  established  for  the  initiation  and  improvement  of  children  in  the 
elements  of  knowledge ;  to  see  that  they  be  provided  with  teachers  of 
grave  and  respectable  characters ;  and  that  these  teachers,  among  other 
objects  of  their  duty,  instruct  their  pupils  in  the  principles  of  religion, 
which  should  be  done  as  often  as  possible  in  the  presence  of  one  or  more 
of  the  aforesaid  trustees,  under  the  deep  conviction  that  the  care  and  edu- 
cation of  children,  the  example  set  before  them,  and  the  first  impressions 
made  on  their  minds  are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  civil  society  as  well 
as  to  the  church. — 1799,  p.  182. 

[See  also  under  Directory  for  Worship,  Chap,  i..  Chap,  vi.,  and  jMinutes 
passim,  for  duties,  etc.,  of  a  pastor,  and  under  Form  of  Government, 
Chaps.  XV.,  xvi.,  and  xvii.,  for  questions  relating  to  the  pastoral  ottice. 
Also  Chap.  X,,  sec.  viii.] 


CHAPTEK  V. 

OF  RULING  ELDERS. 


Ruling  Elders  are  properly  the  representatives  of  the  pcoi)le, 
chosen  by  them  for  the  purpose  of  exercising  government  and  disci- 
pline, in  conjunction  with  pastors  or  ministers.  This  office  has  b(>en 
understood,  by  a  great  part  of  the  Protestant  Ilefornied  Churches,  to 
be  designated  in  the  holy  Scrijitures,  by  the  title  of  governments  ; 
and  of  those  who  rule  well,  but  do  not  labor  in  the  word  and  doc- 
trine. 


OF   RULING   ELDERS.  115 

For  the  better  establishiog  and  settling  congregations,  it  is  ordered 
and  appointed  that  in  every  congregation  there  be  a  sufficient  number  of 
assistants  chosen  to  aid  the  minister  in  the  management  of  congregational 
affiiirs, — 1714,  p.  37. 

1.  The    Eldership    essential   to    the    Existence    of    a    Presbyterian 

Church. 

The  I'eport  of  the  committee  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  the 
Western  Reserve  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. :  That  the  records  be 
approved,  with  the  exception  of  the  sentiment  on  page  154,  viz.,  that  the 
eldership  is  not  essential  to  the  existence  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  In 
the  opinion  of  the  committee  the  Synod  advance  a  sentiment  that  contra- 
venes the  principles  recognized  in  our  Form  of  Government,  chap,  ii.,  sec. 
4 ;  chap,  iii.,  sec.  2 ;  chap.  v. ;  chap,  ix.,  sec.  1,  2. — 1833,  p.  404. 

[This  does  not  forbid  the  forming  of  congregations  for  religious  wor- 
ship, where  they  ma}'  not  have  suitable  persons  among  them  to  sustain 
the  office  of  ruling  elder.   See  chap,  ii.,  sec.  4.] 

2.  Elders  must  be  duly  Elected  and  set  Apart. 

The  following  inquiry  was  referred  to  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  by 
the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  viz. : 

In  what  point  of  light  are  the  elders  nominated  and  ordained  by  Mr. 
Balch  to  be  viewed  hereafter  in  Mt.  Bethel  congregation  ? 

It  was  determined  by  the  Assembly  that  the  "elders"  mentioned  in  the 
inquiry  are  to  be  henceforth  viewed  as  private  church  members  only,  un- 
less they  be  duly  elected  and  set  apart  as  church  officers  hereafter. — 1798, 
p.  158. 

3.  A  Ruling-  Elder  without  Charge  has  no  Seat  in  a  Church  Court. 

Resolved,  That  no  ruling  elder,  who  has  retired  from  the  active  exer- 
cise of  his  office  in  the  church  to  which  he  belongs,  can  be  admitted  as  a 
member  of  a  Presbytery,  Synod,  or  General  Assembly. — 1835,  p.  489. 

4.  An  Elder  cannot  hold  Offlce  in  two  Churches  at  the  same  time. 

The  Judical  Committee  reported  that,  by  permission  of  the  Assembly, 
a  complaint  was  presented  to  them  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  in  be- 
half of  a  minority,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,* 
recorded  on  the  Synod  book,  page  168,  by  which  complaint  the  following 
question  is  presented  for  the  decision  of  the  Assembly,  viz.: 

Is  it  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  this  Church  for  the  same  indi- 
vidual to  hold  the  office  of  ruling  elder  in  two  ditferent  churches  at  the 
same  time? 

When  it  was  resolved  by  the  Assembly  that  the  decision  of  the  Synod 
be  affirmed,  and  the  complaint  dismissed. — 1827,  p.  204. 

5.  Nor  Adjudicate  in  a  Church  of  which  he  is  not  an  Elder. 

Overture  No.  14,  viz.,  the  following  question  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Salem:  "Has  a  ruling  elder  in  any  case  a  legal  right  to  adjudicate  in 
another  church  than  that  of  which  he  is  an  elder?"  was  taken  up  and  de- 
cided in  the  negative. — 1831,  p.  324. 

*  The  Synod  having  rejected  a  resolution  declaring  it  lawful  for  an  elder  to  exer- 
cise the  office  in  two  different  congregations  at  the  same  time. 


116  FORM   OP   GOYEEXMENT. 

6.  An  Elder  has  the  same  right  to  sit  in  Synod  as  in  Presbsrfcery. 

Has  an  elder,  whom  the  discipline  of  our  Church  authorizes  to  sit  as 
a  member  in  Presbytery,  from  a  vacant  congregation  or  united  congrega- 
tions, a  right  by  that  discipline  to  sit  in  Synod,  as  a  representative  of 
such  congregation  or  congregations  ? 

The  question  was  determined  in  the  affirmative. — 1808,  p.  408. 

7.  "When  an  Elder  has  been  Suspended  from  Church  Privileg-es, 

and  is  Restored,  he  is  not  thereby  Restored  to  OflBce. 

"When  an  elder  has  been  suspended  from  church  privileges,  for  an 
oft'ence,  and  again  restored  to  the  privileges  of  the  church,  is  he  also 
restored  to  his  office  as  a  ruling  elder?"  should  be  answered  in  the  nega- 
tive. The  two  things  are  distinct ;  and  since  an  elder,  as  well  as  a  min- 
ister, may  be  suspended  from  his  office,  and  not  from  the  communion  of 
the  church,  so  there  may  be  reasons  for  continuing  his  suspension  from  his 
office  after  he  is  restored  to  the  privileges  of  the  church.  He  cannot  be 
restored  to  the  functions  of  his  office  without  a  special  and  express  act  of 
the  Session  for  that  purpose,  with  the  acquiescence  of  the  church. — 1836, 
p.  263. 

8.  Elders  are  not  to  Participate  in  the  Ordination  of  Ministers  by 

the  Laying  on  of  Hands. 

a.  In  answer  to  a  communication  fi'om  the  Presbytery  of  the  Western 
District  on  the  subject  of  allowing  ruling  elders  to  unite  in  the  impo- 
sition of  hands  in  the  ordination  of  bishops :  The  Committee  unani- 
mously recommend  an  adherence  to  the  order,  and,  until  recently,  the 
uniform  practice  of  our  Church  on  this  subject,  viz.:  to  allow  preaching- 
elders  or  bishops  only  to  engage  in  that  service. 

Which  was  adopted.— 1842,  p.  16,  O.  S. 

b.  Ilesolved,  That  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly  that 
neither  the  Constitution  nor  the  practice  of  our  Church  authorizes  ruling 
elders  to  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  ministers."  [Yeas  138,  nays 
7,  non  liquet  1,  excused  2.] — 1843,  p.  183,  O.  S. 

c.  In  answer  to  a  request  to  reverse  the  above  decision,  the  Assembly — 
1.  Be,^olved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  the  last  Assembly, 

in  determining  that  ruling  elders  are  not  authorized  by  the  Form  of 
Government  to  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  ministers,  did  not 
depreciate  the  office  of  ruling  elder,  nor  did  they  in  any  respect  contra- 
vene the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  or  the  principles  and 
])ractice  of  Presbyterian  Churches  in  Europe  or  America  sijice  the 
Keformation  ;  but  in  conformity  with  both  the  principles  and  practice  of 
our  own  and  other  Presbyterian  Churches,  they  did  decide  that  as  the 
rite  of  ordination  is  simply  a  declaratory  ministerial  act,  the  laying  on 
of  hands  as  a  part  thereof  belongs  properly  to  ordained  ministers,  w^hile 
to  ruling  elders  is  left  unim])aired  and  unquestioned  the  full  and  right- 
i'ul  power  of  ordering  the  work  of  ordination,  and  of  judging  in  the  dis- 
cipline of  ministers  in  common  with  those  Presbyters  who  labor  in  word 
and  doctrine,  as  in  all  other  cases."  [Yeas  154,  navs  25.] — 1844,  p.  370, 
0.  S. 

[Against  the  above  action  a  Protest,  signed  by  twenty-two  members  of 
the  Assembly,  was  entered  and  received.  The  Protest  and  the  answer 
of  the  Assembly  may  be  found  in  Paird's  Collection,  revised  edition,  ])p. 
75-80.] 

d.  The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  reported  an  answer  to 


OF    RULING    ELDEES.  117 

the  inquiry,  "  Ought  the  eldership  to  participate  in  the  ordiuatiou  of  min- 
isters by  laying  ou  of  hands  ?"  as  follows  : 

It  is  a  recognized  principle  of  our  Church  polity,  in  accordance,  as  we 
believe,  with  apostolic  teaching,  that  bishops,  ministers  and  elders  con- 
stitute but  one  grade  or  rank  of  officers  in  the  Christian  Church,  and 
hence  that  in  all  our  Church  judicatories  they  have  equal  rights  and  pow- 
ers. In  all  the  judicial  business  of  the  Church  all  are  Presbyters  alike. 
(See  Form  of  Gov.,  chap,  ix.,  sees.  1,  2,  4 ;  chap,  x.,  sees.  2  to  7  ;  chap,  xi., 
sees.  1,  2 ;  and  chap,  xii.,  sec.  2.)  Still  it  cannot  be  denied  that  in  the 
Bible  a  di;<itinction  is  recognized  between  those  Presbyters  who  rule  only 
and  those  who  both  rule  and  preach.  In  the  practice  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  all  its  branches  this  distinction  has  become  very  marked. 
Some  are  set  apart  expressly  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  to  administer  the 
ordinances  of  God's  house.  They  are  Presbyters  in  common  with  others; 
but  as  ministers  of  Christ,  they  have  functions  and  rights  peculiar  to 
themselves,  and  are  required  to  possess  proper  qualifications.  In  the  or- 
dination of  ministers  your  committee  believe  there  are  two  distinct  things 
to  be  done :  1st.  The  examination  and  approval  of  the  candidate.  In 
this  all  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  participate  alike;  and,  2d.  The 
formal  act  of  induction  into  office,  in  which,  by  almost  universal  consent, 
as  we  suppose,  only  ministers  officiate.  It  is  true  our  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, chap.  XV.,  sec.  14,  speaks  of  the  whole  Presbytery  as  laying  on  hands 
and  giving  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  But  every  statute  should  be 
construed  consistently  with  itself  and  with  general  usage  under  the  statute. 
Your  committee  would  suggest  that  the  act  of  induction  is  ministerial,  not 
judicial.  And  as  in  respect  to  baptism,  the  ciders,  jointly  with  the  pas- 
tor, determine  who  shall  be  admitted  to  this  ordinance;  yet  the  pastor 
only  administers  it ;  so  in  ordination — the  whole  Presbytery  determine 
the  fitness  of  the  candidate,  but  only  the  ministers  present  induct  into 
office.  This,  we  believe,  has  been  the  universal  practice  under  this  rule ; 
and  that  this  usage  was  intended  by  the  framers  of  the  book  seems  prob- 
able from  the  fact  that  in  the  form  of  induction  those  aiding  in  the  service 
are  directed  to  extend  to  the  new  minister  their  right  hands,  saying,  "  We 
give  you  the  rlyld  hand  of  fellowship  to  take  part  of  this  iniimtry  with  us." 
This  language  manifestly  implies  that  those  welcoming  him  do  themselves 
occupy  places  in  that  ministi'y  to  which  they  welcome  him.  The  commit- 
tee therefore  recommend  that  the  question  be  answered  in  the  negative. 
The  report  was  adopted. — 1860,  p.  242,  N.  S. 

9.  Ruling  Elders  may  not  Administer  Sealing  Ordinances. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  I'eported  as  follows: 
An  Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria,  on  the  authority  of  ruling 
elders    to    administer    sealing    ordinances:     The    committee    recommend 
that  they  be  referred  to  the  Standards,  Directory  for  Worship,  chap,  vii., 
sec.  1,  and  chap.  viii.  throughout. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1870,  p.  22. 

10.  Ruling  Elders  may  Explain  the   Scriptures  and  exhort  in  the 

Absence  of  the  Pastor. 

On  page  10,  Vol.  lY.,  of  these  Minutes,  ^Mississippi  Synod  takes  excep- 
tions to  the  minute  of  Louisiana  Presbytery ;  because  this  Presbytery  con- 
siders it  not  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  our  Church  for  ruling 
elders,  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  to  read  the  Scriptures  and  explain 
them,  and  to  endeavor  to  enforce  the  truth  upon  the  conscience  by  suit- 


118  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

able  exhortations.    The  Assembly  believe  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana 
■were  right,  according  to  chap,  xxi.,  Form  of  Government. — 1856,  p.  538, 

o.  s. 

11.  The  proper  Court  to  try  Ruling  Elders  in  a  given  Case. 

The  following  question  from  the  Presbytery  of  Genesee  was  presented 
by  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  viz. : 

Common  fame  accuses  two  ruling  elders  of  a  church  (they  being  the 
only  acting  elders)  of  unchristian  conduct,  which  took  place  several  years 
ago,  but  which  has  lately  been  made  known  to  the  Presbytery  with  which 
said  church  is  connected.  What  is  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  in  the 
case? 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  is  the  competent  court  to  try  these  two 
elders,  and  that  it  is  their  duty  to  cite  the  offending  persons  before  them, 
and  proceed  to  issue  the  case. — 1825,  pp.  142,  144.  [See  below  under 
Chaps,  ix.  and  xiii.] 


CHAPTER    VI. 

OF  DEACONS. 


The  Scriptures  clearly  point  out  Deacons  as  distinct  officers  iu  the 
Church,  whose  business  it  is  to  take  care  of  the  poor,  and  to  dis- 
tribute among  them  the  collections  which  may  be  raised  for  their  use. 
To  them  also  may  be  properly  committed  the  management  of  the  tem- 
poral affairs  of  the  Church. 

1.  Their  Functions. — They  have  no  Judicial  Power. 

a.  We  need  only  represent  unto  you  the  ends  and  institution  of  Scrip- 
ture deacons,  and  that  there  is  no  juridical  power  allowed  them  in  the 
Scriptures. — 1715,  p.  42. 

h.   The  Temporalities  of  the  Church  may  be  committed  to  them. 

In  answer  to  the  inquiry,  "  AVhat  are  the  nature  and  duties  of  the  office 
of  Deacon  ?"  we  reply :  The  answer  we  conceive  to  be  explicitly  given  in 
our  Form  of  Government,  chapter  vi.  Their  duties  there  are  jiJainly 
made  to  consist  in  distril)Uting  the  charities  of  the  church  to  which  they 
belong  to  the  poor  of  that  church.  Over  charities  collected  for  any  other 
purpose  than  those  specified,  their  office  gives  them  no  control.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  the  temporalities  of  the  church  generally  may  be  committed 
to  their  care. — 1833,  p.  405. 

e.   The  Appointment  of  Deacons  urged. 

Overture  No.  8,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Pittsburg,  on  the  subject  of 
Deacons.  The  committee  recommend — in  response  to  the  memorial  re- 
garding the  functions  of  deacons,  and  re(|uesting  that,  ::i  respect  to  the 
care  of  the  poor,  their  business  be  so  defined  as  not  to  exclude  the  poor 
and  the  sick  outside  the  Church — the  ado]>tion  of  the  following  resolutions: 

]ie><olved,  1.  That  the  Assembly  regards  the  office  of  deacon  as  pro- 
viding proper  scriptural  and  feasil)le  means  for  such  exercise  of  cliaritv, 
as  will  aid  in  extending  the  influence  of  the  Church  among  the  poor,  and 
opening  the  way  for  more  direct  spiritual  ministrations. 


OF   DEACONS.  119 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  Assembly,  rejoicing  in  all  that  is  accomplisherl  by 
others,  express  their  most  decided  approval  of  all  institutions  for  the  care 
of  the  poor  and  sick,  conducted  by  Presb5'terians,  and  regarding  with 
pleasure  their  increasing  number,  earnestly  advises  their  multiplication. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  always  recognized  the 
office  of  Deacon ;  and  the  Assembly  renewedly  call  the  attention  of  the 
churches  to  the  provisions  of  the  Form  of  Government  in  the  case.  [See 
chap,  xiii.,  sec.  2d.]— 1871,  p.  588-89. 

2.  May  a  person  at  once  be  Deacon  and  Elder? 

Resolved,  That  while  it  is  important  and  desirable  that  the  several 
offices  in  the  Christian  Church  should  be  kept  distinct,  and  be  sustained 
by  different  individuals  wherever  a  sufficient  number  of  competent  men 
can  be  found,  yet  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly  it  is  not  inconsistent 
with  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  nor  with  the  precedent 
furnished  in  filling  the  office  of  Deacon  at  its  first  institution,  that  where 
a  necessity  exists,  the  same  individual  should  sustain  both  offices. — 1810, 
p.  306,  0.  S. 

3.  The  Appointment  of  Deacons  Enjoined. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  enjoined  upon  all  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care 
of  the  General  Assembly  to  take  such  order  on  this  subject  as  shall  secure 
the  appointment  of  Deacons  in  all  the  churches,  with  the  exception  of 
those  in  which  it  may  be  impracticable  from  paucity  of  male  membei's. — 
1840,  p.  286,  O.  S. 

[The  same  injunction  was  renewed  1841,  p.  418,  and  1856,  j).  535.] 

4.  To  the  Deacons  belongs  exclusively  the  control  of  Funds  for  the 

^  Poor. 

1.  Has  a  Church  session  any  original  or  direct  control  over  the  man- 
agement and  distribution  of  the  fund  collected  and  in  the  hands  of  the 
Deacons  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  of  the  Churcli  ? 

2.  Or  does  the  management  of  this  fund  belong  exclusively  to  the 
Deacons  ? 

3.  If  the  session  has  any  control  over  this  fund,  what  is  the  nature  and 
extent  of  that  control  ? 

The  committee  recommend  that  the  first  inquiry  be  answered  in  the 
negative,  the  second  in  the  affirmative,  and  that  the  third  be  answered, 
"  They  may  advise  respecting  the  use  of  funds."  Adopted.— 1857,  p.  24, 
O.  S. 

5.  "Is  it  proper  for  the  Deacons  of  our  Churches  to  ofQciate  on  Sac- 

ramental occasions  when  the  Elders  are  present  ?" 

The  Assembly  answer,  "  That  inasmuch  as  we  have  no  rule  in  relation 
to  the  subject,  the  matter  is  referred  to  the  discretion  of  the  sessions  of 
the  churches."— 1867,  p.  497,  N.  S. 

6.  Deacons  may  not  represent  the  Church  in  Church  Courts. 

The  record  [Synod  of  Buffiilo],  p.  156,  would  lead  to  the  belief  that  a 
Deacon  of  the  Church  was  admitted  to  a  seat  in  Synod,  which,  if  so,  is  in 
violation  of  the  principles  of  our  Church  government. — 1860,  p.  34,  O.  S. 


120  FOK^r    OF    GOVERXMEXT. 

CHAPTER  YII. 

OF  OEDINANCES  IX  A  PARTICULAR  CHURCH. 

The  ordinances  established  by  Christ,  the  head,  in  a  particular 
church,  which  is  regularly  constituted  with  its  proper  officers,  are 
prayer,  singing  praises,  reading,  expounding  and  preaching  the  word 
of  God ;  administering  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper;  public  sol- 
emn fasting  and  thanksgiving,  catechising,  making  collections  for  the, 
poor  and  other  pious  purposes;  exercising  discipline,  and  blessing  the 
]5eople. 

[See  under  Directory  for  Worship,  Chapters  iii.,  iv.,  v.,  vi.,  vii.,  viii., 
xiv.,  and  xv.  The  subject  of  collections  for  pious  uses  has  occupied 
much  of  the  attention  of  the  Assemblies  for  many  years.  In  1854  the 
Assembly,  O.  S.,  issued  an  address  at  once  comprehensive  and  exhaustive. 
See  Baird,  pp.  174-180,  See  also  under  Chapter  xviii.,  sec.  ix.,  on  Benevo- 
lence and  Finance.] 


CHAPTER  vnr. 


OF  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT,  AND    THE  SEVERAL   KINDS   OF  JU- 
DICATORIES. 

I.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  government  of  the  church  be 
exercised  under  some  certain  and  definite  form.  And  Ave  hold  it  to 
be  expedient,  and  agreeable  to  Scripture  and  the  practice  of  the  prim- 
itive Christians,  that  the  church  be  governed  by  Congregational, 
Presbyterial,  and  Synodical  Assemblies.  In  i'ull  consistency  with 
this  belief,  we  embrace,  in  the  spirit  of  charity,  those  Christians  who 
differ  from  us,  in  opinion  and  practice,  on  these  subjects. 

II.  These  assemblies  ought  not  to  possess  any  civil  jurisdiction, 
nor  to  inflict  any  civil  })enalties.  Their  power  is  whollv  nmral  or 
spiritual,  and  that  only  ministerial  and  declarative.  They  possess 
the  right  of  requiring  obedience  to  the  laws  of  Christ;  and  of  ex- 
cluding the  disol)edient  and  disorderly  from  the  j)rivileges  of  the 
church.  To  give  efficiency,  however,  to  this  necessary  and  scrijitural 
authority,  they  possess  the  powers  rccpiisite  for  obtaining  evidence 
and  inflicting  censure.  Tiiey  can  call  before  them  any  oifender 
against  the  order  and  government  of  the  church  ;  they  can  require 
members  of  their  own  society  to  appear  and  give  testimony  in  the 
cause;  but  tlie  highest  punisiiment  to  which  their  authority  extends, 
is  to  exclude  the  contumacious  and  impenitent  from  the  congregation 
of  believers. 


OF   CHURCH-GOVEENMENT   AND   JUDICATORIES.  121 


1.  Union  of  Church  and  State  Disavo"wed,    Relation  to  the  State. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  recommitted  the  report  ou  the  reference 
from  the  Presbyteries  of  Madison  and  Lancaster,  reported,  and  their  re- 
port was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

That  said  Presbyteries  invite  the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
certain  slanderous  reports  extensively  circulated  against  the  Presbyterian 
and  other  denominations,  involving  the  charge  of  an  attempt  on  the  part 
of  these  denominations  to  unite  Church  and  State,  and  thus  subvert  the 
civil  institutions  of  our  country,  and  intimate  their  desire  that  this  Assem- 
bly would  take  order  on  the  subject,  and  by  some  public  act  disabuse 
themselves  and  ^heir  constituents  of  such  unfounded  and  injurious  imputa- 
tions. 

In  the  opinion  of  your  committee  no  public  act  is  necessary  on  the  part 
of  this  Assembly  to  refute  a  charge  wholly  unsupported  by  testimony  and 
facts ;  nor  any  exposition  of  their  principles  in  relation  to  civil  magis- 
tracy and  the  claims  of  the  church  demanded,  other  than  that  contained 
in  our  acknowledged  ecclesiastical  standards,  and  published  to  the  world. 
For  the  better  intlirmatiou,  however,  of  any  who  may  be  in  danger  of  im- 
position from  unfounded  statements,  the  Assembly  would  refer  to  the  fol- 
lowing exhibition  of  their  principles  as  contained  in  the  accredited  consti- 
tution of  the  church. 

"God,  the  supreme  Lord  and  King  of  all  the  world,  hath  ordained  civil 
magistrates  to  be  under  him  over  the  people,  for  his  own  glory  and  the 
public  good,  and  to  this  end  hath  armed  them  with  the  power  of  the 
sword,  for  the  defence  and  encouragement  of  them  that  are  good,  and  for 
the  punishment  of  evil-doers. 

"  It  is  lawful  for  Christians  to  accept  and  execute  the  office  of  magis- 
trate, when  called  thereunto ;  in  the  managing  whereof,  as  they  ought 
especially  to  maintain  piety,  justice,  and  peace,  according  to  the  whole- 
some laws  of  each  commonwealth,  so,  for  that  end,  they  may  lawfully,  now 
under  the  New  Testament,  wage  war  upon  just  and  necessary  occasions. 

"Civil  magistrates  may  not  assume  to  themselves  the  administration  of 
the  word  and  sacraments ;  or  the  power  of  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven ;  or,  in  the  least,  interfere  in  matters  of  faith.  Yet,  as  nursing 
fathers,  it  is  the  duty  of  civil  magistrates  to  protect  the  Church  of  our 
common  Lord,  without  giving  the  preference  to  any  denomination  of 
Christians  above  the  rest,  in  such  a  manner,  that  all  ecclesiastical  persons 
whatever  shall  enjoy  the  full,  free,  and  unquestioned  liberty  of  discharging 
every  part  of  their  sacred  functions,  without  violence  or  danger.  And,  as 
Jesus  Christ  hath  appointed  a  regular  government  and  discipline  in  his 
church,  no  law  of  any  commonwealth  should  interfere  with,  let,  or  hinder, 
the  due  exercise  thereof,  among  the  voluntary  members  of  any  denomina- 
tion of  Christians,  according  to  their  own  profession  and  belief.  It  is  the 
duty  of  civil  magistrates  to  protect  the  person  and  good  name  of  all  their 
people,  in  such  an  effectual  manner  as  that  no  person  be  suffered,  either 
upon  pretence  of  religion  or  infidelity,  to  offer  any  indignity,  violence, 
abuse,  or  injury,  to  any  other  person  whatsoever;  and  to  take  order,  that 
all  religious  and  ecclesiastical  assemblies  be  held  without  molestation  or 
disturbance. 

"It  is  the  duty  of  the  people  to  pray  for  magistrates,  to  honor  their  per- 
sons, to  pay  them  tribute  and  other  dues,  to  obey  their  lawful  commands, 
and  to  be  subject  to  their  authority,  for  conscience'  sake.  Infidelity  or  dif- 
ference in  I'eligion  doth  not  make  void  the  magistrate's  just  and  legal  au- 
thority, nor  free  the  people  from  their  due  obedience  to  him ;  from  which 
16 


122  FOEM   OF   GOVEENMEXT. 

ecclesiastical  persons  are  not  exempted ;  much  less  liatli  tlie  pope  any 
power  or  jurisdiction  over  them  in  their  dominions,  or  over  any  of  their 
people;  and  least  of  all,  to  deprive  them  of  their  dominions  or  lives,  if  he 
shall  judge  them  to  be  heretics,  or  upon  any  other  pretence  whatsoever.*  " 

"Synods  and  councils  are  to  handle  or  conclude  nothing,  but  that  which 
is  ecclesiastical ;  and  are  not  to  intermeddle  with  civil  affairs  which  con- 
cern the  commonwealth,  unless  by  way  of  humble  petition,  in  cases  extra- 
ordinary ;  or  by  way  of  advice  for  satisfaction  of  conscience,  if  they  be 
thereunto  required  by  the  civil  magistrate.!" 

"That  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free  from  the 
doctrine  and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  anything  contrary  to 
his  word,  or  beside  it,  in  matters  of  faith  or  w^orship.  Therefore  they 
consider  the  rights  of  private  judgment  in  all  matters  that  respect  re- 
ligion, as  universal  and  unalienable.  They  do  not  even  wish  to  see  any 
religious  constitution  aided  by  the  civil  power,  further  than  may  be  neces- 
sary for  protection  and  security,  and  at  the  same  time,  be  equal  and  com- 
mon to  all  others.| " 

Such  are  the  constitutional  principles  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
these  United  States.  They  were  our  fathers'  principles  before  and  during 
the  revolution,  which  issued  in  the  consummation  of  our  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence, and  under  the  influence  of  which  they  prayed,  and  fought,  and 
bled,  by  the  side  of  the  father  of  our  country.  They  have  been  the  prin- 
ciples of  their  descendants  ever  since.  They  are  our  principles  still, 
adopted  from  conviction,  to  whose  support  we  have  pledged  ourselves 
under  the  most  solemn  sanctions,  and  by  the  preservation  of  which  we 
believe  that  the  common  interests  of  evangelical  religion  and  civil  liberty 
will  be  most  effectually  sustained. 

In  closing  this  statement  the  Assembly  would  affectionately  and  earn- 
estly exhort  the  members  of  their  communion  that  in  the  fulfillment  of 
their  civil  and  religious  duties  they  watch  against  all  unhallowed  feelings, 
and  that  they  suffer  reproach  meekly,  not  rendering  railing  for  railing, 
nor  evil  for  evil,  but  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  they  commend 
themselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God. — 1830,  i)p.  299, 
300.     [See  also  under  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v.,  1873,  p.  501.] 

2.  Right  of  any  Judicatory  to  bear  Testimony  ag-ainst  Erroneous 
and  Injurious  Publications. 

Besolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly  it  is  the  right, 
and  may  be  the  duty,  of  any  judicatory  of  our  church  to  take  up,  and  if 
it  see  cause,  to  bear  testimony  against  any  printed  publication  wliich  may 
be  circulating  within  its  bounds,  and  which,  in  the  judgment  of  that  judi- 
catory, may  be  adapted  to  inculcate  injurious  opinions;  and  this  whether 
the  author  be  living  or  dead,  whether  he  be  in  the  communion  of  our 
church  or  not,  whether  he  be  a  member  of  the  judicatory  expressing  the 
opinion  or  of  some  other.  A  judicatory  may  be  solemnly  called  upon  to 
warn  the  churches  under  its  care,  and  especially  the  rising  generation, 
against  an  erroneous  book  while  the  author  may  not  be  within  their 
bounds,  or  immediately  responsible  at  their  bar,  and  while,  even  if  he  were 
thus  responsible  and  within  their  reach,  they  might  not  think  it  necessary 
to  arraign  him  as  a  heretic.  To  deny  our  judicatories,  as  guardians  of  the 
churches,  this  right  would  be  to  deny  them  one  of  the  most  jjrecious  and 
powerful  means  of  bearing  testimony  against  dangerous  sentiments,  and 
guarding  the  children  of  the  Church  against  "that  instruction  which 
causeth  to  err."     The  writer  of  such  a  book  may  reside  at  a  distance 

*  Conf.  of  Faith,  Chap,  xxiii.  f  Ibid.,  Chap,  xxxi.,  Sec.  4. 

%  Form  of  Government,  Chap,  i.,  Sec.  1. 


OF   THE   CHUECH   SESSION.  123 

from  the  neighborhood  in  which  his  work  is  circulating  and  supposed  to  be 
doing  mischief,  or  he  may  be  so  situated  that,  even  if  it  be  proper  to  com- 
mence process  against  him,  it  may  not  be  possible  to  commence,  or  at  any 
rate,  to  issue  that  process  within  a  number  of  months.  In  the  mean  while, 
if  the  right  in  question  be  denied,  this  book  may  be  scattering  poison 
without  the  possibility  of  sending  forth  an  efiectual  antidote.  Indeed,  it 
may  be  indispensably  necessary  in  cases  which  may  easily  be  imagined,  to 
send  out  such  a  warning,  even  though  the  author  of  the  book  were  fully 
acquitted  from  the  charge  of  heresy. — 1835,  p.  485. 


CHAPTER   IX. 
OF  THE  CHURCH  SESSION. 


I.  The  church  session  consists  of  the  pastor  or  pastors,  and  ruling 
elders,  of  a  particular  congregation. 

1.  A  Special  Session  Unconstitutional. 

a.  The  Presbytery  of  Miami  did  appoint  a  special  session  composed  of 
elders  belonging  to  diffei'ent  congregations,  for  the  purjoose  of  trying  Mr. 
Lowrey,  and  the  decision  of  such  a  special  session  was  affirmed  by  the 
Synod  of  Ohio  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Lowrey  be  sustained,  and  it  hereby  is 
sustained ;  and  that  all  the  proceedings  in  the  case  be,  and  they  hereby 
are  reversed,  on  the  ground  that  the  appointment  of  such  a  special  session 
is  entirely  unconstitutional ;  and  if  Mr.  Lowrey  has  done  anything  offen- 
sive, he  ought  to  be  tried  by  the  courts  that  have  been  instituted  by  the 
Constitution  of  our  Church. — 1823,  p.  92. 

h.  This  Assembly  concur  in  opinion  with  the  last  General  Assembly, 
that  the  special  session  appointed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Miami  for  the  trial 
of  S.  Lowrey,  was  an  unconstitutional  court,  and  that  all  the  proceedings 
of  that  body  in  this  case,  and  of  the  Presbytery  of  Miami  and  of  the  Synod 
of  Ohio,  sanctioning  the  acts  of  that  body,  are  irregular.  And  the  allega- 
tion of  the  Synod  in  their  memorial  that  this  body,  though  called  a  ses- 
sion, was,  in  reality,  no  more  than  a  committee  of  Presbytery,  is  incorrect, 
for  they  are  not  only  denominated  a  session,  but  they  performed  the  acts 
which  belong  peculiarly  to  a  church  session :  they  sat  in  judgment  upon  a 
member  of  the  church  and  an  elder,  and  condemned  and  suspended  him ; 
but  no  Presbytery  has  authority,  according  to  the  Constitution  of  our 
Church,  to  delegate  to  a  committee  a  power  to  perform  such  acts  as  those. 
—1824,  p.  115. 

e.  The  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
Ohio  reported.     Tlie  report  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  the  minutes  be  approved  to  page  191,  with  the  exception  of  the  min- 
utes on  page  169,  "where  a  select  session  was  appointed  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Miami,  which  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  was  unconstitutional,  and 
of  which  the  Synod  has  taken  no  notice. — 1824,  p.  117. 

[For  a  special  case  w  here  a  session  could  not  act  because  of  the  rela- 
tions of  the  only  elder  to  the  accused,  see  above,  Chap,  v.,  11.] 


124  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

d.  The  Assembly  refuses  to  Legalize  a  Sj^ecial  Session. 

Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Kaskaskia,  asking  the  General-  Assem- 
bly to  make  provision  for  the  calling  of  special  sessions  of  ruling  elders 
from  neighboring  churches  to  obviate  delays  in  cases  of  discipline  for 
want  of  quorums  of  church  sessions. 

The  Assembly  can  aiford  no  relief  of  the  nature  proposed  to  the  diffi- 
culties contemplated, — 1860,  p.  28,  O.  S. 

2.  An  Elder  may  not  Adjudicate  in  any  Church  in  -which  he  is  not 

an  Elder. 

Overture  No.  14,  viz.,  the  following  question  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Salem,  "  Has  a  ruling  elder  in  any  case  a  legal  right  to  adjudicate  in  an- 
other church  than  that  of  which  he  is  an  elder  ?"  was  taken  up  and  de- 
cided in  the  negative. — 1831,  p.  324. 

3.  A  Minister  may  not  sit  as  a  Corresponding  Member  of  Session 

nor  be  assigned  as  Counsel  for  the  Accused. 

May  a  session  of  a  church  invite  a  minister  of  the  gospel  belonging  to 
the  same  Presbytery  or  Synod  to  which  the  church  belongs  to  sit  as  a  cor- 
responding member  of  said  session  ?  and  when  so  invited,  may  such  min- 
ister, at  the  request  of  an  accused  brother,  be  assigned  as  counsel  for  the 
accused  ? 

The  committee  recommended  that  both  questions  be  answered  in  the 
negative,  and  the  report  was  adopted. — 1851,  p.  20,  N.  S. 

4.  Elders  must  be  ordained. — Neglect  of  Ordination  invaUdates  a 

Decision. 

The  Committee  on  Church  Polity  reported  two  questions  with  the  re- 
commendation that  they  be  answered  in  the  negative  : — 

a.  1st.  Is  an  Elder  elect  a  luember  of  the  session,  and  competent  to 
sit  in  a  judicial  case  before  he  has  been  ordained  according  to  the  Form 
of  Government? 

h.  2d.  Would  a  decision  in  a  case  of  discipline,  made  by  a  session 
whose  members  have  never  been  ordained  according  to  the  Form  of 
Government,  Cliap.  xiii.,  be  a  valid  and  lawful  decision,  and  binding 
upon  the  accused? 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1868,  p.  58,  N.  S. 

5.  Receiving  an  Elder  on  a  Certificate  not  used  restores  him  to 

office. 

The  same  Committee  reported  tlie  following  case  and  question  : 

Mr.  C,  an  acting  elder  of  the  church  of  C,  having  taken  a  certificate 
of  dismission,  and  having  retained  it  about  three  years,  returned  it  to  the 
session  of  the  church  of  C,  giving  satisfactory  reasons  for  not  using  it, 
and  was  restored  to  the  membership  of  the  church.  Does  the  receiving 
again  by  the  session  reinstate  Mr.  C.  as  an  acting  elder  of  the  church 
of  C.  ? 

The  Committee  recommended  tliat  the  answer  be  in  the  affirmative. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1868,  p.  58,  N.  S. 

[See  also  Form  of  Government,  Chap,  xiii.] 

II.  Of  this  judicatory,  two  elders,  if  there  be  as  many  in  the  con- 
gregation, with  the  pastor,  shall  be  necessary  to  constitute  a  quorum. 


OF   THE   CHURCH   SESSION.  125 

1.  A  Minister  -with  one  Elder,  if  there  be  but  one,  may  constitute 

a  Quorum. 

a.  The  inquiry,  which  is  in  these  words,  "Can  a  minister  with  one 
elder  form  a  session  capable  of  transacting  judicial  business  ?"  is  sufficient- 
ly answered  in  the  Constitution,  Form  of  Government,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  2, 
where  it  seems  to  be  implied  that  cases  may  occur  with  infant  or  feeble 
churches,  in  which  it  wT)uld  be  impracticable  for  a  time  to  have  more  than 
one  elder,  and  yet  be  necessary  to  perform  acts  of  a  judicial  character. 

For  such  the  Constitution  provides ;  but  if  there  be  more  than  one 
elder,  then  two  at  least,  with  a  minister,  are  necessary  to  form  a  Session. 
—1836,  p.  263. 

b.  A  request  from  the  Presbytery  of  Muncie,  that  the  Assembly  take 
the  necessary  steps  for  procuring  such  an  alteration  in  the  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment, as  will  enable  a  minister  and  one  elder  to  perform  sessional 
acts,  when  the  other  elder  shall,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery,  be 
from  any  cause  incompetent  to  act  in  the  case. 

The  Committee  recommended  to  the  Assembly  to  adopt  the  following 
minute  :  Resolved,  that  no  alteration  of  our  constitutional  rules  is  needful 
to  secure  the  ends  of  discipline,  in  the  premises.  The  report  was  adopted. 
—1852,  p.  210,  O.  S. 

c.   Where  cm  Elder  refuses  to  Act,  and  has  left  the  Church. 

To  advise  that,  if  Mr.  Armstrong,  as  alleged,  refuses  to  act  as  a  ruling 
elder,  and  has  left  the  church,  Mr.  Chandler  constitutes  the  session  of 
the  First  Church  of  Wilmington,  and  is  entitled  to  act  as  such. — 1869,  p. 
911,  O.  S. 

2.  Less  than  a  Quorum  incapable  of  any  Organic  Act. 

The  law  of  a  quorum  is  not  a  mere  rule  of  procedure,  a  provision  of 
order,  but  a  matter  respecting  the  very  being  of  the  judicatory.  Any  num- 
ber of  members  less  than  a  constitutional  quorum  do  not  make  a  judi- 
catory, and  are  not  competent  to  any  organic  act. — 1861,  p.  456,  N.  S. 

[See  below,  chap,  x :  vii.  3,  1861,  p.  455,  N.  S.] 

III.  The  pastor  of  the  congregation  shall  always  be  the  moderator 
of  the  session ;  except  when,  for  prudential  reasons,  it  may  appear  ad- 
visable that  some  other  minister  should  be  invited  to  preside;  in 
which  case,  the  pastor  may,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  session,  invite 
such  other  minister  as  they  may  see  meet,  belonging  to  the  same 
Presbytery,  to  preside  in  that  case.  The  same  expedient  may  be 
adopted  in  case  of  the  sickness  or  absence  of  the  pastor. 

IV.  It  is  expedient,  at  every  meeting  of  the  session,  more  es- 
pecially when  constituted  for  judicial  business,  that  there  be  a  pre- 
siding minister.  When,  therefore,  a  church  is  without  a  pastor,  the 
moderator  of  the  session  shall  be  either  the  minister  appointed  for 
that  purpose  by  the  Presbytery,  or  one  invited  by  the  session  to  pre- 
side on  a  particular  occasion.  But  where  it  is  impracticable,  without 
great  inconvenience,  to  procure  the  attendance  of  such  a  moderator, 
the  session  may  proceed  without  it. 


126  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

1.  "WTiere  a  Minister  is  the  Accuser,  a  Minister  should  Preside. 

After  stating  the  cause  and  reading  the  judgment  of  the  session,  and 
the  appeal,  both  parties  were  fully  heard  ;  and  the  Synod  finding,  that  as 
the  session  had  not  a  minister  of  the  Word  to  preside  through  the  course 
of  the  trial,  and  that  a  minister  was  the  accuser  of  the  appellant,  it  was 
judged  it  was  at  least  inexpedient  to  proceed  to  trial;  and  upon  the  whole 
we  think  it  best,  and  do  remit  the  matter  back  to  the  Presbytery  to  be 
heard  and  judged  of  by  them  de  novo. — 1773,  p.  447. 

2.  "Who  may  Moderate  a  Session  in  the  absence  of  a  Pastor. 

a.  From  the  Presbytery  of  Tombeckbee,  the  question :  Is  it  orderly  that 
a  member  of  one  Presbytery  moderate  a  church  session  of  another  Pres- 
bytery?— which  question  the  Assembly  answered  in  the  affirmative. — 
1843,  p.  198,  O.  S. 

b.  1st.  Is  it  orderly  for  a  session  under  the  care  of  one  Presbytery,  to 
request  a  minister  of  another  Presbytery  to  moderate  them,  without  first 
obtaining  leave  from  their  Presbytery  ? 

2d.  Is  it  constitutional  for  a  minister  to  moderate  a  session  under  the 
care  of  a  different  Presbytery  from  his  own,  without  first  asking  and  ob- 
taining leave  of  the  Presbytery  having  jurisdiction  over  said  session  ? 

Besolved,  That  the  last  Assembly,  in  deciding  that  a  session  may  invite 
a  minister  who  is  a  member  of  another  Presbytery  to  sit  as  their  moderator, 
did  not  include  any  of  those  cases  in  which  it  is  required  either  in  express 
terms,  or  by  plain  implication  (Form  of  Gov.,  chap,  ix.,  sees.  3  and  4), 
that  the  moderator  shall  be  of  the  same  Presbytery  as  the  congregation  ; 
but  are  of  opinion  that  in  cases  of  a  different  kind,  for  which  no  provision 
is  made,  a  member  of  another  Presbytery  may  be  invited  to  act  as  mod- 
erator, if  it  be  found  to  be  expedient. — 1844,  p.  359,  O.  S. 

c.  There  is  no  Provision  for  inviting  any  Minister  not  belonging  to  the 

same  Presbytery,  much  less  any  Minister  of  the  Wo/d. 

To  an  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  the  District  of  Columbia  in 
these  words,  viz. : 

Isolated  as  a  church  may  be,  cut  off  from  sister  churches,  having  no 
ordained  minister  of  the  same  Presbytery  residing  within  forty  miles, 
would  it  be  competent  for  the  elders,  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor,  owing 
to  the  great  inconvenience  of  procuring  a  moderator,  to  meet  and  trans- 
act the  ordinary  business  of  the  session,  by  organizing,  without  the  pres- 
ence of  a  minister  of  the  Word,  under  articles  iii.  and  iv.,  chap,  ix.,  of 
the  Form  of  Government? 

To  this  question  the  Presbytery  replied  in  the  negative. 

Subsequently  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania,  to  which  the  Presbytery  be- 
longs, was  overtured  for  its  ruling  in  the  case,  and  reversed  the  decision 
of  the  Presbytery. 

The  Presbytery,  believing  that  the  ruling  of  the  Synod  establishes  a 
precedent  which  may  work  to  the  injury  of  Presbyterian  polity,  and  that 
the  ruling  of  the  Synod  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  language  of  the  ar- 
ticles iii.  and  iv.,  chapter  ix.,  and  believing  that  it  is  seldom  impractica- 
ble, especially  in  our  cities,  to  allow  the  presence  of  a  minister  in  a  session 
meeting,  and  believing  that  elders  will  not  ahvays  be  able  to  decide  what 
"ordinary  business"  may  be,  and  believing  that  ministers  could  equally 
as  well  consider  it  impracticable  to  convene  their  ciders  in  sessional  meet- 
ing ;  therefore,  the  Presbytery  of  the  District  of  Columbia  would  respect- 


OF  THE   CHURCH  SESSION.  127 

fully  overture  the  General  Assembly  through  its  commissioner  for  its 
ruling  in  the  case. 

The  Committee  recommended  the  following  response,  which  was  adopted : 

The  question  proposed  is  limited  to  specified  circumstances — namely, 
"  In  the  absence  of  the  pastor,"  and  "  the  great  inconvenience  of  pro- 
curing a  moderator,"  "  having  no  ordained  minister  of  the  same  Presby- 
tery residing  within  forty  miles." 

The  Form  of  Government,  chapter  ix.,  section  iii.,  provides  that,  in 
"  case  of  the  sickness  or  absence  of  the  pastor,"  another  minister  "  be- 
longing to  the  same  Presbytery"  may  be  invited  "to  preside."  There  is 
no  provision  for  inviting  any  minister  not  "belonging  to  the  same  Presby- 
tery," to  preside  over  a  meeting  of  the  session,  much  less  any  minister  of 
the  Word. 

Section  iv.  declares  it  to  be  "  expedient  at  every  meeting  of  the  session, 
viore  eqoecially  ivhen  constituted  for  judicial  business,  that  there  be  a  pre- 
siding minister ;"  but,  after  providing  for  a  moderator,  "  where  a  church 
is  without  a  pastor,"  and,  of  course,  in  the  case  stated,  section  iii.,  it  adds, 
"  But  where  it  is  impracticable,  without  great  inconvenience,  to  procure 
the  attendance  of  such  a  moderator,  the  session  may  proceed  without  it." 

The  Committee  would,  therefore,  recommend  that  the  answer  to  the 
overture  be :  That,  in  cases  similar  to  that  stated,  the  session,  under  its 
responsibility  to  the  Presbytery,  is  the  judge  of  the  impracticability  of 
procuring  a  moderator." — 1869,  p.  271,  N.  S. 

V.  In  congregations  where  there  are  two  or  more  pastors,  they 
shall,  when  present,  alternately  preside  in  the  session. 

VI.  The  church  session  is  charged  with  maintaining  the  spiritual 
government  of  the  congregation ;  for  which  purpose  they  have  power 
to  inquire  into  the  knowledge  and  Christian  conduct  of  the  members 
of  the  church,  to  call  before  them  offenders  and  witnesses,  being  mem- 
bers of  their  own  cono;reo;ation,  and  to  introduce  other  witnesses  where 
it  may  be  necessary  to  bring  the  process  to  issue,  and  when  they  can 
be  procured  to  attend ;  to  receive  members  into  the  church ;  to  ad- 
monish, to  rebuke,  to  suspend  or  exclude  from  the  sacraments  those 
who  are  found  to  deserve  censure ;  to  concert  the  best  measures  for 
promoting  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  congregation,  and  to  appoint 
delegates  to  the  higher  judicatories  of  the  Church. 

1.  The  Sassion  has  Original  Jurisdiction  over  Church  Members. 

a.  It  [the  Assembly]  has  no  power  to  commence  a  process  of  discipline 
with  an  individual  offender.  That,  by  a  just  and  wise  arrangement,  be- 
longs to  the  session  in  the  case  of  a  layman,  to  the  Presbytery  in  the  case 
of  a  minister.— 1856,  p.  200,  N.  S. 

b.  Resolved,  That  the  church  of  Genoa  be  referred  to  the  minute  of  the 
Assembly  formed  in  the  case  of  David  Price  in  the  year  1825,  from  which 
it  will  appear  that  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  "an  admonition"  was 
"deserved"  by  the  said  Price  in  consequence  of  his  unchristian  conduct. 
And  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly  that  the  session  ought  imme- 
diately to  have  administered  such  admonition  ;  that  they  ought  still  to 
administer  it ;  and  that  if  the  said  Price  refuse  to  submit  to  such  admoni- 
tion, or  do  not  thereupon  manifest  repentance  and  Christian  temper  to  the 


128  FOEM   OF   GOYEENMEXT. 

satisfaction  of  the  church,  he  ought  not  to  be  received  into  the  communion 
of  that  or  any  other  Presbyterian  Church. — 1827,  p.  203. 

c.  The  Synod  [of  Genesee]  seems  to  have  forgotten  the  nature  and  lim- 
its of  its  appellate  as  distinguished  from  the  original  jurisdiction  in  the 
case,  in  that  they  censure  at  their  bar  the  appellant  in  a  way  competent 
in  any  circumstances  only  to  the  session  of  the  church  to  which  the  ap- 
jDellant  was  primarily  amenable. — 1840,  p.  11,  N.  S. 

d.  No  vote  of  the  congregation  of  a  Presbyterian  church  can  affect  the 
rights  of  a  communing  member  as  such.  All  such  power  is  vested  in  the 
session. — 1866,  p.  54,  0.  S. 

2.  Jurisdiction  over  a  Suspended  Member  is  in  the  Church  which 

suspended  him. 

Overture  from  certain  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Madison. 

We  desire  to  make  the  following  statement  and  inquiries  : 

A  person  is,  we  will  suppose,  under  susj^ension  in  one  of  our  own 
churches.  He  removes,  and  unites,  on  examination,  with  another  of  our 
churches,  the  session  of  the  latter  one  being  wholly  ignorant  of  his  former 
membership,  and,  of  course,  of  his  suspension.  The  facts  are,  however, 
afterward  discovered. 

Would  this  discovery  of  itself  vitiate  his  second  membership,  and  leave 
him  simply  a  suspended  member  of  the  former  church  ? 

Would  unworthiness  for  church  membership,  clearly  manifested  while 
in  the  latter  church  and  before  said  discovery,  rightfully  add  any  efhcacy 
toward  producing  this  result? 

To  the  first  of  the  above  questions  the  Committee  recommend  an  an- 
swer in  the  affirmative ;  to  the  second,  if  the  question  mean  whether  the 
Session  of  the  second  church  has  jurisdiction  in  the  case  of  unworthinesses 
manifested  in  the  second  relation,  the  Committee  recommend  an  answer 
in  the  negative;  but  if  the  question  mean  whether  the  unworthinesses 
manifested  in  the  second  relation  be  proper  ground  of  separate  process  by 
the  session  of  the  first  church,  the  Committee  recommend  an  answer  in 
the  affirmative.  In  respect  to  the  whole  case  the  Committee  agree  in  the 
statement  following : 

The  person,  uniting  with  the  second  church  on  examination,  unites  de- 
ceptively. So  soon  as  the  facts  in  the  case  are  ascertained  by  the  session 
of  this  second  church,  the  proper  order  of  procedure  is  for  this  session, 
after  conference  with  the  accused  person,  to  strike  his  name  from  their 
roll  of  church  members  as  not  under  their  jurisdiction,  to  communicate 
their  action  to  the  session  suspending  him,  with  the  reasons  for  it,  and  to 
request  the  said  session  to  proceed  against  him  on  separate  process  for 
duplicity  and  disorder. 

The  reply  of  the  Committee  was  adopted. — 1866,  p.  269,  N.  S. 

3.  A  Church  Member  may  not  be  Excommunicated  on  Confession  of 
Heresy  without  Process.— Confession  of  Judgment  may  Shorten 
Process. 

A  church  member  comes  before  the  session,  makes  a  voluntary  confes- 
sion of  heretical  sentiments,  acknowledges  a  breach  of  covenant  and  waives 
the  formality  of  a  trial,  in  view  of  and  in  order  to  excomnuuiication  from 
the  church. 

Can  such  church  member  be  excommunicated  on  such  confession  and 
declaration  without  the  actual  process  prescribed  by  the  book  ? 

The  Committee  find  that  the  question  thus  raised  was  answered  sub- 


OF   THE    CHURCH   SESSION.  129 

stantially  by  the  last  Assembly  (see  Minutes,  page  12);*  and  whilst  they 
recommend  that  the  party  asking  it  be  referred  to  that  response,  they  also 
recommend  that  the  Assembly  atlirm  the  impropriety  of  a  church  court 
reaching  and  recording  such  grave  result  of  discipline  as  excommunica- 
tion from  the  church  witliout  a  strict  adherence  to  those  forms  of  fair,  im- 
partial trial  by  which  alone  the  result  may  be  justified.  If  an  accused 
person  confess  judgment,  the  actual  process  may  be  shortened,  but  should 
not  be  dispensed  with. 

The  reply  of  the  Committee  was  adopted. — 1866,  p.  268,  N.  S. 

4.  The  vote  of  the  Session  is  the  Reception  to  Membership. — It 
must  involve  Baptism. — The  Use  and  Authority  of  Local  Confes- 
sions and  Covenants. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  reported  on  Overture  No.  9, 
making  inquiry  concerning  the  relation  of  persons  received,  by  act  of 
session,  during  the  interval  of  such  reception  and  the  subsequent  sacra- 
mental Sabbath.     The  report  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows  : 

In  answer  to  the  several  questions  contained  in  the  above  overtui'e,  the 
Assembly  refers  to  the  Form  of  Government,  chapter  ix.,  section  6,  in 
which  the  reception  of  "  members  into  the  church"  is  expressly  specified  as 
one  of  the  duties  and  powers  of  the  church  session.  For  this  purpose  the 
Session  is  the  church,  and  its  act  of  admission  the  act  of  the  church. 
When,  therefore,  an  applicant  for  admission  by  letter  is  received  by  a  vote 
of  the  session,  he  is  at  once  a  member  of  the  church,  entitled  to  all  the 
privileges,  and  subject  to  all  the  responsibilities,  of  this  relation. 

The  same  rule  equally  applies  to  candidates  for  admission  into  the 
church  on  a  profession  of  their  faith.  The  vote  of  the  session  is  the 
essential  and  final  act  by  which  they  are  thus  received,  and  needs  no  sub- 
sequent action  of  the  church  to  give  it  reality  or  validity.  The  adminis- 
tration of  baptism  according  to  the  word  of  God,  in  the  case  of  unbap- 
tized  persons,  must,  of  course,  be  involved  in,  and  attendant  upon,  this 
sessional  act,  either  at  the  time,  which  would  be  entirely  proper,  or  at  a 
subsequent  period  appointed  for  this  purpose.  The  session,  if  thus  choos- 
ing, may  prescribe  a  public  profession  of  faith  before  the  whole  church 
as  a  convenient  usage,  and  for  this  purpose  may  employ  a  church  confes- 
sion and  covenant.  This  is  the  practice  with  many  sessions,  and,  where 
this  practice  is  adopted,  it  is  proper  that  the  officiating  minister  or  clerk 
of  the  session  should  report  a  statement  of  the  fact  in  accordance  there- 
with, and  that  the  report  should  be  formally  entered  upon  the  record  of 
the  session. 

It  is  well,  however,  to  remember  that  the  confessions  of  fixith  and  cove- 
nants in  use  among  local  churches,  though  regarded  by  many  as  conve- 
nient and  useful,  and  certainly  sanctioned  by  a  very  prevalent  usage,  are 
nevertheless  not  essential  to  the  organization  of  a  church,  or  the  establish- 
ment of  membership  therein,  since  they  are  not  the  authoritative  standard 
of  faith  or  practice  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Such  confessions  and 
covenants,  with  the  accompanying  form  of  a  public  profession,  may  or 
may  not  be  used,  as  shall  seem  most  expedient  to  the  session.  Whether 
used  or  not,  the  vote  of  the  session  is,  by  the  constitution  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  the  act  on  which  the  membership  depends,  and,  in  all 
cases,  the  records  of  the  session  should  be  made  to  correspond  with  this 
fundamental  principle  of  the  polity  of  the  Church. 

*The  response  was,  "That  the  party  asking  the  above  question  be  referred  to  the 
Book  of  Discipline,  cliap.  iv.,  and  that  such  session  be  urged  to  follow  strictly  the 
order  laid  down  therein." — 1865,  p.  12,  N.  S. 

17 


130  FORM   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

These  principles  cover  all  the  points  submitted  in  the  above  overture. 
Their  application  is  simple,  and  hence  the  Assembly  sees  no  occasion  for 
giving  a  more  detailed  and  specific  answer  to  the  several  questions  pre- 
sented for  its  consideration. — 1865,  pp.  22,  23,  N.  S. 

6.  An  Unbaptized  Person  applying  for  Admission  to  the  Church 
must  be  Baptized. 

The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  reported  an  overture, 
asking  "  whether  a  vote  of  a  session  entitles  a  person  to  the  privileges  of 
the  church,  who  is  not  baptized  and  has  not  made  a  public  profession  of 
faith."     They  recommended  the  following  answer  : 

The  vote  of  session  does  not  entitle  an  loibaptized  person  to  the  privi- 
leges of  the  church,  for  the  reason  that  baptism,  as  our  Confession  of 
Faith  declares  (chap,  xxviii.,  sec.  l),is  declared  to  be  a  sacrament  for  the 
solemn  admission  of  the  party  baptized  into  the  visible  Church. 

The  public  profession  of  one's  faith  may  for  sufficient  reasons,  as  our 
Directory  of  Woi'ship  allows,  be  omitted  ;  but  the  exceptional  case  does  not 
respect  baptism,  which  precedes  the  admission  of  the  party  to  the  Lord's 
table.  The  vote  of  the  session  to  this  effect  must  be  conditioned  upon 
the  baptism,  and  can  in  no  case  be  a  substitute  for  the  sacrament  itself. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1867,  p.  496,  N.  S. 

See  Directory  for  Worship,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  iv. 

6.  Members  of  other  Churches  should  be  Received  only  on  Cer- 

tificate. 

Nor  can  the  Assembly  forbear  to  regret  that  the  session  of  the  church 
of  Chillicothe  had  not  acted  in  a  more  formal  manner  in  receiving  Mr. 
McCalla,  and  had  not  required  a  regular  certificate  of  dismission  from  the 
church  to  which  Mr.  McCalla  belonged  before  they  received  him. — 1821, 
p.  21.     [See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xi.,  sec.  i.] 

7.  Members  should  be  Received  to  the  Church  only  by  a  Session 

Regularly  Constituted. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  involved  in  so  much 
of  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  as  relates  to  the  admission  of 
persons  to  church  privileges  at  the  great  meetings  common  in  that  region, 
made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

That  they  have  given  this  subject  a  careful  consideration,  and  recom- 
mend the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  viz.: 

a.  1.  Remhed,  That  the  order  of  the  churches  requires  that  all  persons 
making  a  public  profession  of  religion,  be  introduced  to  the  communion 
of  the  church  only  by  an  individual  session  regularly  constituted. 

h.  2.  liesolved,  That  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  sessions  to  take  the  ex- 
clusive oversight  of  their  respective  congregations,  and  the  practice  of  one 
session  admitting  to  a  Christian  profession  persons  belonging  or  intending 
to  belong  to  a  congregation  under  the  care  of  another  session,  is  irregu- 
lar.—1832,  p.  373. 

c.  The  same  Committee  reported  an  overture,  asking  if  it  be  in  accord- 
ance with  ecclesiastical  law  and  order  in  the  Church,  to  receive  members 
of  another  church  who  have  not  been  regularly  dismissed,  with  a  view  to 
such  a  change  of  relation. 

The  Committee  recommended  that,  so  far  as  churches  in  our  own  con- 
nection are  concerned,  the  question  be  answered  in  the  negative,  and  refer 
to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  xi.,  sec.  1. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1868,  p.  58,  N.  S. 


OF   THE   CHURCH   SESSIOIN.        -  131 

8.  Representation  in  the  Superior  Courts  Required. 

a.  Mr.  McNish's  reasons  for  not  bringing  an  elder  or  representative 
with  him,  were  heard  and  sustained. 

Mr.  Henry's  representative  of  the  congregation  being  absent,  and  his 
reasons  for  not  coming  being  inquired  into,  he  said  the  present  condition 
of  his  people  made  it  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  particular  collection 
made  by  the  congregation  for  defraying  the  charges  of  the  representative 
to  the  Presbytery,  and  it  was  allowed  that  there  should. 

The  reasons  of  Mr.  Pumry's  elder's  absence  were  inquired  into  and  sus- 
tained.—1716,  p.  43. 

b.  The  Synod  do  recommend  it  to  the  several  Presbyteries  belonging  to 
their  body  to  call  those  sessions  to  account  that  do  not  send  elders  to  at- 
tend upon  the  Synod  and  Presbyteries,  and  to  enjoin  these  sessions  to  call 
those  elders  to  account  that  do  not  attend  upon  judicatories,  when  sent  by 
them. — 1753,  p.  256. 

9.  Attendance  on  the  Superior  Courts  Enforced. 

a.  Upon  calling  over  the  roll  it  being  found  that  many  of  the  elders 
have  gone  home  without  leaving  an}''  reasons  for  their  so  doing,  the  Synod 
do  order  that  such  elders  as  do  withdraw  from  the  Synod  without  leave, 
shall  be  left  to  the  censure  of  their  sessions,  and  report  made  thereof  to 
the  next  Synod.  And  the  Synod  do  recommend  it  to  the  several  congre- 
gations to  defray  the  necessary  charges  that  their  elders  be  at,  during 
their  attendance  upon  the  Synod. — 1735,  p.  117. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  were  approved,  with  the  ex- 
ception, "that  ruling  elders  were  not  called  upon  for  reasons  for  absence, 
as  in  the  case  of  teaching  elders. — 1859,  p.  531,  O.  S. 

10.  The  same  Elder  must  Represent  his  Church  at  an  Adjourned 

Meeting  -who  Represented  it  at  the  Stated  Meeting. 

Exception  to  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Columbus,  "That  on  p.  73, 
this  minute  is  made:  Your  Committee  would  I'ecoramend  that  Overture 
No.  2,  '  Can  a  Session  be  represented  by  a  different  elder  at  adjourned 
meetings  of  Presbytery,  be  answered  in  the  affirmative.  Adopted.'  This 
action  of  the  Synod  is  in  direct  variance  with  a  deliverance  of  the  Assem- 
bly of  1827."— 1872,  p.  68. 

The  deliverance  referred  to  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  the  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution,  (Form  of  Government,  chap,  xxii.,  sec.  1,) 
w'hich  allows  commissioners,  after  holding  their  seats  for  a  time,  to  resign 
them  to  their  alternates,  or  which  allows  alternates  to  sit  for  a  while  and 
then  resign  their  places  to  their  principals,  is  erroneous;  that  the  practice 
growing  out  of  this  construction  is  inexpedient ;  and  that  it  ought  to  be 
discontinued.     [Adopted.]— Minutes,  1827,  p.  209. 

[See  the  deliverance  in  full.  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xxii.,  sec. 
ii.,  on  commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly.  The  reasoning  adopted 
by  the  Assembly,  however,  applies  to  the  case  in  hand  only  when  a  given 
subject  is  adjourned  over,  as  a  trial  begun,  etc.  The  Assembly  of  1827 
evidently  had  not  adjourned  meetings  of  Presbyteries  in  mind.] 

11.  The  Session  has  no  Power  to  Prohibit  Collections  Ordered  by 

the  Asserably. 

a.  Ordered,  That  every  minister,  according  to  our  former  agreement, 
propose  the  collection  for  the  fund  to  his  congregation,  and  as  it  is  a  syn- 


132  FORM   OF  GOVEENMENT. 

oclical  appointment,  it  is  inconsistent  with  our  Church  government  to  be 
under  the  check  or  prohibition  of  a  church  session ;  they  indeed  may  give 
or  withhold  their  charity,  but  may  not  prevent  a  minister  to  propose  it 
publicly,  according  to  our  ajDpointment.  Ordered,  likewise.  That  every 
Presbytery  take  care  of  the  conduct  of  their  members,  how  they  observe 
this  agreement  previous  to  their  coming  to  the  Synod,  and  that  they  gather 
the  collection  from  absent  members. — ^1755,  p.  215. 

h.  Whereas,  it  appears  that  some  of  the  congregations  under  the  care 
of  this  Assembly,  though  duly  informed  of  the  injunction  made  at  our 
last  sessions  respecting  the  raising  of  contributions  for  the  support  of  mis- 
sionaries to  the  frontiers  of  the  country,  have  not  complied  with  the  same, 
the  Assembly,  therefore,  thought  proper  to  continue  the  above-mentioned 
order,  and  do  hereby  enjoin  it  on  all  the  Presbyteries  to  give  particular 
attention  that  every  congregation  raise  the  specified  contribution,  and  that 
all  the  contributions  be  sent  forward  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  treasurer 
of  the  General  Assembly. — 1790,  p.  24. 

For  powers  of  the  session  over  house  of  worship,  see  under  chap,  ii., 
sec.  iv.,  v.,  a.  b.  above. 

For  powers  of  session  over  church  music,  see  Directory  for  Worship, 
chap,  iv.,  sec.  iv. 

For  powers  of  the  session  when  a  congregation  is  vacant  and  in  settling 
a  minister,  see  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xv.,  sec.  i.,  par.  i.,  ii.  and  iv. 

A^II.  The  pastor  has  power  to  convene  the  session  when  he  may 
judge  it  requisite ;  and  he  shall  always  convene  them  when  requested 
to  do  so  by  any  two  of  the  elders.  The  session  shall  also  convene 
W'hen  directed  so  to  do  by  the  Presbytery. 

VIII.  Every  session  shall  keep  a  fair  record  of  its  proceedings, 
which  record  shall  be  at  least  once  in  every  year  submitted  to  the  in- 
spection of  the  Presbytery. 

1.  The  Records  Should  be  Full. 

It  appearing  from  the  official  certificates  of  the  stated  clerks  of  all  the 
courts  below,  that  important  documents  in  evidence  before  the  session 
which  first  tried  the  case  of  Beck  and  JNIcMahon  were  not  sent  up  to  the 
Presbytery  and  Synod,  it  is  therefore  ordered  that  this  case  be  sent  back 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  for  a  new  trial,  and  that  the  session  of 
the  church  of  Columbia  be  directed  to  correct  their  record,  and  to  send 
to  the  Presbytery  an  authentic  copy  of  all  the  evidence  and  all  the  docu- 
ments before  them. — 1843,  p.  186,  O.  S. 

2.  Testimony  in  Judicial  Cases  must  be  Engrossed  upon  the 

Records. 

Also  Overture  No.  6,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Catskill,  asking  whether, 
in  cases  of  judicial  process  by  church  sessions,  the  testimony  of  witnesses 
should  be  engrossed  on  the  Book  of  Permanent  Kecord.  The  Committee 
recommended  that  the  following  answer  be  given  : 

The  testimony  of  witnesses,  in  all  cases  of  judicial  process  by  church 
sessions,  should  be  engrossed  on  the  Book  of  Permanent  Records.  The 
end  to  be  secured  by  such  a  record  is  indicated  in  our  Book  of  Discipline, 
chap,  iv.,  sec.  xxiii.,  where  it  is  required  that  everything  which  had  an 
influence  on  the  judgment  of  the  court  must  be  exhibited  by  the  record. 


OF   THE   CHURCH   SESSION.  133 

Files  are  liable  to  be  separated  from  the  Book  of  Permanent  Records, 
and  nothing  but  what  is  contained  in  the  Record  may  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration in  reviewing  the  proceedings  in  a  superior  court. 
The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1862,  p.  34,  N.  S, 

3.  Records  once  Approved  by  a  Superior  Judicatory  may  not  be 

Altered  by  the  Inferior. 

Also  Overture  No.  7,  from  the  session  of  the  Church  of  Wabash,  Indi- 
ana, on  the  following  questions  : 

1.  After  the  records  of  a  church  session  have  been  examined  and  ap- 
proved by  the  Presbytery,  and  those  of  the  Presbytery  in  like  manner 
approved  by  the  Synod,  has  either  the  session  or  the  Presbytery  a  right 
or  any  authority  to  change  or  erase  the  record? 

2.  If  not,  has  the  session  any  legal  right  to  make  a  second  record  de- 
claring the  first  erroneous  and  void  ? 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  following  answer  be  given : 
A  record,  once  approved  by  a  higher  court,  cannot  be  altered  or  an- 
nulled by  a  lower  one.     If  there  be  an  error  in  the  record,  the  remedy  is 
to  be  sought  by  an  application  to  the  highest  judicatory  that  has  endorsed 
such  mistake. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1862,  p.  34,  N.  S. 

IX.  It  is  important  that  every  church  session  keep  a  fair  register  of 
marriages;  of  baptisms,  with  the  times  of  the  birth  of  the  individuals 
baptized ;  of  persons  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table,  and  of  the  deaths, 
and  other  removals  of  church  members. 

4.  Statistical  Reports  should  show  only  the  Actual  Membership. 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  be  instructed  to  institute  inquiries  among 
the  several  churches  under  their  care,  as  to  the  number  of  their  commu- 
nicants ;  so  that  it  may  be  ascertained,  that  the  utmost  care  has  been  taken 
to  clear  their  church  registers  of  all  deceased,  dismissed,  and  lost  mem- 
bers ;  and  that  it  may  thus  be  known  what  is  the  actual  membership  of  each 
of  their  churches.— 1869,  p.  272,  N.  S. 

[See  Discipline,  chap,  x.,  on  Jurisdiction. 

6.  Ordained   Ministers    not   to    be    Enrolled    as    Members    of    the 
Church  they  Serve. 

Whether  ordained  ministers  of  the  gospel  ought  not  to  be  considered 
church  members,  and  to  have  their  names  enrolled  on  the  sessioual 
records  of  the  church,  where  they  are  settled  as  pastors,  or  stated  sup- 
plies, Avhich  question  the  Committee  recommended  to  be  answered  in  the 
negative.     Adopted. — 1843,  p.  176,  O.  S. 


134  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

CHAPTER  X. 
OF  THE  PRESBYTERY. 

I.  The  Church  being  clivitled  into  many  separate  congregations, 
these  need  mutual  counsel  and  assistance,  in  order  to  preserve  sound- 
ness of  doctrine,  and  regularity  of  discipline,  and  to  enter  into  com- 
mon measures  for  promoting  knowledge  and  religion,  and  for  prevent- 
ing infidelity,  error,  and  immorality.  Hence  arise  the  importance 
and  usefulness  of  presbyterial  aud  synodical  assemblies. 

II.  A  presbytery  consists  of  all  the  ministers,  in  number  not  less 
than  five,  and  one  ruling  elder  from  each  congregation,  within  a 
certain  district. 

1.  The  Presby-teries  Constituted  of  Ministers  at  the  First. 

a.  It  having  pleased  divine  Providence  so  to  increase  our  number,  as 
that,  after  much  deliberation,  we  judge  it  may  be  more  serviceable  to  the 
interest  of  religion,  to  divide  ourselves  into  subordinate  meetings  or  Px-es- 
l)yteries,  constituting  one  annually  as  a  Synod,  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  or 
elsewhere,  to  consist  of  all  the  members  of  each  subordinate  Presbytery  or 
meeting  for  this  year  at  least :  Therefore  it  is  agreed  by  the  Presbytery, 
after  serious  deliberation,  that  the  first  subordinate  meeting  or  Presbytery, 
to  meet  at  Philadelphia  or  elsewhere,  as  they  shall  see  fit,  do  consist  of 
these  following  members,  viz. :  Masters  Andrews,  Jones,  Powell,  Orr,  Brad- 
ners  and  Morgan.  And  the  second  to  meet  at  New  Castle  or  elsewhere, 
as  they  shall  see  fit,  to  consist  of  these,  viz. :  Masters  Anderson,  McGill, 
(iillespie,  Wotherspoon,  Evans,  and  Conn.  The  third  to  meet  at  Snow 
Hill  or  elsewhere,  to  consist  of  these,  viz. :  Masters  Davis,  Hampton,  aud 
Henry.  And  in  consideration  that  only  our  brethren  Mr.  McIS^ish  and 
]\Ir.  Pumry,  are  of  our  number  upon  Long  Island  at  present,  we  earn- 
estly reconmiend  it  to  them  to  use  their  best  endeavors  with  the  neigh- 
boring brethren  that  are  settled  there,  which  as  yet  join  not  with  us,  to 
join  with  them  in  erecting  a  fourth  Presbytery.  And  as  to  the  time  of 
the  meeting  of  the  respective  Presbyteries,  it  is  ordered  that  that  be  left 
to  their  own  discretion. — 1716,  p.  45. 

h.  Agreed  that  Messrs  Cross,  Gilbert  Tennant,  Francis  Alison,  Treat, 
Chesnut,  Martin,  Beatty,  Greenman,  Hunter,  Ramse}',  Lawrence,  and 
Kinkead,  be  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  Agreed  that  Messrs,  John 
IMiller,  Tuttle,  Harris,  Henry,  and  Wilson,  be  a  Lewestown  Presbytery, 
and  have  under  their  care  the  congi-egations  in  Kent  on  Delaware,  Sussex, 
AVorcestcr,  Somerset,  Dorset,  Queen  Anne's,  and  Kent  in  Maryland. — 
1708,  p.  288. 

Agreed,  that  jNIessrs.  Craighead,  Black,  Craig,  Miller,  Davies,  Todd, 
Henry,  Wright,  Brown,  and  Martin,  in  Virginia  and  southward,  be  the 
Presbytery  of  Hanover,  to  meet  for  the  first  time  at  Mr.  Wright's  congre- 
gation in  Cumberland  county,  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  July  next. — 
1758,  p.  289. 

c.  An  overture  was  laid  before  the  Assembly,  through  the  Synod  of 
Philadeli)hia,  requesting  a  division  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle.  Where- 
upon, 

llesolved,  That  the  said  Presbytery  be  divided  into  two  Presbyteries,  by 


OF    THE    PRESBYTERY.  135 

a  line  along  the  Juniata  River  from  its  mouth  up  to  the  Tuscarora  Moun- 
tain ;  thence  along  the  Tuscarora  Mountain  to  the  head  of  Path  Valley ; 
thence  westwardly  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Presbytery  of  Redstone, 
so  as  to  leave  the  congregation  of  Bedford  to  the  south  ;  that  the  ministers 
settled  south  of  said  line,  viz. :  Mr.  Snodgrass,  Mr.  Waugh,  Mr.  Linn,  Dr. 
Nesbit,  Dr.  Davidson,  Mr.  Wilson,  Dr.  Cooper,  Mr.  Craighead,  Dr.  King, 
Mr.  Lang,  Mr.  McPherrin,  Mr.  Paxton,  Mr.  Black,  Mr.  Henderson,  Mr. 
McMurdie,  and  Mr.  Jones,  together  with  all  those  who  have  been,  or  shall 
be,  ordained  or  admitted,  within  the  limits  now  prescribed  for  the  Presby- 
tery of  Carlisle,  since  the  last  annual  report  from  that  Presbytery  till  the 
time  when  the  said  Presbytery  shall  be  dissolved,  shall  be  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle.  And  also,  that  the  miuistei-s,  settled 
north  of  the  aforesaid  line,  viz. :  Mr,  Bard,  Mr.  John  Johnston,  Mr,  Ste- 
phen, Mr.  James  Johnson,  Mr.  McGill,  Mr.  INIarten,  Mr,  Bryson,  INIr.  IMor- 
rison,  and  Mr.  Hoge,  together  with  all  those  who  have  been,  or  shall  be, 
ordained  or  received,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle  within  the  limits  pre- 
scribed for  the  Presbytery  till  the  time  when  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle 
shall  be  dissolved,  shall  be  known  by  the  name  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hun- 
tingdon.—1794,  p,  89, 

[See  also  1802,  p,  251,  252.  1805,  p.  324,  325.  1826,  p.  176,  1827, 
p.  206.  1832,  p.  361,  1848,  pp.  20,  21,  O.  S.  Later  usage  is  to  specify 
the  congregations  within  the  bounds  assigned,  A  Presbytery  may,  how- 
ever, be  formed  without  any  organized  churches.  See  1848,  p.  20,  O.  S. 
1851,  p.  35,  O,  S,  But  not  without  a  definite  territory.  1834,  p.  441. 
Nor  within  the  bounds  of  another  Presbytery. — 1873,  pp.  506,  525,] 

d.   The  Assembly  Refuses  to  erect  a  Presbytery  of  less  than  the  Constitutional 

Number. 

Overture  No,  20,  from  eight  ministers  and  ruling  elders  in  the  Indian 
Territory,  petitioning  for  a  new  Presbytery  of  that  name.  The  Committee 
report  that  it  does  not  appear  that  the  number  of  ministers  now  constitu- 
tionally requisite  for  the  formation  of  a  Presbytery  are  found  among  the 
petitioners  or  in  the  proposed  region.  They,  therefore,  recommend  that 
the  answer  be  in  the  negative.     Adopted, — 1871,  p,  545, 

2.  Presbyteries  should  be  Bounded  by  Qeographical  Limits. 

a.  Resolved,  That,  except  in  very  extraordinary  cases,  this  Assembly  are 
of  the  opinion  that  Presbyteries  ought  to  be  formed  with  geographical 
limits,— 1834,  p,  441. 

b.  "■Elective  Affinity'"  condemned. 

Resolved,  That  the  erection  of  church  courts,  and  especially  of  Presby- 
teries and  Synods,  on  the  principle  of  "elective  affinity" — that  is,  judica- 
tories not  bounded  by  geographical  limits,  but  having  a  chief  regard  in 
their  erection  to  diversities  of  doctrinal  belief  and  of  ecclesiastical  polity — 
is  contrary  both  to  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  our  constitution,  and  opens 
a  wide  door  for  mischiefs  and  abuses  of  the  most  serious  kind.  One  such 
Presbytery,  if  so  disposed,  might  in  process  of  time  fill  the  whole  Church 
with  unsound  and  schismatic  ministers,  especially  if  the  principle  were 
adopted  that  regular  testimonials  must  of  course  secure  the  admission  of 
those  who  bore  them  into  any  other  Presbytery.  Such  a  Presbytery, 
moreover,  being  without  geographical  bounds,  might  enter  the  limits  and 
disturb  the  repose  of  any  church  into  which  it  might  think  projjer  to  in- 
trude, and  thus  divide  churches,  stir  up  strife,  and  promote  party  spirit 


136  FORM    uF   GOVP:PvX.ArENT. 

and  schism  with  all  their  deplorable  consequences.  Surely  a  plan  of  pro- 
cedure in  the  Church  of  God  which  naturally  and  almost  unavoidably 
tends  to  produce  effects  such  as  these,  ought  to  be  frowned  upon,  and,  as 
soon  as  possible,  terminated  by  the  supreme  judicatory  of  the  Church. — 
1835,  p.  486. 

[Exceptions  were  made  in  behalf  of  the  missionaries  among  the  Indians. 
Minutes  1826,  p.  181 ;  1828,  pp.  246,  247;  1829,  p.  259.  See  New  Digest, 
pp.  130,  131.] 

c.  Overture  Ko.  2,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  touching  the  con- 
dition of  certain  churches  in  Kentucky  seeking  connection  with  us.  The 
Committee  recommend  that  for  the  present  such  churches  be  allowed  to 
connect  themselves  with  the  Presbyteries  contiguous  most  to  their  conve- 
nience. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1859,  p.  17,  K  S. 

d.  No.  3.  A  memorial  from  Rev.  Benjamin  Mills  and  others,  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  with  respect  to  himself  and  others,  formerly  members 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  expressive  of  their  attachment  to  us  and  their 
desire  to  return  to  our  connection,  if,  with  their  views  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  the  way  may  be  open  to  receive  them.  The  committee  recom- 
mend that  these  ministers  and  churches,  and  others  similarlj^  situated,  be 
referred  to  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  or  any  other  border  Presbytery ; 
and  that  such  Presbyteries  be  authorized  so  to  extend  their  jurisdiction  as 
to  receive  any  such  ministers  and  churches  situated  near  their  borders, 
whose  principles  and  practice  are  found  to  harmonize  with  the  position  of 
the  Church  as  expressed  and  published  to  the  world  bv  former  Assemblies. 

Adopted.— 1859,  p.  18,  N.  S. 

3.  Ministers  without  Charge  are  Constituent  Members  of 
Presbytery. 

Are  ministers  without  charges  constituent  members  of  our  church  judi- 
catures, and  have  they  an  equal  voice  with  settled  pastors  and  ruling 
elders  of  congregations  in  ecclesiastical  governn)ents? 

In  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly  this  question  is  answered  affirma- 
tively, Chap.  X.,  sec.  ii.,  of  the  Form  of  Government  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  these  words:  "A  Presbytery  consists  of  all  the  ministers  and 
one  ruling  elder  from  each  congregation  within  a  certain  district." — 1816, 
p.  615. 

[See  1859,  p.  533,  O.  S.,  chap,  x.,  8,  below.] 

4.  An  Elder  without  Charge  cannot  be  Admitted  to  a  Seat. 
[See  above,  chap,  v.,  3.] 

5.  Non-Residents  to  be  Transferred  to  the  Presbyteries  within  the 
Bounds  of  w^hich  they  Reside. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  an  overture  from  the  Synod  of 
Altiany,  in  regard  to  non-resident  members  of  Presbyteries,  made  the  fol- 
lowing report,  which  was  adopted,  viz.: 

In  conformity  with  the  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Albany,  tlie  Com- 
mittee would  recommend  to  the  Assend)ly  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution,  viz. : 

JieM)lved,  That  it  be  enjoined  on  the  Presbyteries  to  inquire  carefully  in 
regard  to  any  of  their  members,  who  may  be  residing  without  the  bounds 
of  their  respective  Presbyteries,  whether  there  be  sufficient  cause  for  such 


OF   THE  PEESBYTEEY.  137 

non-residence ;  and  if  not,  that  measures  be  taken  to  transfer  the  relation 
of  such  ministers  to  the  Presbyteries  in  the  bounds  of  which  they  reside. 
—1836,  p.  272. 

6.  Ministers    without    Charge    must   Unite    with   the    Presbytery 
within  whose  Bounds  they  Reside. 

5.  That  ministers  witliout  charge  are  required  to  unite  with  that  Pres- 
bytery, within  the  geographical  limits  of  whicii  they  ordinarily  reside,  or 
are  nearest  to,  and  to  whicli  they  shall  be  amenable  for  the  proper  dis- 
charge of  their  ordination  engagements, — 1870,  p,  88. 

7.  The  above  Rule  Defined  and  Affirmed. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  reported  back  Overture  No.  32, 
which  was  adopted  as  explanatory  of  principle  5,  page  88,  of  the  Minutes 
of  the  Assembly  of  1870,  as  follows  : 

The  Assembly,  in  reconstructing  the  Church,  did,  by  the  act  of  recon- 
struction, design  to  return  to  the  exact  language  of  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, which  declares  that  a  "Presbytery  consists  of  all  the  ministers  and 
one  ruling  elder  from  each  congregation  within  a  certain  district.  Minis- 
ters residing  within  the  geographical  limits  of  a  Presbytery  were,  ipso 
facto  (provided  they  were  in  good  standing  in  the  Presbytery  to  which 
they  belonged),  members  of  that  Presbytery,  and  should  have  been  so  en- 
rolled." 

After  the  Presbyteries  were  reconstructed,  all  ministers  uniting  with 
them  could  only  be  received  by  regular  letters  of  dismission  and  recom- 
mendation. 

The  Assembly  also  affirms  the  duty  of  ministers  to  unite  with  the  Pres- 
byteries within  whose  bounds  they  reside ;  except  where  their  ministerial 
labors  are  in  an  adjacent  Presbytery. — 1872,  p.  94. 

[For  a  case  where  a  minister  was  not  in  good  standing,  see  Discipline, 
chap.  X.,  sec.  iii.,  3,  case  of  Jno.  F.  Severance.] 

8.  Presbyteries  to  be  Defined  by  G-eographical  Lines  or  Lines  of 

Travel. 

1.  That  each  several  Presbytery,  with  the  ministers  and  churches  within 
its  limits,  be  defined  as  to  boundaries  by  geographical  lines,  or  with  i-espect 
to  the  most  convenient  lines  of  travel. — 1870,  p.  88. 

9.  Presbyteries  may  not  be  Organized  so  as  to  Cover  the  same 

Ground. 

a.  A  memorial  from  David  M.  Wilson,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Kingston, 
Synod  of  Tennessee,  praying  this  General  Assembly  to  give  an  authorita- 
tive deliverance  in  reference  to  the  right  of  a  Synod  to  organize  a  colored 
Presbytery  on  territory  included  in  Presbyteries  already  existing. 

The  Committee  wi  Polity  recommend  that  this  request  be  granted,  and 
that  the  authoritative  deliverance  be  made  according  to  the  definition  of 
a  Presbytery,  in  chap,  x.,  sec.  ii.,  of  our  Form  of  Government,  viz.:  "A 
Presbytery  consists  of  all  the  ministers,  in  numbers  not  less  than  five,  and 
one  ruling  elder  from  each  congregation  within  a  certain  district."  The 
General  Assembly  must  forbid  the  organization  of  more  Presbyteries  than 
one  upon  the  same  ground,  allowing  no  distinctions  of  race  or  color,  or 
languageto  interfere  with  the  unity  and  simplicity  of  that  oversight  which 
the  constitution  of  this  Church  requires.  Adopted. — 1873,  p.  525. 
18 


138  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

b.  The  Committee  (on  Polity)  would  give  the  same  reply  to  the  applica- 
tion for  a  German  Presbytery  that  was  given  to  the  application  for  a  col- 
ored Presbytery.     (See  above.)    Adopted. — 1873,  p.  539. 

c.  The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  recom- 
mended their  approval,  except  that  the  organization  of  a  Presbytery  as 
authorized  by  the  action  of  Synod,  recorded  on  p.  361  (see  a  above), 
would  be  irregular,  for  the  reason  that  the  new  Presbytery  would  cover 
territory  already  belonging  to  other  Presbyteries,  and  the  same  teriitory 
thus  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  different  Presbyteries.  Adopted. — 
1873,  p.  506. 

III.  Every  congregation  which  has  a  stated  pastor  has  a  right  to  be 
represented  by  one  elder ;  and  every  collegiate  church  by  two  or  more 
elders,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  pastors. 

Overture  No.  17,  from  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  as  follows : 

Is  a  church  having  two  pastors,  one  aged  or  infirm,  the  other  associate 
or  co-pastor,  entitled  to  two  elders  in  Presbytery  and  Synod?  Or  what  is 
the  meaning  of  a  "  collegiate  church,"  in  chap,  x.,  sec  iii.,  of  the  Form  of 
Government  ? 

The  Committee  recommended  this  answer  : 

The  general  principle  of  our  polity  is  that  there  shall  be  in  our  church 
courts  an  equal  number  of  ministers  and  ruling  elders.  But  vacant 
churches  are  entitled  to  a  representation.  The  term  "  collegiate  church" 
is  used  in  two  senses,  first  of  a  church  with  more  than  one  pastor ;  second, 
of  two  or  more  churches  united  under  the  care  of  one  pastor. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1868,  p.  651,  O.  S. 

IV.  Where  two  or  more  congregations  are  united  under  one  pastor, 
all  such  congregations  shall  have  but  one  elder  to  represent  them. 

1.  United  Congregations  Represented  by  one  Elder. 

An  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Mississippi,  asking,  "  When  two  or  more 
congregations  have  separately  called  one  and  the  same  minister  to  become 
the  pastor  of  each  church,  and  he  accepts  these  calls,  and  is  installed  over 
these  congregations  as  pastor,  are  these  churches  entitled  to  one  or  more 
elders  to  represent  them  in  Presbytery?"  The  Committee  recommended  the 
following  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  question  be  answered  in  the  negative. — 1847,  p.  377, 

o.  s. 

[The  meaning  of  the  above  is  that  the  united  congregation  are  entitled 
to  be  represented  in  Presbytery  by  one  elder.] 

2.  "WTiere  a  Minister  is  Pastor  of   one  Church,   and   Stated  Sup- 
ply of  another,  each  is  entitled  to  be  Represented. 

Where  a  minister  is  at  the  same  time  pastor  of  one  church,  and  acts 
as  stated  supply  of  another,  has  each  of  said  churches  a  right  to  be  rep- 
resented by  its  own  elder,  at  the  same  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  or  Synod? 
or  does  this  case  come  under  the  rule  chap,  x.,  sec.  iv..  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment ? 

The  Assembly  answer,  That  churches  having  stated  supplies  only  are 
not  such  churches  as  are  contemplated  in  the  article  referred  to,  and 


OF    THE    PRESBYTERY.  139 

have  a  right  of  representation  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Form 
of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  v. — 1851,  p.  15,  N.  S. ;  also  1847,  p.  377, 
O.  S. 

3.  Ohtirclies  in  different  Presbyteries  tinder  one  Pastor,  as  permit- 
ted by  the  Reconstruction  Act. 

Overture  No.  16,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Kittanning,  asking  further 
action  from  the  Assembly  in  reference  to  churches  in  different  Presby- 
teries united  in  one  pastoral  charge. 

The  Assembly  judge  any  additional  action  upon  the  subject  to  be  un- 
necessary, as  the  action  of  the  previous  Assembly  was  intended  to  cover 
all  such  cases,  and  is  valid,  until  repealed. — 1872,  p.  86. 

The  action  referred  to  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

4.  That,  when  two  or  more  congregations,  on  different  sides  of  a  synod- 
ical  or  presbyterial  line,  are  under  one  pastoral  charge,  they  shall  all,  for 
the  time,  belong  to  that  Presbytery  with  which  the  minister  is  connected, 
but  only  so  long  as  such  pastoral  relation  continues. — 1870,  p.  88. 

V.  Every  vacant  congregation  which  is  regularly  organized  shall 
be  entitled  to  be  represented  by  a  ruling  elder  in  Presbytery. 

1.  Every  Congregation  is  Vacant  which  has  not  a  Pastor  duly 

Installed. 

a.  Should  every  congregation  be  considered  as  vacant  which  is  not 
united  to  any  minister  in  the  pastoral  relation  ?  and  if  it  should,  is  not 
every  such  congregation  entitled  to  be  represented  by  a  ruling  elder  iu 
Presljytery  ? 

Resolved,  That  from  a  comparison  of  sections  iii.  and  v.  of  chap,  x.. 
Form  of  Government,  it  is  evident  that  every  congregation  without  a  pas- 
tor is  to  be  regarded  as  a  vacant  congregation,  and  consequently,  if  regu- 
larly organized,  is  entitled  to  be  represented  by  a  ruling  elder  in  a  Pres- 
bytery.—1843,  pp.  190,  196,  O.  S. 

b.  When  a  domestic  missionary  has  organized  in  his  field  of  labor 
two  or  more  churches  to  which  he  statedly  ministers,  though  not  installed 
as  pastor  over  any  of  them,  are  these  churches  to  be  considered  vacant, 
and  have  they  a  right  each  to  send  an  elder  to  represent  them  iu  Presby- 
tery ? 

Answer :  That  in  the  cases  specified  the  churches  are  vacant,  and  en- 
titled to  be  represented  by  elders. — 1860,  p.  38,  O.  S, 
[See  iv.,  above.] 

VI.  Every  elder  not  known  to  the  Presbytery  shall  produce  a  cer- 
tificate of  his  regular  appointment  from  the  cliurch  which  he  repre- 
sents. 

VII.  Any  three  ministers,  and  as  many  elders  as  may  be  present 
belonging  to  the  Presbytery,  being  met  at  the  time  and  jilace  ap- 
pointed, shall  be  a  quorum  competent  to  proceed  to  business. 

1.  A  Quorum  may  be  Constituted  wholly  of  Ministers. 

a.  Resolved,  That  any  three  ministers  of  a  Presbytery,  being  regularly 
convened,  are  a  quorum  competent  to  the  transaction  of  all  business,  agree- 


140  FOEM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

ably  to  the  provision  contained  in  the  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec. 
vii.     [Yeas  83,  nays  35.]— 1843,  p.  196,  O.  S. 

In  answer  to  memorials  on  this  subject,  the  Assembly — 

b.  Besolved,  That  the  last  Assembly,  in  determining  that  three  minis- 
ters are  a  quorum  of  the  Presbytery  when  no  ruling  elders  are  present, 
did  not  detract  in  any  degree  from  the  dignity  and  importance  of  this 
office,  nor  did  they  question  the  perfect  right  or  duty  of  eklers  to  be  present 
and  take  part  in  all  acts  of  government  and  discipline,  but  only  declared 
that  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  our  constitutional  rules, 
their  absence  does  not  prevent  the  Presbytery  from  constituting  and  trans- 
acting business  if  three  ministers  are  present ;  and  this  decision  is  based 
upon  the  fact  that  ministers  are  not  only  preachers  of  the  gospel  and  ad- 
ministrators of  sealing  ordinances,  but  also  ruling  elders  in  the  very  nature 
of  their  office.     [Yeas  134,  nays  45.]— 1844,  p.  370,  O.  S. 

[Against  this  action  of  the  Assembly  a  protest  was  entered  by  twenty- 
eight  members  of  the  Assembly.  For  protest  and  answer  see  Baird's  Col- 
lection, revised  ed.,  pp.  71,  75.  The  Assembly  disavow^s  the  charges  by 
the  following :] 

c.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly,  in  reaffirming  those  decisions  of  the 
last  Assembly  which  have  been  called  in  question,  design  to  maintain  the 
purity,  order  and  peace  of  the  Church,  and  the  continued  and  faithful 
observance  of  those  principles  and  regulations  which  have  heretofore  been 
found  to  consist  with  true  Christian  liberty  and  secure  the  common  wel- 
fare of  all  classes  in  the  Church.  Also,  they  reaffirm  and  maintain  the 
scriptural  authority  of  the  office  of  ruling  elder,  and  the  great  importance 
and  solemn  obligation  of  the  attendance  of  elders  on  the  meetings  of  the 
judicatories  of  the  Church,  and  of  their  equal  participation  in  the  exer- 
cise of  government  and  discipline. — 1844,  p.  371,  0.  S. 

2.  Less  than  three  Ministers  cannot  be  a  Quorum. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Genesee  were  excepted  to  because  the  Synod 
made  two  clerical  members  of  Presbytery  a  quorum  for  business. — 1857, 
p.  387,  N.  S. 

3.  Less  than  a,  Quorum  can  do  no  Presbyterial  Act  other  than  to 
Adjourn.— They  cannot  Receive  a  Member,  so  as  to  form  a 
Quorum. 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  with  reference  to  a 
presbyterial  quorum  presented  their  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as 
follows: 

The  overture  is  presented  in  three  several  branches,  and  is  in  the  fol- 
lowing words,  viz. : 

1st.  Has  any  number  of  members  of  a  Presbytery  less  than  a  quorum 
for  the  transaction  of  business,  as  mentioned  in  the  Form  of  Government, 
chap.  X.,  sec.  vii.,  authority  to  transact  any  business  except  to  adjourn  ? 
Have  they  authority  to  receive  members  into  the  Presbytery,  to  send  del- 
egates to  the  General  Assembly,  etc.? 

2d.  And  where  members  received  into  the  Presbytery  by  a  nundier  less 
than  a  quorum  take  up  charges  on  "common  fame"  against  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  belonging  to  such  Presbytery,  is  a  trial  founded  on  charges  so 
taken  up  authorized  by  our  Book  of  Discipline? 

3d.  Is  a  Presbytery  duly  organized,  when  the  moderator  and  temporary 
clerk  are  ministers,  who  have  not  been  admitted  into  the  Presbytery  by  a 
quorum  for  the  ti'ansaction  of  business?     And  is  any  business  transacted 


OF   TPIE    PEESBYTERY.  141 

by  a   Presbytery  so   organized   constitutional,  especially  the  trial   of  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  ? 

The  Committee  are  unanimous  and  unhesitating  in  the  ft)llowing  views, 
presented  under  the  several  branches  of  the  overture  in  their  order : 

As  to  the  first  branch  of  the  Overture: 

The  law  of  a  quorum  is  not  a  mere  rule  of  procedure,  a  provision  of 
order,  but  a  matter  respecting  the  very  being  of  the  judicatory.  Any 
number  of  members  less  than  the  constitutional  quorum  do  not  make  a 
judicatory,  and  are  not  comjDetent  to  any  organic  act.  Nor  can  they,  by 
associating  others  with  themselves,  under  the  pretence  or  form  of  receiving 
them  as  members  of  the  judicatory,  make  a  constitutional  quorum.  Their 
acts  are  simply  null  and  void.  Ex  nihilo  nihil  fit.  This  statement  applies 
to  every  judicatory  in  the  series  from  the  church  session  to  the  Genei-al 
Assembly. 

Any  number  of  persons  less  than  "  three  ministers  and  as  many  elders 
as  may  be  present  belonging  to  the  Presbytery,"  do  not  constitute  a  Pres- 
bytery, and  are  not  competent  to  do  a  presbyterial  act.  Of  course  they 
have  not  "authority  to  receive  members  into  the  Presbytery,"  nor  "to 
send  delegates  to  the  General  Assembly."  Ministers  received  by  them  do 
not  thereby  become  members  of  the  Presbytery,  and,  if  they  assume  to 
act  as  such,  they  are  simply  aliens  and  intruders.  Commissioners  sent  by 
them  to  the  General  Assembly  should  not  be  allowed  to  sit,  when  the  facts 
of  their  appointment  are  understood. 

The  doings  of  such  a  meeting  should  not  have  a  place  on  the  records. 
But  if  the  stated  clerk  records  them,  the  Presbytery  itself,  when  constitu- 
tionally organized,  should  take  action  to  adopt  or  disaffirm  them  ;  and,  iu 
failure  of  this,  the  Synod,  under  its  power  of  review  and  control,  should, 
on  inspection  of  the  records,  notice  the  unconstitutional  proceedings,  and 
require  the  Presbytery  to  make  the  necessary  correction. 

Were  it  necessary  to  confirm  these  positions,  it  would  be  sufficient  to 
refer  to  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  (Digest,  p.  105)  in  regard 
to  a  quorum  of  sessions,  to  the  effect,  that  what  is  "necessary  to  constitute 
a  quorum,"  is  "necessary  to  form  a  session;"  and  to  the  deliverance  of 
the  Assembly  of  1860  (see  Minutes,  pp.  260,  261),  on  an  overture  re- 
specting certain  disorderly  proceedings  of  a  church,  in  which  the  princi- 
ple is  involved  and  affirmed,  that  an  "unconstitutional  act"  is  "utterly 
null  and  void ;"  and  that  "  being  void,"  it  "works  no  effect." 

As  to  the  second  branch  of  the  Overture : 

"Taking  up  charges"  is  equivalent  to  "entering  process,^'  or  "com- 
mencing process."  (Cf.  "Book  of  Discipline,"  chap,  iii.,  sec.  v.,  with  chap, 
v.,  sees.  ii.  and  v.)  It  is  the  beginning,  or  first  formal  step,  of  a  judicial 
proceeding;  and  is  of  course  the  act  of  the  judicatory.  Now,  all  the  pro- 
visions of  the  "Book  of  Discipline,"  in  relation  to  the  trial  of  persons  sub- 
ject to  the  jurisdiction  of  a  judicatory,  presuppose  and  assume,  that  "the 
charges  have  been  taken  up,"  as  well  as  that  every  subsequent  step  of  the 
proceedings  has  been  had  by  the  judicatory  itself.  Hence  the  "Book  of 
Discipline"  does  not  "authorize"  the  trial  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel  by 
his  Presbytery,  "on  charges  taken  up"  by  individuals  usurping  its  prerog- 
atives, but  only  on  charges  taken  up  by  itself. 

The  "Book  of  Discipline,"  however,  prescribes  (chap,  vii.,  sees.  i.  and 
iv.)  that  "no  judicial  decision  of  a  judicatory  shall  be  reversed,  unless  it 
be  regularly  brought  up  by  appeal  or  complaint." 

The  trial  of  a  minister,  under  the  circumstances  proposed  in  the  over- 


142  FORM    OF    GOYERXMENT. 

tui'e,  must  be  regarded  as  any  other  trial,  where  there  has  been  informality 
or  irregularity  in  the  citation,  or  other  preliminary  stages  of  the  process. 
The  trial,  with  the  judgment  based  upon  it,  must  be  respected,  until  the 
Synod,  as  the  superior  judicatory,  shall  judge  how  far  the  irregularity 
vitiates  the  proceedings,  and  defeats  the  ends  of  justice,  and  shall  annul 
or  confirm  the  same. 

As  to  the  third  hraneli  of  the  Overture : 

The  moderator  and  clerk  are  ministerial  officers  of  the  judicatory.  In 
respect  of  their  office,  they  are  servants  merely,  and  not  members  of  the  body. 

Of  the  clerk,  this  would  seem  to  be  unquestionably  true.  The  consti- 
tution knows  nothing  of  the  temjwrary  clerk  as  distinguished  from  the  • 
stated  clerk.  As  far  as  any  provision  of  the  "Book"  is  involved,  it  is 
plain  that  a  judicatory  may  select  any  convenient  person,  though  not  a 
member,  to  record  its  ti'ansactions,  and  discharge  all  other  duties  pertain- 
ing to  a  clerk.  For  the  part  of  those  duties  usually  devolved  upon  the 
temporary  clerk,  we  believe,  it  is  no  unfrequent  thing  for  a  Presbytery  to 
employ  a  licentiate,  or  other  person  not  a  member  of  the  body. 

Nor  does  the  constitution  explicitly,  at  least,  require  the  moderator  to 
be  chosen  fi'om  the  members  of  the  judicatory.  It  does  indeed  prescribe 
(chap,  xix.,  sec.  ii.)  that,  in  a  certain  contingency,  "he  shall  possess  the 
casting  vote."  And  as  voting  is  the  act  of  a  member,  the  implication 
seems  to  offer  itself,  that  the  moderator  himself  must  be  a  member.  But 
against  this  implication  some  other  facts  of  the  constitution  may  be  cited. 
Thus  ("Form  of  Government,"  chap,  ix.,  sec.  iii.),  there  is  the  provision 
for  inviting,  in  certain  contingencies,  a  minister  to  moderate  the  church 
session,  who  is  not  the  pastor  of  the  church,  and  of  course  not  a  member 
of  the  session;  while  the  general  law  of  "Moderators"  (chap,  xix.)  gives 
him  the  casting  vote.  Then,  again,  the  "Form  of  Government"  (chap, 
xii.,  sec.  vii.)  prescribes,  concerning  the  General  Assembly,  that  "the  mod- 
erator of  the  last  Assembly,  if  present,  or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  some  other 
minister,  shall  preside,  until  a  new  moderator  be  chosen."  Under  this  pro- 
vision, it  is  not  necessary  that  the  minister  called  to  preside  in  the  Assem- 
bly, should  himself  be  in  commission.  (Digest,  p.  178.)  It  may  be  said, 
that  this  is  merely  for  organization.  True.  But  the  whole  principle 
seems  to  be  involved.  For  the  time  being,  one,  not  a  member  of  the 
Assembly,  is  its  moderator,  and  as  such  has  a  casting  vote  on  the  number- 
less issues  that  may  be  raised  between  the  formation  of  the  roll  and  the 
choice  of  a  new  moderator.  And  in  the  former  case,  pertaining  to  church 
sessions,  no  such  limitation  for  mere  organization  exists.  Hence  these  two 
points  are  clearly  recognized:  1st.  That  it  is  not  essential  to  the  idea  of  a 
moderator  that  he  be  a  member ;  2d.  Tliat  the  privilege  of  a  casting  vote 
does  not  necessarily  imply  membership. 

In  the  United  States  Senate  we  have  an  instance  of  the  moderator  being 
foreign  to  the  body  over  which  he  presides.  By  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  Senate  "shall  be  composed  of  two  senators  from  each 
State,"  etc.  The  senators  make  the  whole  body ;  and  yet,  by  the  same 
instrument,  the  "Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President 
of  the  Senate,"  with  a  casting  vote.  In  the  State  of  New  York  (as  per- 
haps in  other  States)  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly  may  have  two  votes, 
one  as  a  member  of  the  body,  and  the  casting  vote  besides ;  a  fact  which 
rebuts  the  supposition  that  the  casting  vote  is  an  incident  of  membership. 

All  this  is  urged,  without  respect  to  the  immemorial  usage  of  our  church 
courts,  but  solely  in  view  of  what  is  essential  by  the  provisions  of  the 
written  constitution  and  the  nature  of  the  subject. 


OF   THE    PEESBYTERY.  143 

If  these  suggestions  are  sound,  then  a  Presbyteiy  in  the  position  pro- 
posed by  the  Overture  is  "  duly  organized,"  and  every  business  done  by  it 
is  constitutional — quoad  hoc. 

2.  But,  if  it  be  not  admitted  that  the  constitution  allows  a  Presbytery 
to  choose  for  its  moderator  one  foreign  to  its  body,  it  may  still  be  said,  the 
selection  of  officers  is  a  matter  relating  not  to  the  beiug  of  the  judicatory 
(like  the  presence  of  a  quorum),  but  to  its  form  and  order  merely.  An 
irregularity  here  does  not  nullify  the  body.  It  is  still  a  judicatory,  with 
all  the  essential  elements,  and  competent  for  business.  Its  business  may 
be  constitutional,  though  done  in  an  unconstitutional  way,  and  liable  to 
correction  by  a  superior  judicatory. 

3.  Besides,  though  the  persons  chosen  officers  "are  ministers  who  have 
not  been  admitted  into  the  Presbytery  by  a  quorum,"  or  (which  is  its 
meaning)  have  been  received  by  a  number  less  than  a  quorum,  and  are  not 
thereby  constitutionally  members,  it  would  still  be  open  to  the  inference, 
that  the  Presbytery  (with  a  constitutional  quorum),  in  choosing  such  per- 
sons to  office,  thereby  virtually  affirmed  and  adopted  the  previous  uncon- 
stitutional act,  by  which  they  were  received  into  the  body,  made  it  their 
own,  and  made  it  good. 

Hence,  in  every  view,  the  committee  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  that,  in 
the  case  proposed  in  the  third  branch  of  the  overture,  the  answer  should 
be,  that  the  Presbytery  is  "duly  (that  is,  validly)  organized,"  and  compe- 
tent to  any  business,  including  the  trial  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

Still,  it  is  obvious,  that  the  presence  in  the  Presbytery  of  persons  re- 
ceived as  members  by  any  number  less  than  a  quorum,  and  in  virtue  thereof 
claiming  to  exercise  the  privilege  of  niembers  (whether  chosen  to  office 
or  not),  may  work  great  wrong  and  vexation,  by  overruling  the  voice  of 
the  majority  of  the  lawful  members  of  the  judicatory.  And  every  mem- 
ber has  the  constitutional  right,  in  some  appropriate  way,  to  carry  any 
grievance  from  this  source  to  the  notice  of  the  Synod  for  correction.  We 
would,  therefore,  qualify  the  above  answer  to  this  branch  of  the  overture, 
by  adding,  that,  however  the  acts  of  a  Presbytery  so  organized  may  be 
irregular,  they  are  not  necessarily  void  and  nnll  (as  where  there  is  the 
want  of  a  quorum),  but  voidable  only  in  the  judgment  of  the  superior 
judicatory,  when  brought  before  it  in  a  constitutional  way. — 1861,  p.  455- 
459,  N.  S. 

4.  Reception  of  a  member  by  less  than  a  quorum,  Sanctioned  by 
the  Assembly,  as  an  Exceptional  Case. 

a.  Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Santa  Fe  on  the  reception  of  John 
Annin  without  a  constitutional  quorum  ;  recommending  that  it  be  sanc- 
tioned, by  reason  of  the  singularity  of  the  case.  The  recommendation 
wa^;  adopted. — 1870,  p.  49. 

b.  A  similar  case. — Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  East  Florida,  with 
a  statement,  that  owing  to  the  decease  of  one  of  their  ministers,  and  the 
removal  of  another,  they  were  reduced  to  a  member.ship  of  only  two  min- 
isters; and  that  by  the  advice  of  the  stated  clerk  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, they  had  at  their  recent  meeting  received  a  third  minister,  and  hav- 
ing thus  obtained  a  constitutional  quorum,  had  transacted  the  business  of 
their  stated  meeting. 

They  ask  the  Assembly  to  legalize  this  proceeding.  The  Committee 
recommend  that  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  East  Florida,  in  receiving 
the  Rev.  Matthew  L.  P.  Hill,  under  the  circumstances  stated  in  the  me- 
morial, be  and  the  same  is  hereby  ratified  and  confirmed.  Adopted. — 
1871,  p.  538. 


144  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

c.  Overture  Ko.  17,  from  the  Presbytery  of  East  Florida,  requesting 
that  the  action  of  this  Presbytery  may  be  legalized,  in  receiving  as  mem- 
bers the  Rev.  Calvin  E.  Stowe,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  James  K.  Warner,  a  quo- 
rum of  members  not  being  present. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  request  be  granted.  Adopted. — 
1872,  p.  87. 

POWERS  OF  THE  PRESBYTERY. 

VIII.  The  Presbytery  has  power  to  receive  and  issue  apjjeals  from 
church  sessions,  and  references  brought  before  them  in  an  orderly- 
manner;  to  examine  and  license  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry; 
to  ordain,  install,  remove  and  judge  ministers ;  to  examine  and  ap- 
prove or  censure  the  records  of  church  sessions ;  to  resolve  questions 
of  doctrine  or  discipline  seriously  and  reasonably  propounded ;  to 
condemn  erroneous  opinions  which  injure  the  purity  or  peace  of  the 
Church;  to  visit  particular  churciies  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into 
their  state,  and  redressing  the  evils  that  may  have  arisen  in  them;  to 
unite  or  divide  congregations  at  the  request  of  the  ])eople,  or  to  form 
or  receive  new  congregations,  and  in  general  to  order  whatever  per- 
tains to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  churches  under  their  care. 

I.  TO  RECEIVE  AND  ISSUE  APPEALS  AND  REFERENCES. 
[See  under  Appeals,  etc.,,  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  iii.,  iv.J 

II.  TO  EXAMINE  AND  LICENSE  CANDIDATES  FOR  THE  HOLY  MINISTRY. 
1.  Licentiates  should  be  Regularly  Received.— Caution  to  be  Used. 

a.  The  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  expressing  some  uneasiness  at  the 
conduct  of  the  second  Piiiladelphia  Presbytery  for  having  received  and 
licensed  a  certain  Mr.  John  McClean,  who,  they  apprehend,  most  properly 
belonged  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and  had  applied  to  them  to  be 
licensed ;  and  while  they  were  taking  the  proper  steps  for  obtaining  more 
full  satisfaction  concerning  his  church  membership  and  Christian  charac- 
ter, he  in  the  mean  time  removed  from  them  and  applied  to  the  second 
Philadeli)hia  Presbytery,  and  was  licensed  by  them  ;  both  the  Presbyter- 
ies were  fully  heard  in  a  free  conference  on  this  subject  and  withdrew. 
The  Synod,  after  mature  deliberation,  order  Mr.  McClean  to  be  cited  be- 
fore the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  with  power  to  theui  to  hear  the  charges 
against  him  and  issue  the  atfair  in  a  regular  manner,  and  report  to  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Synod.  And  the  Synod  do  prohibit  the  second  Phil- 
adelphia Presbytery  from  employing  him  to  preach  till  the  affair  shall  be 
concluded. — 1772,  p.  435. 

b.  The  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  to  Examine  the 
Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  I'hiladelphia  was  resumed.  The  report  is  as 
follows,  viz. : 

Your  committee  observe  in  page  24th  that  although  the  Synod  were  in- 
formed by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  that  a  certain  Mr.  Hindman  had 
put  himself  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal  for  trials,  and 
afterward,  without  certilicate  or  dismission  offered  himself  to  and  was  re- 


OF   THE    PKESBYTERY.  145 

ceivecl  upon  trials  by  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes ;  and  th^)ugli  in  page  34th 
the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  represent  that  the  said  gentleman  had  been 
laid  under  censure  by  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  that  they  had  no  au- 
thentic proof  that  it  was  taken  off,  and  that  this  gentleman  had  obtained 
license  in  opposition  to  a  rule  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia, in  their  minutes  of  1764,  pages  79  and  80,  yet  the  Synod  recom- 
mended it  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  to  receive  and  treat  this  gen- 
tleman as  a  regular  candidate  without  any  decision  upon  the  matters 
referred  to  them. 

[Whereupon  the  Assembly] 

Resolved,  That  the  Synod  be  informed  that  the  Assembly  disapprove  of 
the  proceedings  as  represented  in  their  records  in  recommending  a  candi- 
date to  be  received  as  in  full  standing  before  they  had  given  a  decision 
upon  the  allegations  against  him. — 1791,  p.  37. 

c.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  in  Wilmington  upon 
the  first  Tuesday  of  January,  1791,  and  continued  by  adjournment,  the 
Rev.  James  McCoy,  of  Morris  county  Presbytery,  with  a  commissioner 
from  Queen  Ann's  congregation,  applied  to  be  received  as  a  member  of 
this  Presbytery.  As  Mr.  McCoy  had  been  under  trials  for  licensure  iu  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York,  and  was  licensed  and  ordained  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Morris,  this  Presbytery  agreed  not  to  receive  him  as  a  member 
until  his  case  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly  at  their  next  stated 
meeting. 

The  General  Assembly,  upon  considering  this  case,  determined  that 
neither  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  nor  any  other  Presbytery  ought  to 
receive  Mr.  McCoy  into  their  connection  until  he  shall  have  produced  a; 
certificate  from  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  of  his  having  given  them  the 
satisfaction  which  his  case  requires. — 1791,  p.  38, 

[See  chap.  xiv.  of  licensing  candidates  or  probationers  to  preach  the 
gospel.] 

III.  TO  ORDAIX  MINISTERS. 
2.  Ordination  by  a  Commission  of  Presbsrtery. 

a.  The  Presbytery  having  seen  Mr.  George  Gillespie's  certificates,  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow,  concerning  his  being  licensed  to  preach,  and  his 
conversation,  did  approve  of  them,  and  in  case  Providence  make  way  for 
his  ordination,  by  a  call  from  any  congregation  before  next  Presbytery, 
Mr.  Andrews,  McNish,  Anderson,  and  Morgan,  are  ordered  to  ordain  him, 
and  that  one  of  the  said  members,  or  two,  as  they  shall  see  fit,  preach  at 
the  solemnity. — 1712,  p.  26. 

h.  The  business  of  Mr.  Wotherspoon  and  the  people  of  Apoquinimy 
came  again  into  consideration,  upon  which  the  Presbytery  appointed  as 
follows,  that  Masters  Andrews,  Anderson,  Powell,  Jones,  and  Gillespie,  do 
manage  in  the  affair  between  Mr.  Wotherspoon  and  the  people  of  Apo- 
quinimy, that  after  a  formal  call  pi-esented  before  them  by  the  said  people 
of  Apoquinimy,  they,  at  their  own  discretion,  appoint  the  said  Mr.  Wo- 
therspoon to  pass  his  trials  before  them,  and  that  if  they  shall  be  fully  sat- 
isfied as  to  his  qualifications,  they  proceed  to  his  ordination,  and  settlement 
among  that  people. — 1713,  p.  34. 

It  was  reported  by  the  ministers  appointed  to  transact  the  affair  relat- 
ing to  Mr.  Wotherspoon's  ordination,  that  they,  iu  compliance  with  the 
last  year's  minutes,  did  solemnly  by  prayer,  lasting,  and  imposition  of 
hands,  ordain  the  said  Mr.  Robert  Wotherspoon,  unto  the  sacred  function 
19 


146  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

and  office  of  the  ministry,  to  the  Presbyterian    congregation    at  Apo- 
quiniuiy,  upon  the  loth  day  of  May,  1714.* 

c.  A  unanimous  call  from  the  people  of  Welsh  Tract  to  Mr.  David 
Evans,  being  presented  to  us  and  approven,  we  offered  it  to  him,  which  he 
accepted;  whereupon  it  was  appointed  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  Messrs.  Jedediuh  Andrews,  Jones,  Anderson,  Gillespie,  and  Wo- 
therspoon,  solemnly  ordain  him  to  the  work  and  office  of  the  ministry, 
after  having  been  satisfied  with  his  ministerial  abilities,  in  any  pieces  of 
trial  they  shall  think  fit  to  appoint  him. — 1714,  p.  80. 

[See  Minutes  of  General  Presbytery,  j^assim.'] 

d.  The  appointment  of  the  Synod  with  respect  to  the  ordination  of 
Masters  John  Clement  and  William  Stewart,  was  complied  with.  They 
being  solemnly  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  by  the  Rev.  ^Masters 
Samuel  Davis,  John  Hampton,  and  John  Thompson,  at  llehoboth,  in 
Somerset  county,  in  Maryland,  upon  the  —  day  of  June,  1719. — 1719, 
p.  55. 

[See,  also,  case  of  John  Griffith,  ordained  by  a  Presbytery  j;ro  re  nata, 
appointed  by  Synod. — 1758,  p.  289.] 

3.  Ordination  by  Foreign  Bodies  not  approved. 

The  Assembly  took  up  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Overture  No.  3, 
which  was  laid  on  the  table ;  which  being  read  and  amended,  was  adopted, 
and  is  as  follows,  viz.  : 

MlLereas,  many  of  the  ministers,  who  are  to  supply  the  vacant  churches 
and  destitute  places  in  the  more  new  and  growing  parts  of  our  Church, 
must,  for  some  time  to  come,  continue  to  be  educated  in  the  older  sections 
of  our  country,  and  at  a  great  distance  from  the  field  where  they  are  to 
be  employed  ;  and  whereas,  it  is  important  to  the  hap])y  and  useful 
settlement  of  these  ministers,  in  their  several  fields  of  labor,  that  they 
should  enjoy  the  full  confidence  of  the  ministers  and  churches  among  whom 
they  are  to  dwell ;  and  whereas,  the  ordination  of  ministers  in  the  presence 
of  the  people  among  whom  they  are  to  labor,  is  calculated  to  endear  them 
very  much  to  their  flocks,  while  it  gives  their  fathers  and  brethren  in  the 
ministry  an  opportunity  of  knowing  their  opinions  and  sentiments  on  sub- 
jects of  doctrine  and  discipline;  and  whereas,  our  Form  of  Government 
seems  to  recognize  the  right  and  privilege  of  each  Presbytery  to  examine 
and  ordain  those  who  come  to  the  pastoral  office  within  tlieir  bounds,  and 
who  have  never  before  exercised  that  office  ;  therefore.  Revived, 

That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  our  Presbyteries,  not  to  ordain, 
sine  titulo,  any  men,  who  ])r()pose  to  pursue  the  work  of  their  ministry  in 
any  section  of  the  country  where  a  Presbytery  is  ali-eady  organized  to 
which  they  may  go  as  licentiates  and  receive  ordination.  2.  That  the 
several  bodies  with  which  we  are  in  friendly  correspondence  in  the  New 
England  States,  be  respectfully  requested  to  use  their  counsel  and  influ- 
ence to  prevent  the  ordination,  by  any  of  the  Councils  or  Consociation^;, 
of  men  who  propose  to  pursue  the  work  of  the  ministry  within  the  bounds 
of  any  Presbytery  belonging  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 

■*  Memorandum. 

It  being  appointed  the  last  Pre.sbytery,  that  tlie  ordination  of  Mr.  Robert  Wother- 
epooii  should  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  diverse  ministers  wlio  are  named  in  tiie  min- 
utes; tiie  said  members  liaving  lieard  liiin  preach  a  popular  sermon  on  Ileb.  vi.  19, 
received  his  exec/esis  on  a  question  de  sdnctorum  perfsi'vcrantia,  taken  on  account  of  liis 
skill  in  the  original  languages,  and  likewise  bis  attainments  and  orthodoxy  in  theolog- 
ical matters,  to  their  satisfaction,  did  on  the  l.'Uh  day  of  May,  1714,  set  apart  the  said 
Mr.  Wotherspoon  unto  the  work  of  the  minis    y. — 1714,  p.  V>o. 


OF    THE    PRESBYTERY.  147 

Church;  and  that  the  delegates  from  this  Assembly  to  those  bodies  respec- 
tively be  charged  with  communicating  this  resolution. — 1834,  p.  428. 

4.  Lay  Ordination  Invalid. 

a.  The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  15,  viz.,  ou  ordi- 
nation by  a  deposed  minister  or  by  laymen,  made  the  following  report, 
which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

That  this  paper  contains  a  letter  from  a  minister  in  South  Carolina  to 
the  stated  clerk,  requesting  him  to  obtain  a  decision  of  the  General  As- 
sembly on  the  question,  "  whether  the  ordination  of  a  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel by  the  interposition  of  the  hands  of  the  laity  is  valid."  That  the  an- 
swer to  this  question  should  be  in  the  negative  is  so  obvious  and  evident ' 
on  all  correct  principles  of  ecclesiastical  order,  that  your  Conunittee  are 
of  opinion  that  it  is  unnecessary  for  the  General  Assembly  to  give  any 
further  consideration  to  the  subject. — 1832,  p.  366. 

b.  The  Committee  on  Overture  No.  3,  viz.,  a  question  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Bethel  respecting  holding  communion  with  the  followei'S  of  Wil- 
liam C.  Davis,  a  deposed  minister,  and  calling  themselves  Independent 
Presbyterians,  reported  that  in  their  judgment  the  questions  proposed  in 
said  overture  ought  to  be  answered  in  the  negative.  They  therefore 
would  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  while  this  Assembly  readily  acknowledges  the  right  of 
the  session  to  determine  according  to  the  Scriptures  and  the  Constitution 
of  our  Church  the  qualifications  for  admission  to  sealing  ordinances,  yet 
they  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  declare  that  in  their  judgment  the  services 
of  those  who  have  received  only  lay  ordination  and  of  those  who  have 
been  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry  are  unscriptural  and  unwarrant- 
able, and  therefore  an  attendance  on  their  ministrations  cannot  be  in  the 
order  of  the  gospel,  and  ought  to  be  discouraged  and  discountenanced  by 
every  friend  of  the  Kedeemer's  kingdom. — 1833,  j).  407. 

5.  Rule  in  respect  to  Receiving-  a  Minister  from  another  Denomi- 
nation. 

a.  The  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  to  which  had  been 
referred  the  question  of  validity  of  ordination  in  the  case  of  a  Baptist 
elder  was  resumed,  and  the  report  being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as 
follows,  viz.: 

It  is  not  among  the  principles  or  usages  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to 
consider  the  ordination  of  ministers  by  other  Protestant  churches  as  in- 
valid; on  the  contrary,  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  always  considered  the 
ordinations  of  most  other  Protestant  churches  as  valid  in  themselves,  and 
not  to  be  repeated  when  those  who  have  received  them  become  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Nor  is  it  perceived  that  there  is  any  suffi- 
cient reason  why  the  ordinations  in  the  Baptist  Church  should  not  be  con- 
sidered as  valid,  and  be  sustained  as  such. 

But  while  the  Presbyterian  Church  can  act  as  has  now  been  stated  in 
regard  to  ordinations,  it  is  among  those  principles  and  usages  wliich  she 
regards  as  most  sacred  and  important,  to  secure  for  her  churches  both  a 
pious  and  a  learned  ministry,  and  she  cannot  admit  of  any  usage  or  exer- 
cise any  apparent  liberality  inconsistent  with  security  in  this  essential 
particular.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  the  Committee  recommend  the  fol- 
iowuig  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  when  applications  are  made  by  ministers  of  the  Baptist 
or  any  other  Protestant  denomination  to  be  connected  with  the  Presbyte- 


148  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

rian  Church,  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  applications  are  made  shall 
require  all  the  qualifications  both  in  regard  to  piety  and  learning  Avhich 
are  required  of  candidates  for  licensure  or  ordination  of  those  ■who  have 
originally  belonged  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  shall  require  the 
applicants  from  other  denominations  to  continue  their  study  and  prepara- 
tion till  they  are  found  on  trial  and  examination  to  be  qualified  in  learn- 
ing and  ability  to  teach  in  the  manner  required  by  our  standards  ;  but 
that  when  found  to  be  thus  qualified,  it  shall  not  be  necessary  to  reordaiu 
the  said  applicants,  but  only  to  install  them  when  they  are  called  to  settle 
in  Presbyterian  congregations. — 1821,  p.  23. 

b.  Overture  No.  19.  A  request  of  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Montfort  that  the 
Assembly  answer  the  following  question  :  "Is  it  the  duty  of  Presbyteries, 
when  elders  or  deacons  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  apply  to 
become  ministers  in  our  Church,  to  recognize  their  ordination  as  sufficient, 
or  to  ordain  them  as  in  the  case  of  other  candidates  ?" 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  overture  be  answered  by  a  refer- 
ence to  the  action  on  the  subject  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1821.  The 
report  was  adopted. — 1852,  p.  210,  O.  S.     [See  8,  below.] 

6.  Ordination  Procured  by  Fraud  Valid,  but  the  Presbsrtery 
should  Depose. 

Is  the  ordination  of  a  minister  valid  which  has  been  procured  by  forgery 
and  unwarrantable  means? 

Confining  the  answer  of  the  Assembly  to  this  case  as  verbally  explained, 
this  question  is  answered  in  the  affirmative,  but  that  the  Presbytery  should 
in  such  case  proceed  immediately  to  depose  him. — 1843,  p.  198,  O.  B. 

7.  Ordination  on  the   Sabbath  Day  Inexpedient,   but  left  to  Dis- 

cretion of  the  Presbytery. 

An  overture  Avas  received  from  the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  requesting 
the  opinion  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  question  whether  it  be  proper 
to  ordain  licentiates  to  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministr)'  on  the  Sabbath 
day.  The  General  Assembly  think  it  would  not  be  for  edification  to  adopt 
a  uniform  rule  on  the  subject.  In  general  they  think  it  is  not  expedient 
that  ordinations  should  take  place  on  the  Sabbath,  yet  that  there  may  be 
cases  in  which  urgent  or  peculiar  circumstances  may  demand  them.  The 
Assembly  therefore  judged  it  best  to  leave  it  to  the  Presbyteries  to  act  iu 
this  concern  as  they  may  judge  that  their  duty  requires. — 1821,  p.  10. 

8,  The  Reasons  for  Receiving-  an  Ordained  Minister  from  another 

Denomination  to  be  Recorded. 

The  Committee  of  Overtures  brought  in  the  following  resolution,  which, 
having  been  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

Ilesolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly  tlie  decisions  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  1792,  and  refen-ed  to  by  the  Assembly  of  1800,  res])ect- 
ing  the  reordination  of  ministers  regularly  ordained  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  desiring  to  connect  themselves  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  however  expedient  at  the  time  of 
its  formation,  ought  not  to  be  considered  as  a  precedent  to  guide  the  future 
decisions  of  the  judicatories  of  this  Church;  and  that  the  Presbyteries 
under  the  care  of  this  Assembly,  when  they  receive  into  their  connection 
an  ordained  minister  from  any  other  denomination,  be  careful  to  record 
the  circumstances  of  the  case  and  the  reasons  which  induced  them  to  re- 
ceive such  ordained  minister. — 1810,  p.  411. 


OF   THE   PRESBYTERY.  149 

9.  Leave  to  Ordain  Refused  where  there  is  no  Presbytery. 

Overture  No.  34,  a  memorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  refer- 
ring to  this  Assembly  the  following  case:  Application  was  made  to  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York  in  A|n-il  to  receive  by  letter  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Cincinnati,  the  Rev.  John  Beveridge,  now  a  resident  of  Northern  Mex- 
ico, and  to  authorize  the  Rev.  Andrew  J.  Park,  now  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York,  and  residing  in  Northern  Mexico,  and  the  Rev. 
John  Beveridge,  Avhen  received  by  the  Presbytery,  to  ordain  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  if  the  way  be  clear  on  examination,  Mr.  Brigide  Sepul- 
veda,  a  converted  Roman  Catholic  priest. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  following  answer : 

Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  there  is  no  Presbytery,  and  not  a  sufficient 
number  of  ministers  of  whom  to  form  a  Presbytery,  in  Northern  Mexico, 
such  request  be  not  granted.  In  consideration,  however,  of  the  urgency 
and  peculiarity  of  the  case,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  are  hereby  in- 
structed to  defray  the  expenses  of  Mr.  Sepulveda's  journey  to  and  from 
New  York  for  his  ordination  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  if  the  way 
be  clear. — 1871,  p.  592. 

IV.  TO  INSTALL  MINISTERS. 

10.  The  Cognizance  of  Settling  Pastors  belongs  to  Presbytery. 

That  it  belongs  to  the  Presbyteries  to  take  cognizance  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  sessions  and  congregations  in  the  important  concern  of  settling 
pastors,  and  to  adopt  tlie  most  effectual  measures  on  the  one  hand  to  pre- 
vent all  undue  delay  by  the  session,  or  the  people,  and  on  the  other,  to 
prevent  all  precipitancy  in  the  settlement  of  any  minister,  or  the  adop- 
tion of  any  system  of  proceedings  in  the  congregation  inconsistent  with 
the  real  and  permanent  edification  of  the  people. — 1814,  p.  560. 

11.  A  Pastoral  Relation  Recognized  without  Instalment. 

That  it  apjiears  evident  to  this  Synod,  that  INIr.  Tennent  having  in  all 
respects  acted,  and  been  esteemed,  and  looked  upon,  not  only  by  this 
Synod,  but  also  by  the  congregation  of  Neshamiuy,  and  particularly  by 
the  appellants  themselves,  as  the  minister  and  pastor  of  the  people  of 
Neshaniiny,  that  he  is  still  to  be  esteemed  as  the  pastor  of  that  people, 
notwithstanding  the  want  of  a  formal  instalment  among  them  (which 
omission,  though  the  Synod  doth  not  justify,  yet  it  is  far  from  nullifying 
the  pastoral  relation  between  Mr.  Tennent  and  said  people),  and  conse- 
quently that  the  Synod  doth  justify  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  in  reference  to  tliat  matter,  and  that  said  appellants  had  no 
just  cause  of  complaining  against  or  appealing  from  said  judgment  of  the 
Presbytery. — 1736,  p.  127. 

12.  The  Presbytery  may  Refuse  to  Install  even  v/here  Parties  are 

Agreed. 

When  a  congregation  and  minister  agree  on  the  amount  of  salary  to  be 
paid  and  received,  and  both  parties  being  fully  satisfied,  request  the  pas- 
toral relation  to  be  constituted  according  to  the  order  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  has  Presbytery  the  right  to  refuse  to  install,  because,  in  their 
judgment,  the  salary  is  insufficient? 

Answered  in  the  affirmative. — 1855,  p.  272,  O.  S. 

[See  ui  der  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xv.] 


150  FORM   OF   GOVERNMEIsT. 

Y.  TO  REMOVE  MINISTERS. 

13.  The  Presbytery  has  Po-wer  to  Dissolve  a  Pastoral  Relation  at 

its  ovm  Discretion. 

a.  Overture  No,  22,  from  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  asking  the  following 
question,  viz.: 

Has  a  Presbytery  the  constitutional  power  to  dissolve  the  pastoral  rela- 
tion against  the  remonstrance  of  the  pastor  and  a  majority  of  the  church, 
when  a  large  and  influential  minority  of  the  church  request  it,  by  j^etition, 
and  in  the  judgment  of  Presbytery  the  interests  of  religion  in  that  con- 
gregation require  it? 

Your  Committee  beg  leave  to  recommend  the  following  answer,  viz. : 

The  General  Assembly  think  that  the  Pi-esbytery  has  the  constitutional 
power  to  dissolve  the  pastoral  relation,  according  to  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.,  and 
chap,  xviii-  of  our  Book ;  but  that  great  regai'd  ought  to  be  had  to  ex- 
pediency in  all  such  cases. 

Adopted.— 1860,  p.  39,  O.  S. 

b.  [The  same  question  was  asked  the  next  year,  and  answered  by  refer- 
ring to  the  Minutes  above,  with  the  caution:]  "That  such  power  should 
in  all  cases  be  exercised  with  the  greatest  caution  and  discretion,  and  that 
the  reasons  for  such  action  should  be  always  fully  recorded." — 1861,  p. 
306,  O.  S. 

14.  A  Synod,  on  Appeal,  Directs  the  Dissolution  of  the  Pastoral 

Relation,  and  is  Sustained. 

Your  commission  had  this  case  several  days  before  them,  and  bestowed 
upon  it  careful  consideration ;  and  have  unanimously  determined  to  report 
to  the  Assembly  that  the  sense  of  this  commission  is,  that  the  interests  of 
the  church  of  Hopewell  require  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation, 
and  that  they  agree  with  the  decision  of  Synod,  and  they  recommend  the 
following  minute: 

This  Assembly  recognizes  the  right  of  each  congregation  to  decide 
whether  a  pastor  is  acceptable  to  them,  and  the  wishes  of  a  majority  are 
to  be  set  aside  only  for  weighty  reasons;  yet  such  a  state  of  things  may 
exist  between  the  pastor  and  a  portion  of  his  people,  as  shall  require,  for 
the  fair  name  of  religion,  that  the  relation  be  dissolved.  And  for  this 
reason  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  Josej)h  Connell  against  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburg  is  not  sustained. — 1868,  p.  649,  O.  S. 

[See  the  case  in  full  below-,  chap.  xvii.  5.] 

15.  A  Pastor  may  not  be  Dismissed  to  a  Body  other  than  that 

to  -which  his  Church  belongs. 

The  Committee  report  Overture  No.  2 :  "Is  a  member  of  Presbytery, 
desirous  of  withdrawing  connection  with  our  Church  to  a  foreign  body  at  a 
distance,  entitled  to  a  letter  of  dismission  and  recommendation  on  demand, 
while  occupying  the  position  as  pastor  of  one  of  our  churches?" 

The  Committee  report,  that  he  is  not  thus  entitled. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1861,  p.  471,  N.  S. 

YI.  TO  JUDGE  MINISTERS. 

16.  The  Presb3rtery  alone  must  Judge  of  the  Fitness  of  its  Members. 
Your  Committee   doubted  the   correctness   of  the  order  given   by  the 

Synod  to  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva,  to  reconsider  their  proceedings  on 
the  subject  of  the  admission  of  the  Rev.  Shipley  Wells,  a  constituent 


OF    THE   PRESBYTERY.  151 

member  of  that  Presbytery,  which  order,  though  it  be  not  appealed  from, 
appears  to  have  given  rise  to  the  protest  in  question. 

The  Synod  of  Geneva  were  beyond  doubt,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Com- 
mittee, competent  to  censure  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva  for  admitting 
hastily,  and  on  slight  evidence,  into  their  body,  an  unworthy  or  even  a  sus- 
picious character.  But  it  is,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  equally 
clear,  that  the  right  of  deciding  on  the  fitness  of  admitting  Mr.  Wells,  a 
constituent  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva,  belonged  to  the  Pres- 
bytery itself;  and  that  having  admitted  him,  no  matter  how  improvident- 
ly,  their  decision  was  valid  and  final.  The  individual  admitted  became 
a  member  in  full  standing  ;  nor  could  the  Presbytery,  though  it  should 
reconsider,  reverse  its  own  decision,  or  in  any  way  sever  the  member 
so  admitted  from  their  body,  except  by  a  regular  process.  Adopted. — 1816, 
p.  612. 

17.  A  Presbytery  may  Reject  an  Applicant. 

A  complaint  and  appeal  of  Rev.  Thomas  Ledlie  Birch  against  certain 
proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Birch,  particu- 
larly for  refusing  to  receive  him  as  a  member  of  their  body,  on  the 
ground  of  a  supposed  want  of  acquaintance  with  experimental  religion, 
together  with  a  representation  of  the  congregation  of  Washington,  in  the 
bounds  of  the  said  Presbytery,  on  the  subject,  was  brought  in  by  the  Com- 
mittee on  Bills  and  Overtures. 

Subsequently  Resolved,  That  no  evidence  of  censurable  procedure  in 
the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Birch,  has  appeared  to  this 
house,  inasmuch  as  there  is  a  discretionary  power  necessarily  lodged  in  every 
Presbytery  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  those  whom  they  receive, 
especially  with  respect  to  experimental  religion. — 1801,  pp.  213,  218. 

18.  But  not  "without  Sufficient  Reasons. 

a.  A  complaint  was  brought  in  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  George  Dufiield 
against  the  Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  that  they  had,  by  one  of 
their  members,  obstructed  his  entrance  into  a  church  in  this  city  under 
their  care,  to  which  he  had  accepted  a  call,  and  had  also  refused  to  re- 
ceive him  as  a  member,  although  he  was  dismissed  from,  and  recom- 
mended by,  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  which  was  read. 

After  having  maturely  considered  this  matter,  the  Synod  judge  that 
Mr.  Dufiield  has  just  cause  of  complaint  against  the  conduct  and  judg- 
ment of  the  Second  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  who  ought  to  have  admit- 
ted him  to  membership  with  them,  and  allowed  him  a  fair  trial ;  Avhere- 
fore  we  now  declare  him  to  be  minister  of  the  Pine  Street  or  Third  Pres- 
byterian congregation  in  this  city,  and  order  that  he  be  put  upon  the  list 
of  the  aforesaid  Presbytery. — 1773,  p.  446. 

b.  Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Abingdon  from  the 
decision  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Glenn, 
be  dismissed,  on  the  ground  tliat  the  substantial  cause  of  appeal  has  been 
removed  by  the  act  of  that  Presbytery,  in  their  receiving  ^Ir.  Glenn,  in 
conformity  with  the  decision  of  the  Synod.  The  appeal  was  accordingly 
dismissed. — 1822,  p.  55. 

19.  Rule  as  to  a  Member  of  an  Extinct  Presbytery. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  consider  the  overture  sent  up  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Baltimore  respecting  the  course  proper  to  be  pursued  by  a 
Presbytery  when  a  minister  with  a  certificate  of  good  standing  from  a 


152  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Presbytery  which  has  no  longer  any  existence  applies  for  admission,  but 
is  supposed  to  be  chargeable  with  some  offence  subsequently  to  the  date 
of  that  certificate,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

That  after  the  most  attentive  consideration  of  the  question  presented  in 
said  overture,  it  appears  to  them  that  the  proper  answer  is  embraced  in 
the  following  particulars,  viz.  : 

1.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Book  of  Discipline  of  our  Church  expressly 
provides  that  when  a  minister  shall  be  dismissed  by  one  Presbytery  with 
a  view  to  his  joining  another,  he  shall  always  be  considered  as  remaining 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Presbytery  which  dismissed  him  until  he 
actually  becomes  a  member  of  another.  In  the  case  stated  in  the  over- 
ture, however,  as  the  dismissing  Presbytery  had  become  extinct,  it  was 
physically  impossible  to  act  according  to  the  letter  of  this  rule.  In  these 
circumstances  every  principle  of  sound  interpretation  seems  to  direct  that 
in  ordinary  cases  the  Presbytery  into  which  admission  is  sought  should 
receive  the  applicant,  and  if  he  be  charged  with  any  offence,  conduct  the 
process  against  him. 

2.  Nevertheless,  it  is  the  privilege  of  every  Presbytery  to  judge  of  the 
character  and  situation  of  those  who  apply  to  be^dmitted  into  their  own 
body,  and  unless  they  are  satisfied,  to  decline  receiving  the  same.  A  Pres- 
bytery, it  is  true,  may  make  an  improper  use  of  this  privilege,  in  which 
case  the  rejected  applicant  may  appeal  to  the  Synod  or  the  General 
Assembly. 

3.  When  any  minister  dismissed  in  good  standing  by  an  extinct  Presby- 
tery is  charged  with  an  offence  subsequently  to  the  date  of  his  dismission, 
the  Presbytery  to  which  he  a])plies  ihr  admission  not  only  may,  if  they  see 
cause,  decline  receiving  him,  but  if  their  own  situation  be  such  that  there 
is  no  prospect  of  their  being  able  to  conduct  process  against  him  in  an 
impartial  and  efficient  manner,  ought  to  decline  admitting  him  into  their 
body. 

4.  In  this  case  ministers  dismissed  by  an  extinct  Presbytery  and  not 
received  into  any  other  are  to  be  considered  as  under  the  direction  of  their 
proper  Synod,  and  ought  to  be  disposed  of  as  the  Synod  may  order. — 
1825,  p.  146,  147. 

20.  Ho-w  Ministers  and  Licentiates  from  Corresponding  Bodies 
are  to  be  Received. 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1829  to  con- 
sider and  report  to  the  Assembly  of  1830  on  the  manner  in  which  minis- 
ters and  licentiates  are  to  be  received  into  any  of  our  Presl)yteries  from 
ecclesiastical  bodies  in  the  United  States  which  correspond  with  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

That  in  their  judgment  every  licentiate  coming  by  certificate  to  any 
Presbytery  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly  from  any  portion  of 
a  corresponding  ecclesiastical  body,  should  be  required  to  answer  in  the 
affirmative  the  constitutional  questions  directed  by  chap.  xiv.  of  our  Form 
of  Government  to  be  put  to  our  own  candidates  before  tliey  are  licensed; 
and  that  in  like  manner  every  ordained  minister  of  the  gospel,  coming 
from,  any  church  in  correspondence  with  the  General  Assembly  by  certifi- 
cate of  dismission  and  recommendation,  should  be  required  to  answer 
affirmatively  tlie  first  seven  questions  directed  by  chap.  xv.  of  our  Form 
of  Government  to  be  put  to  one  of  our  own  licentiates  when  about  to  be 
ordained  to  the  sacred  office. 

The  course  which  is  thus  recommended  bv  the  Committee  they  believe 


OF   THE   PRESBYTERY.  153 

has  been  generally  practiced  by  our  Presbyteries,  and  the  impropriety 
of  admitting  strangers  into  our  connection  on  other  terms  than  our  own 
licentiates  and  ministers  is  too  obvious  to  require  remark.  It  is  the 
assent  of  licentiates  and  ministers  to  these  questions  which  brings  them 
under  the  watch  and  care  of  the  Presbyteries  which  receive  them,  and 
without  which  they  ought  not  to  enjoy  tlie  privileges  of  preachers  of  the 
gospel  in  our  ecclesiastical  connection. — 1830,  p.  287. 

21.  Ministers  Dismissed  in  G-ood  Standing  should  be  Received  on 
their  Testimonials. 

Resolved,  That  a  due  regard  to  the  order  of  the  Church  and  the  bonds 
of  brotherhood  require,  iu  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  that  ministers 
dismissed  in  good  standing  by  sister  Presbyteries  should  be  received  by 
the  Presbyteries  which  they  are  dismissed  to  join,  upon  the  credit  of  their 
constitutional  testimonials,  unless  they  have  forfeited  their  good  standing 
subsequently  to  their  dismissal. — 1834,  p.  440. 

22.  The  Right  of  Presbytery  to  Satisfy  Itself. 

1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  it  is  the 
right  of  every  Presbytery  to  be  entirely  satisfied  of  the  soundness  in  the 
faith,  and  the  good  character  in  every  respect,  of  those  ministers  who  apply 
to  be  admitted  into  the  Presbytery  as  members,  and  who  bring  testimoni- 
als of  good  standing  from  sister  Presbyteries,  or  from  foreign  bodies  with 
whom  the  Presbyterian  Church  is  in  correspondence.  And  if  there  be 
any  reasonable  doubt  respecting  the  proper  qualifications  of  such  candi- 
dates, notwithstanding  their  testimonials,  it  is  the  right  and  may  be  the 
duty  of  such  a  Presbytery  to  examine  them,  or  to  take  such  other  meth- 
ods of  being  satisfied  in  regard  to  their  suitable  character  as  may  be  judged 
proper,  and  if  such  satisfaction  be  not  obtained,  to  decline  receiving  them. 
In  such  case  it  sliall  be  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  rejecting  the  appli- 
cant to  make  known  what  it  has  done,  to  the  Presbytery  from  which  he 
came,  with  its  reasons,  it  being  always  understood  that  each  Presbytery  is 
in  this  concern,  as  in  all  others,  responsible  for  its  acts  to  the  higher  judi- 
catories.— 1835,  p.  485. 

[The  Assembly  of  1837  refers  to  the  above  action,  and  declares:] 
This  Assembly  do  now  render  it  imperative  on  the  Presbyteries  to  ex- 
amine all  who  make  application  for  admission  to  tlieir  bodies  at  least  on 
experimental  religion,  didactic  and  polemic  theology  and  church  govern- 
ment.—1837,  p.  429. 

[The  New  School  Assembly  of  1838  adopted  the  following:] 
Whereas,  it  is  the  inherent  right  of  Presbyteries  to  expound  and  apply 
constituti(mal  rules  touching  the  qualifications  of  their  own  members, 
therefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  action  of  the  last  Assembly  making  it  imperative 
on  the  Presbyteries  to  examine  all  who  make  application  to  their  bodies, 
not  excepting  ministers  coming  from  other  Presbyteries,  is  null  and  void. — 
1838,  p.  660,  N.  S. 

23.  A  Presbytery  may  not  give  a  Qualified  Dismission  nor  Re- 
ceive a  Minister  except  on  a  Letter  of  Dismission. — "Where  Re- 
ception is  Void,  the  Name  should  be  Stricken  from  the  Roll. 

Can  a  Presbytery  under  any  circumstances  rescind  its  action  in  the  re- 
ception of  a  member?     The  Committee  recommends  the  following  answer: 
20 


154  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

It  appears  in  the  case  referred  to  in  this  overture  that  a  minister,  hav- 
ing taken  a  qualified  letter  of  dismission  from  his  Presbytery,  was  re- 
ceived by  the  Presbytery  to  -sN'hich  he  was  dismissed  upon  other  testimo- 
nials. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly, 

1.  That  no  Presbytery  has  the  right  to  grant  qualified  letters  of  dismis- 
sion to  any  of  its  members. 

2.  That  no  Presbytery  can  receive  a  minister  except  upon  a  letter  of 
dismission  from  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs. 

3.  That  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  in  the  case  referred  to,  in  receiving 
said  minister,  being  void,  the  proper  course  would  have  been  to  strike  his 
name  from  the  roll,  and  notify  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belonged  of 
his  irregularity. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1869,  p.  922,  O.  S. 

24.  The  Presbytery  may  Dismiss  to  a  Presby-tery  to  be  Erected. 

Overture  No.  22,  on  the  following  question  submitted  by  a  member  of 
the  General  Assembly :  "  Can  a  Presbytery  dismiss  a  minister  to  connect 
himself  with  a  Presbytery  to  be  formed  in  a  specified  district  ?" 

The  Committee  recommend  that  it  be  answered  in  the  aifirraative,  pro- 
vided some  higher  court  has  given  authority  for  the  formation  of  such 
Presbytery, 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1867,  p.  350,  0.  S. 

25.  To  Dismiss  by  a  Comaaiittee  is  Unconstitutional. 

a.  The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Cayuga  relative  to  the  constitutionality  of  a  rule  of  that  body  which  had 
been  laid  on  the  table,  was  taken  up.  The  rule  of  the  Presbytery  of  Ca- 
yuga referred  to  the  Assembly  is  as  follows,  viz. :  The  moderator  for  the 
time  being  and  the  stated  clerk  ex-oflScio  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
grant  letters  of  dismission  to  ministers  without  charge,  aud  to  licentiates 
and  candidates  under  the  care  of  this  Presbytery,  to  unite  with  other  Pres- 
byteries, aud  were  directed  to  report  at  each  stated  meeting. 

In  relation  to  this  rule  the  following  resolution,  reported  by  the  Com- 
mittee, was  adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  rule  hitherto  acted  upon  by  the  Presbytery  of  Ca- 
yuga is  inexpedient  and  unconstitutional. — 1830,  p.  302. 

h.  Also  Overture  No.  16,  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Steuben ville  and 
Washington,  asking  whether  it  is  competent  and  constitutional  for  a  Pres- 
bytery to  appoint  a  committee  to  dismiss  unsettled  ministers,  licentiates 
and  candidates  without  a  call  for  the  body  to  assemble.  This  question 
has  already  been  decided  by  the  General  Assembly  in  the  negative.  (See 
Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1830,  p.  302.) 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1865,  p.  569,  O.  S. 

c.  The  same  Committee  further  reported  Overture  No.  5  as  follows: 
"May  a  Presbytery  authorize  its  stated  clerk  during  the  intervals  of  its 
sessions  to  grant,  at  their  own  request,  letters  certifying  the  regular 
standing  and  dismission  of  its  members  to  join  other  ecclesiastical 
bodies  in  connection  or  correspondence  with  the  General  Assembly?" 
The  Committee  recommend  that  the  above  question  be  answered  in  the 
negative. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1865,  p.  12,  N.  S.^ 

[See  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  x.,  on  Jurisdiction.] 


OF   THE    PRESBYTERY.  155 

26.  Reception  of  Foreign  Ministers.— The  Rule. 

[The  original  rule  on  this  subject  may  be  found  in  the  Minutes  for 
1735,  p.  118.  Action  was  also  taken  in  1773,  p.  448,  and  1774,  p.  455. 
In  1784  the  matter  forced  itself  anew  upon  the  Synod,  and  particular 
care  was  enjoined  upon  all  its  members,  1784,  ]).  504.  See  also  Baird's 
Collection,  Revised  Edition,  pp.  254,  257.  In  1798,  p.  148,  the  Assembly 
adopted  "regulations  intended  to  embrace  and  extend  the  existing  rules." 
In  1800  these  regulations  were  modified  and  amended,  and  constitute  the 
present  Rule,  viz. :] 

I.  When  any  minister  or  licentiate  from  Europe  shall  come  into  this 
country,  and  desire  to  become  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States,  he  luay  apply  to  any  committee  appointed  to  direct 
the  services  of  traveling  ministers  and  candidates;  which  committee  shall 
inspect  his  credentials,  and,  by  examination  or  otherwise,  endeavor  to 
ascertain  his  soundness  in  the  faith  and  experimental  acquaintance  with 
religion ;  his  attainments  in  divinity  and  literature  ;  his  moral  and  re- 
ligious character,  and  approbation  of  our  public  standards  of  doctrine 
and  discipline.  If  the  result  shall  be  such  as  to  encourage  further  trial, 
said  committee  may  give  him  appointments  to  supply  and  recommend 
him  to  the  churches  till  the  next  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  such 
committee  belongs.  It  shall  then  become  the  duty  of  such  minister  or 
licentiate  to  apply  to  that  Presbytery,  or  to  any  other  in  whose  bounds 
he  may  incline  to  labor;  provided  always,  that  he  make  his  application 
to  the  Presbytery  at  their  first  meeting  after  his  coming  within  their 
bounds  ;  and  also,  that  immediately  on  coming  within  the  bounds  of  any 
Presbytery,  he  apply  to  tlieir  committee  to  judge  of  his  certificate  of  ap- 
probation, and,  if  they  think  it  expedient,  to  make  him  appointments;  or, 
if  it  shall  be  more  convenient,  the  application  may  be  made  to  the  Pres- 
bytery in  the  first  instance  ;  but  it  shall  be  deemed  irregular  for  any  for- 
eign minister  or  licentiate  to  preach  in  any  vacant  church  till  he  have 
obtained  the  approbation  of  some  Presbytery  or  committee  of  Presbytery, 
in  manner  aforesaid. 

The  Presbytery  to  which  such  minister  or  licentiate  may  apply,  shall 
carefully  examine  his  credentials,  and  not  sustain  a  mere  certificate  of 
good  standing,  unless  corroborated  by  such  private  letters,  or  other  col- 
lateral testimony,  as  shall  fully  satisfy  them  as  to  the  authenticity  and 
sufficiency  of  his  testimonials.  After  inspecting  any  evidences  of  his  lit- 
erary acquirements  which  may  be  laid  before  them,  the  Pi-esbytery  shall 
enter  into  a  free  conversation  with  him,  in  order  to  discover  his  soundness 
in  the  faith  and  experimental  acquaintance  with  religion.  If  they  shall 
obtain  satisfaction  on  these  several  articles,  they  shall  proceed  to  examine 
him  on  the  learned  languages,  the  arts,  sciences,  theology,  church  history 
and  government ;  nor  shall  th^y  receive  him,  unless  he  shall  appear  to 
have  made  such  attainments  in  these  several  branches  as  are  required  of 
those  who  receive  their  education  or  pass  their  trials  among  ourselves. 
But  if,  upon  the  whole,  he  appears  to  be  a  person  worthy  of  encourage- 
ment, and  who  promises  usefulness  in  the  Church,  they  shall  receive  him 
as  a  minister  or  candidate  on  probation,  he  first  adopting  our  standards  of 
doctrine  and  discipline,  and  promising  subjection  to  the  Presbytery  in  the 
Lord.  During  this  state  of  probation  he  may  preach  the  gospel  where 
regularly  called,  either  as  a  stated  or  occasional  supply ;  and  if  an  or- 
dained minister,  perform  every  part  of  the  ministerial  functions,  except 
that  he  may  not  vote  in  any  judicatory,  or  accept  a  call  for  settlement. 

If  the  foreigner  who  shall  apply  to  any  Presbytery  or  committee,  as 


156  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

aforesaid,  be  an  ordained  minister,  such  committee  and  Presbytery  may, 
at  their  discretion,  dispense  with  the  special  examination  on  literature  in 
this  act  prescribed,  provided  he  shall  exhibit  satisfactory  evidence  that 
he  has  received  such  education,  and  made  such  progress  in  languages, 
arts,  and  sciences,  as  are  required  by  the  constitution  of  our  Church  as 
qualifications  for  the  gospel  ministry.  But  in  all  other  respects,  the  ex- 
amination shall  be  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  a  licentiate. 

If  from  prospects  of  settlement,  or  greater  usefulness,  a  minister  or  li- 
centiate under  probation  in  any  Presbytery,  shall  wish  to  move  into  the 
bounds  of  another,  he  shall  receive  a  dismission,  containing  a  certificate 
of  his  standing  and  character,  from  the  Presbytery  under  whose  care  he 
shall  have  been ;  which  certificate  shall  entitle  him  to  the  same  standing 
in  the  Presbytery  into  whose  bounds  he  shall  come,  except  that  from  the 
time  of  his  coming  under  the  care  of  this  latter  Presbytery,  a  whole  year 
shall  elapse  before  they  come  to  a  final  judgment  respecting  his  reception. 

When  any  foreign  minister  or  licentiate,  received  on  certificate,  or 
pursuant  to  trials  in  any  Presbytery,  shall  have  resided  generally  and 
preached  within  their  bounds  and  under  their  direction,  for  at  least  one 
year,  they  shall  cause  him  to  preach  before  them  (if  they  judge  it  expe- 
dient), and  taking  into  consideration,  as  well  the  evidence  derived  from 
their  former  trials  as  that  which  may  arise  from  his  acceptance  in  the 
churches,  his  prudence,  gravity,  and  godly  conversation,  and  from  the 
combined  evidence  of  the  whole,  determine  either  to  receive  him,  to  reject 
him,  or  to  hold  him  under  further  probation.  In  case  of  receiving  him 
at  that,  or  any  subsequent  period,  the  Presbytery  shall  report  the  same 
to  their  Synod  at  its  next  meeting,  together  with  all  the  certificates  and 
other  testimony  on  which  they  received  them ;  or,  if  it  shall  be  more  con- 
venient, this  report  may  be  made  to  the  General  Assembly.  The  said 
Assembly  or  Synod,  as  the  case  may  be,  shall  then  inquire  into  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Presbytery  in  the  affair,  and  if  they  find  them  to  have 
been  irregular  or  deficient,  they  shall  recommit  them  to  the  Presbytery, 
in  order  to  a  more  regular  and  perfect  process.  But  if  the  proceedings 
had  in  the  Presbytery  appear  to  have  been  conformable  to  this  regulation, 
they  shall  carefully  examine  all  the  papers  laid  before  them  by  the  Pres- 
bytery, or  which  shall  be  exhibited  by  the  party  concerned,  and  consider- 
ing their  credibility  and  sufficiency,  come  to  a  final  judgment,  either  to 
receive  him  into  the  Presbyterian  body,  agreeably  to  his  standing,  or  to 
reject  him. 

In  order,  however,  to  facilitate  the  settlement  of  foreign  ministers  as 
soon  as  may  consist  witli  the  purity  and  order  of  the  Church,  it  is  further 
ordained,  that  if  the  proper  Synod  or  the  General  Assembly  are  not  to 
meet  within  three  months  after  that  meeting  of  a  Presbytery  at  which  a 
foreign  minister  on  probation  is  expected  to  be  received,  the  Presbytery 
may,  if  they  see  cause,  lay  his  testimonials  before  the  meeting  of  the 
Assembly  or  Synod  which  shall  be  hchl  next  before  said  meeting  of  the 
Presbytery.  If  this  Assembly  or  Synod  shall  approve  the  testimonials, 
they  shall  give  the  Presbytery  such  information  and  direction  as  the  case 
may  require,  and  remit  the  same  to  them  for  final  issue.  In  all  other 
cases,  it  shall  be  deemed  irregular  for  any  Synod  or  General  Assembly  to 
receive  a  foreign  minister  or  licentiate,  until  he  shall  have  passed  his 
period  of  probation,  and  been  received  and  reported  by  some  Presbytery, 
in  manner  aforesaid. 

No  minister  or  licentiate,  after  being  rejected  by  one  Presbytery,  shall 
be  received  by  another,  or  if  received  through  mistake  or  otherwise,  he 
shall  be  no  longer  countenanced  or  employed,  after  the  imposition  is  dis- 


OF   THE    PRESBYTERY.  157 

covered.  If,  llo^Yever,  any  minister  or  licentiate  shall  tliink  himself  ag- 
grieved by  the  sentence  of  any  Presbytery,  he  shall  have  a  right  to  carry 
the  matter  by  complaint  to  the  proper  Synod,  or  to  the  next  General 
Assembly,  giving  notice  thereof  to  the  Presbytery  during  the  meeting  at 
whicli  the  sentence  was  pronounced,  or  at  the  meeting  next  following. 

These  regulations  and  provisions  relative  to  the  reception  of  foreign 
ministers  and  licentiates,  are  to  be  considered  as  coming  in  place  of  all 
that  have  heretofore  been  established  on  this  subject;  and  all  judicatories 
and  individuals  under  the  care  of  the  Assembly  are  to  regard  them  ac- 
cordingly.—1800,  pp.  200-202. 

27.  The  Rule  Enforced. 

a.  The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
Albany,  recommend  that  they  be  approved,  "excepting  the  case  of  re- 
ceiving a  foreign  licentiate,  by  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Lawrence,  without 
laying  their  proceedings  in  the  case  before  the  Synod,  or  General  Assem- 
bly."—1822,  p.  38. 

b.  Papers  touching  the  reception  of  the  Rev.  William  Wiudle,  a  for- 
eign minister,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

These  were  remitted  to  that  Presbytery,  inasmuch  as  no  record  of  its 
proceedings  in  the  case  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Committee, 
by  which  they  might  ascertain  how  far  the  Presbytery  has  complied  with 
the  order  of  the  Assembly,  in  such  cases  made  and  provided. — 1852,  p. 
221,  O.  S. 

c.  Overture  No.  4,  was  taken  up,  viz. :  An  application  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Watertown,  for  leave  to  receive  Mr.  William  Lockhead,  a  foreign 
licentiate,  who,  after  being  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cham- 
plain  for  five  months,  had  been  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Watertown, 
and  had  been  under  the  care  of  the  latter  Presbytery  since  the  9th  of 
February  last.  The  Presbytery  of  Watertown  requests,  that  the  Assem- 
bly will  allow  them  to  take  into  the  account,  for  the  term  of  trial,  the 
time  which  JNIr.  Lockhead  spent  on  trials  in  the  Presbytery  of  Chara- 
plain.  On  this  request  the  Assembly  resolved,  that  the  standing  rule 
which  requires  that  tlie  foreign  licentiate  must  spend  a  year  in  the  Pres- 
bytery to  which  he  is  dismissed,  be  not  dispensed  with. — 1830,  p.  299. 

[See  a  similar  case,  1858,  p.  273,  O.  S.] 

28.  Rule  applies  to  one  Seeking  to  be  Restored. 

A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville,  of  the  case  of  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Boyd,  who  having  retired  in  good  standing  from  the  Presby- 
terian ministry  in  Ireland  in  1842,  on  account  of  a  change  in  his  views  of 
Infant  Baptism,  now  seeks  a  restoration  to  the  exercise  of  the  ministry 
among  us,  inasmuch  as  he  adopts  again,  with  full  conviction,  the  whole 
Confession  of  our  Faith. 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville  be 
instructed  to  proceed  according  to  the  rule  relating  to  foreign  ministers, 
tlie  probation  of  one  year  commencing  at  the  time  of  their  next  stated 
meeting.     The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1849,  p.  239,  O.  S. 

29.  Privilege  Lost  by  a  Return  to  Europe. 

An  application  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  for  advice  and 
direction  in  the  case  of  Rev.  James  T.  Irvine.  The  facts  of  the  case  are 
these : 

In  the  year  1825,  Mr.  Irvine  was  received  as  a  foreign  licentiate  on  pro- 


158  FORM   OF   GOVEENMENT. 

bation  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia ;  after  the  term  of  probation 
had  expired,  he  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Huntingdon,  and  by 
that  Presbytery  ordained  and  installed  in  one  of  their  churches.  In  the 
year  1834,  he  returned  to  Ireland,  where  he  became  the  pastor  of  a  church, 
and  remained  until  the  present  year. 

The  question  to  which  the  Presbytery  wish  an  answer  from  the  General 
Assembly  is. 

Does  Mr.  Irvine  come  under  the  denomination  of  a  foreign  minister, 
and  is  he  subject  to  the  rules  in  such  cases  provided  ?  And  if  he  be  liable 
to  the  usual  probation,  may  his  probation  be  considered  as  commencing 
from  the  time  in  which  he  has  made  his  present  application  to  Presbytery, 
viz.,  from  the  4th  of  April,  1848  ? 

The  Committee  recommend  that  both  questions  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1848,  p.  22,  O.  S. 

30.  The  Rule  Applies  to  Canada. 

An  overture  from  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Michigan,  asking 
if  the  rule  of  the  General  Assembly  in  relation  to  foreign  ministers  com- 
ing from  Europe,  should  apply  to  ministers  coming  from  Canada : 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  Assembly  answer  in  the  affirma- 
tive ;  excepting  only  when  such  ministers  have  been  ordained  in  the  United 
States,  and  by  any  Presbytery  of  our  communion.  The  recommendation 
was  adopted.— 1849,  p.  256,  6.  S. 

The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  reported  a  request  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Miami,  to  receive  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Gourlay,  a  foreign  minis- 
ter, as  a  member  of  that  body.  The  Committee  find  that  the  said  Rev.  J. 
X(.  Gourlay  furnished  testimonials  as  being  in  good  standing  in  the  Can- 
ada Presbyterian  Church,  was  duly  examined  by  the  Presbytery  of  INIiami, 
and  has  served  as  a  probationer  under  the  care  of  that  body  for  one  year, 
in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1800.  See 
Baird's  Digest,  pp.  259,  260. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee,  the  request  was  granted. — 
1870,  p.  30. 

31.  An  Exceptional  Case. 

The  Rev.  J.  Gillespie  offered  a  paper,  stating  that  the  Rev.  Samuel  H. 
Thompson,  who  received  his  theological  education  at  Princeton  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  and  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  but 
has  since  been  in  connection  with  a  Presbytery  in  Ireland,  from  which  he 
has  brought  a  regular  certificate,  now  holds  a  call  to  a  church  in  the 
Presbytery  of  Ohio  ;  whereupon  it  was  Besolved,  That  in  the  special  cir- 
cumstances of  this  case,  Mr.  Thompson  be  recognized  as  a  minister  in 
regular  standing  in  our  Church. — 1869,  p.  1155,  O.  S. 

32.  Relaxation  of  the  Rules  Refused. 

The  Committee  further  report  an  application,  from  the  Fourth  Presby- 
tery of  New  York,  for  such  a  modification  of  the  rules  in  the  Digest,  as 
will  facilitate  the  reception  of  ministers  from  foreign  bodies,  with  whom 
we  are  upon  terms  of  fraternal  correspondence.  The  C'ommittee  can  see 
and  appreciate  the  fact,  that,  in  the  great  changes  which  have  occurred, 
bringing  the  ends  of  the  earth  near  together,  instances  of  seeming  hard- 
ship may  occur;  still  in  their  judgment  the  time  has  not  yet  come,  when 
it  is  wise  for  this  Assembly  to  introduce  the  change  in  our  ai'rangemcuts 


OF   THE    PRESBYTERY.  159 

referred  to ;  and  they  therefore  recommend  that  no  action  be  taken  by 
the  Assembly  in  the  premises. — 1855,  p.  26,  N.  S, 

33.  Waived  in  Case  of  a  Minister  from  a  Presbytery  in  Corre- 

spondence. 

The  Committee  ou  the  Polity  of  the  Church  reported  the  following 
question : 

Will  the  Committee  on  Church  Polity  consider  the  question  of  an 
amendment  to  the  standing  rules  of  the  General  Assembly,  touching  the 
reception  of  foreign  ministers,  so  as  to  except  from  the  application  of  these 
rules  ministers  coming  directly  from  well-known  charges  or  positions,  and 
bringing  satisfactory  testimonials,  where  the  Presbyteries  into  which  they 
are  to  be  received  have  previously  signified  their  approval  of  the  transfer 
from  fields  abroad  to  fields  within  their  bounds? 

The  Committee  recommend  as  an  answer  to  this  question  that  so  much 
of  the  regulations  and  provisions  relative  to  the  reception  of  foreign  min- 
isters (see  Digest,  p.  117)  as  regards  the  pi'obation  through  which  such 
ministers  must  pass,  before  the  Presbytery  come  to  a  final  judgment  of 
their  reception,  may,  at  the  option  of  any  Presbytery,  be  waived  in  those 
cases  in  which  the  transfer  is  directly  from  a  Pyesbytery  in  correspondence 
with  this  Assembly,  and  in  which  cases  the  approval  of  the  transfer  by 
such  Presbytery  has  been  previously  signified. 

The  Presbytery  receiving  such  a  minister  is  strictly  enjoined  to  make  a 
careful  record  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case. — 1869,  p.  281,  N.  S. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

34.  Rule  Repealed  as  to  Ministers  from  the  Presbsrterian  Churches 

of  Great  Britain. 

Overture  No.  11,  on  receiving  ministers  from  foreign  countries.  The 
Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following: 

Inasmuch  as  intercourse  between  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  Great 
Britain  and  our  General  Assembly  is  now  much  more  frequent  and  inti- 
mate than  in  former  years,  affording  the  opportunity  for  mutual  acquaint- 
ance, and  knowledge  of  the  character  and  standing  of  the  ministers  in  the 
difi'erent  churclies  of  both  countries;  therefore, 

liesolved,  That  the  regulation  requiring  ministers  coming  among  us 
from  the  Presbyterian  churches  of  Great  Britain,  to  submit  to  a  year's 
probation  before  maintaining  ministerial  standing,  is  no  longer  necessary, 
and  is  hereby  repealed.     Adopted. — 1872,  p.  70. 

35.  Jurisdiction  of  Members  Non-Resident. 
Sae  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  v.,  sees,  iii.,  iv.,  and  chap,  x.,  sec.  ii. 

36.  A  Presbytery  may  not  Restore  one  Deposed  by  Another. 

Also,  Overture  No.  19,  being  a  memorial  of  the  Rev.  George  D.  Stew- 
art and  others,  that  the  General  Assembly  would  take  action  and  give 
relief  in  the  case  of  Rev.  Michael  Hummer,  who,  having  been  deposed  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Iowa,  had  b'een  restored  by  the  Presbytery  of  Highland, 
against  the  remonstrance  of  the  Presbytery  of  Iowa,  just  as  if  he  was  an 
independent  minister. 

It  is  recommended  that  this  General  Assembly  declare  that  it  is  irregu- 
lar and  unconstitutional  for  any  Presbytery  to  receive  and  restore  a  mem- 
ber of  another  Presbytery  who  has  been  deposed ;  and  therefore  the  action 


160  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

of  the  Presbytery  of  Highland  in  restoring  Mr.  Hummer  was  improper; 

and  the  Presbytery  of  Highland  is  directed  to  reconsider  its  action,  and 
proceed  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  constitution. 
The  report  was  adopted. — 1862,  p.  608,  O.  S. 

37.  One  -who  has  -witlidra-wn  can  be  Restored  only  by  the  Presby- 

tery from  -which  he  ■withdrew. 

Mr.  David  Austin,  who  had  been  formerly  a  member  of  the  Pi'esbytery 
of  New  York,  and  had  withdrawn  from  the  Presbytery  and  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  appeared  before  the  Assembly  and  renewed  his  request  of 
last  year  to  be  again  received  into  ministerial  communion  and  regular 
standing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  Austin,  having  been  fully 
heard  in  support  of  his  petition,  withdrew ;  when  the  Assembly,  after  ma- 
turely considering  the  case. 

Resolved,  That  as  it  would  be  disorderly  for  this  Assembly  to  restore 
Mr.  Austin  to  his  standing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  form  in 
which  it  is  sought  by  him,  inasmuch  as  he  withdrew  from  the  Presbytery 
of  New  York,  against  wliom  he  makes  no  complaint,  and  to  whom,  of 
course,  he  ought  to  apply,  so  this  Assembly,  in  the  course  of  the  discussion 
had  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Austin's  application,  have  had  before  them 
sufficient  evidence  that  it  is  inexpedient  at  present  to  recommend  his  re- 
ception by  any  judicature  of  this  Church.  Yet  the  Assembly  are  willing 
to  hope  that  the  time  may  come  when  the  restoration  of  Mr.  Austin  to 
his  former  standing  may  take  place  to  his  own  satisfaction  and  the  edifi- 
cation of  the  Church.— 1802,  p.  238. 

38.  A    Minister   neither    Suspended    nor   Dismissed    may    not   be 

Stricken  from  the  Roll. 

[In  1830  the  Rev.  Theodore  Clapp,  having  adopted  a  system  of  doc- 
trine at  variance  with  the  Confession  of  Faith,  communicated  the  fact  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  requested  a 
dismission  to  join  the  Hampshire  County  Association  of  Congregational 
Ministers  of  INlassachusetts.  Hereupon  the  Presbytery  adopted  a  series  of 
resolutions  refusing  the  dismission,  but  declaring  that  "the  Rev.  Theo- 
dore Clapp  is  no  longer  either  a  member  of  this  body  or  a  minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church."  The  whole  business  came  before  the  Assembly 
upon  a  complaint  of  a  minority  of  the  session  of  the  First  Church,  in  New 
Orleans,  with  consent  of  the  Presbytery  carried  up  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly.— Baird.'] 

Resolved,  That  since  the  Rev.  Theodore  Clapp  has  neither  been  dis- 
missed nor  suspended  by  the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi,  he  ought  to  be 
regarded  as  a  member  of  that  body,  and  that  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assem- 
bly they  have  sufficient  reasons  for  proceeding  to  try  him  upon  the  charge 
of  error  in  doctrine. — 1831,  p.  340. 

39.  The  Name  of  one  Suspended  is  to  Remam  upon  the  Roll. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Northern  Indiana  approved  except  that 
on  page  54,  the  Synod  censure  the  Presbytery  of  Michigan  for  retaining 
the  name  of  Mr.  Nicoll  on  the  roll  after  suspending  him  from  the  gospel 
ministry.  Your  Committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  name  of  a  sus- 
pended minister  should  be  retained  on  the  roll  of  Presbytery  till  they 
proceed  to  the  higher  censure,  though  he  be  deprived  of  the  exercise  of 
his  ministerial  functions. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1847,  p.  398,  O.  S. 


OF   THE   PEESBYTERY.  161 

40.  Deposition  does  not  Necessarily  Infer  also  Excommunication 

— "When  both  are  Intended,  it  should  be  so  Expressed. 

a.  The  Coininittee  to  which  was  referred  the  consideration  of  a  report 
made  by  the  committee  which  had  been  appointed  to  examine  the  records 
of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  reported,  and  their  report  being  read,  was  adopted, 
and  is  as  follows,  viz. :  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  be  approved  to  page 
45,  with  the  exception  of  a  resolution  in  page  28,  which  declares  that  a 
deposed  minister  ought  to  be  treated  as  an  excommunicated  person.  In 
the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  the  deposition  and  excommunication  of  a 
minister  are  distinct  tilings,  not  necessarily  connected  with  each  other, 
but  when  connected  ought  to  be  inflicted  by  the  Presbytery  to  whom  the 
power  of  judging  and  censuring  ministers  properly  belongs.— 1814,  p.  549. 

b.  Overture  No.  20.  A  question  submitted  by  John  Warnock  of  Ala- 
bama, "Does  deposition  from  the  ministry  exclude  from  church  privi- 
leges?" The  Committee  recommended  the  following '  resolution,  which 
was  adopted,  viz.: 

Resolved,  That  though  the  causes  which  provoke  deposition  are  almost 
always  such  as  to  involve  the  propriety  of  exclusion  from  the  sacraments, 
yet  the  two  sentences  are  not  essentially  the  same,  the  one  having  refer- 
ence to  ofiice  and  the  other  to  the  rights  of  membership,  and  therefore. 
Presbyteries  should  be  explicit  in  stating  both  when  they  mean  both. 
When,  however,  a  Presbytery  interpret  deposition  to  involve  suspension 
from  the  sacraments,  and  pronounce  the  censure  in  that  sense,  the  sentence 
obviously  includes  both. — 1848,  p.  34,  O.  S. 

41.  The  Name  of  a  Deposed  Minister  to  be  Published  in  case  h© 

does  not  Cease  from  Ministerial  Functions. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of 
the  General  Assembly  when  they  shall  depose  any  of  their  members  from 
the  exercise  of  the  ministerial  office,  and  when  any  person  so  deposed  shall^ 
without  having  been  regularly  restored,  assume  the  ministerial  character, 
or  attempt  to  exercise  any  of  the  ministerial  functions,  that  in  such  case, 
with  a  view  to  prevent  such  deposed  person  from  imposing  himself  on  the 
churches,  Presbyteries  be  careful  to  have  his  name  published  in  the  As- 
sembly's magazine  as  deposed  from  the  ministry,  that  all  the  churches 
may  be  enabled  to  guard  themselves  against  such  dangerous  impositions, 
—1806,  p.  360. 

42.  MISCELLANEOUS  QUESTIONS  PERTAINING  TO  MINISTERS. 
1.  Ministers  who  "Withdraw  from  the  "Work  of  the  Ministry. 

a.  Inasmuch  as  Mr.  Stevenson  has  from  time  to  time  and  for  years  past 
neglected  attending  on  our  judicatures,  and  also  omitted  his  ministry  with- 
out giving  us  any  reasons  ibr  his  said  conduct,  it  is  therefore  agreed  that 
his  name  shall  be  struck  out  of  our  recoi'ds  till  he  come  before  us  and 
give  an  account  of  his  proceedings. — 1741,  p.  156. 

h.  If  Persistent,  to  he  Regularly  Excluded  or  Deposed. 

That  if  any  minister  of  the  gospel,  through  a  worldly  spirit,  a  disrelish 
for  the  duties  of  his  office,  or  any  other  criminal  motive,  become  negligent 
or  careless,  he  is  by  no  meiins  to  be  suffered  to  pui-sue  this  course  so  as  at 
length  to  be  permitted  to  lay  aside  the  ministry  without  censure,  because 
this  would  be  to  encourage  a  disregard  of  the  most  solemn  obligations  by 
opening  a  way  to  escape  from  them  with  impunity. 
21 


162  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

But  in  all  such  cases  Presbyteries  are  seasonably  to  use  the  means  and 
pursue  the  methods  pointed  out  in  the  word  of  God  and  the  rules  of  this 
Church  to  recall  their  offending  brother  to  a  sense  of  duty;  and  if  all  their 
endeavors  be  ineffectual,  they  are  at  length  regularly  to  exclude  or  depose 
him  from  his  office. 

If  any  cases  or  questions  relative  to  this  subject  arise  in  Presbyteries 
which  are  not  contemplated  by  the  provisions  of  this  rule,  such  cases  or 
questions  should  be  referred  to  the  General  Assembly  for  a  special  decis- 
ion.—1802,  p.  259. 

c.  Presbyteries  to  Inspect  the  Fidelity  of  their  Mennhers. 

The  constitutional  remedy  for  these  evils  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Pres- 
bytery, to  whom  it  belongs  to  ordain,  install,  remove  and  judge  ministers 
(See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.);  and  whose  duty  it  is  to  in- 
spect the  fidelity  of  those  whom  they  have  solemnly  set  apart  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry  by  the  imposition  of  hands. — 1834,  p.  450. 

d.  Reasons  to  he  Required  and  Recorded,  with  Approval  or  Disapproval. 

That  when  ministers  have  withdrawn,  or  may  hereafter  withdraw^  from 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  wholly  or  in  part,  it  be  enjoined  upon  the  Pres- 
byteries to  which  they  belong  to  require  of  such  ministers  their  reasons  for 
so  doing,  which  reasons  are  to  be  put  upon  record  by  the  Presbytery,  with 
.an  expression  of  their  approbation  or  disapprobation  of  the  same. — 1834, 
p.  450. 

e.   To  he  called  to  Account  and  Dealt  with. 

That  those  ministers  who  give  up  the  regular  and  stated  work  of  the 
gospel  ministry  as  their  main  work,  except  it  be  for  reasons  satisfactory  to 
their  Presbyteries,  should  be  called  to  an  account  by  the  Presbyteries  to 
which  they  belong,  and  dealt  with  according  to  the  merits  of  their  re- 
spective cases.  And  the  justifiable  cause  for  which  any  minister  gives  up 
his  work  should  be  stated  on  the  minutes  of  his  Presbytery  at  the  time, 
with  the  approval  of  the  body. 

/.  That  all  our  Presbyteries  be  directed,  at  their  first  stated  meeting 
after  the  rising  of  this  Assembly,  to  require  such  ministers  in  tluir  bounds 
as  are  not  regularly  engaged  in  their  covenanted  work,  as  their  chief  busi- 
ness, to  give  an  account  of  themselves;  and  the  Presbyteries  shall  take 
such  order  in  the  premises  as  is  consistent  with  this  minute,  and  report 
their  doings  specially  to  their  respective  Svnods,  and  to  tlie  next  Assem- 
bly.—1842,  p.  28,  O.'S. 

g.   Compliance  with  the  Rule  of  1834  Enforced. 

1.  That  the  attention  of  the  Synods  be  called  to  the  rule  adopted  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  1834.     (Minutes,  page  450.     See  d,  above.) 

2.  That  the  Synods  be  required  at  their  next  regular  meeting  to  obtain 
replies  from  their  several  Presbyteries  to  the  two  following  cpic^tions, 
namely: 

(1.)  Whether  the  above  recited  rule  of  the  Assembly  of  1834  has  been 
observed  by  the  Presbytery. 

(2.)  Whether  proper  discipline  has  been  exerci-ed,  in  cases  where  the 
reasons  for  withdrawal  from  ministerial  duty  have  been  disapproved  hy 
the  Presbytery;  and  also  in  cases  of  habitual  absence  from  the  meetings 
of  the  Presbytery  without  the  rendering  of  sufficient  excuse. 

The  rejwrt  was  adopted. — 1869,  p.  263,  N.  S. 


OF   THE   PRESBYTERY.  163 

h.  From  the  Presbytery  of  EHzabethtown,  asking  the  Assembly,  "for 
the  relief  of  our  minutes,  our  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  our  ministerial 
name,  to  define  whether  a  minister  who  turns  aside  from  his  calling,  not 
from  bad  health  or  moral  delinquency,  to  some  secular  employment, 
should  demit  the  sacred  office,  or  be  denied  the  full  immunities  of  the 
Presbytery." 

Reaolved,  1st.  That  the  former  deliverances  of  the  Assembly  on  that 
subject,  to  wit,  in  the  years  1802, 1834  and  1839  (see  6,  d),  are  sufficient. 

Resolved,  2nd.  That  the  Presbyteries  be  enjoined  to  execute  the  rule  of 
the  Assembly  of  1834,  as  to  any  members  "who  have  withdrawn  in  whole 
or  in  part,  without  justifiable  cause,  from  the  work  of  the  ministry." — 1869, 
pp.  935,  936,  O.  S. 

2.  "When  Providentially  Incapacitated,  Ministerial  Privileg-es  Re- 

main. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  a  principle  of  this  Church  that  no  minister  of  the 
gospel  can  be  regularly  divested  of  his  office  except  by  a  course  of  disci- 
jdine,  terminating  in  his  deposition  ;  that  if  any  minister,  by  providential 
circumstances,  become  incapable  of  exercising  liis  ministerial  functions,  or 
is  called  to  suspend  them,  or  to  exercise  them  only  occasionally,  he  is  still 
to  be  considered  as  possessing  the  ministerial  character  and  privileges; 
and  his  brethren  of  the  Presbytery  are  to  inspect  his  conduct;  and  while 
they  treat  him  with  all  due  tenderness  and  sympathy,  they  are  to  be  care- 
ful that  he  do  not  neglect  ministerial  duty  beyond  what  his  circumstances 
render  unavoidable. — 1802,  p.  258. 

3.  Rights  of  Ministers  -without  Charge  to  a  Seat  in  Church  Courts. 

a.  The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  overture  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Baltimore,  in  the  following  words,  viz.,  "Are  ministers  without 
charges  constituent  members  of  our  church  judicatures,  and  have  they  an 
equal  voice  with  settled  pastors  and  ruling  elders  of  congregations  in  ec- 
clesiastical governments  ?"  reported,  and  their  report  being  read  and 
amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

In  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  this  question  is  answered  affirma- 
tively, chap,  ix.,  sec.  2,  of  the  Form  of  Government  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  these  words:  "A  Presbytery  consists  of  all  the  ministers  and 
one  ruling  elder  from  each  congregation  within  a  certain  district." — 1816, 
p.  615. 

h.  The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  9,  relative  to  the 
right  of  ministers  without  charge  to  a  seat  in  our  judicatories,  made  their 
report,  which,  after  some  discussion,  was  referred  to  a  committee  consisting 
of  Dr.  Blythe,  Dr.  Hoge,  Mr.  Montfort,  Mr.  Elliot,  and  :Mr.  A.  O.  Patter- 
son, to  take  the  subject  into  consideration,  and  report  to  the  next  General 
Assembly.— 1835,  p.  492. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  rights  of  ministers  without  charges 
to  a  seat  in  the  judicatories  of  the  Church,  was  taken  uj),  and  indefinitely 
postponed. — 1836,  p.  294. 

c.   Overture  in  Relation  to  the  Right  of  Miniders  not  engaged  in  the  Minis- 
terial Work  to  sit  in  Church  Courts. 

According  to  the  constitution  of  our  Church,  ministers,  as  such,  whether 
with  or  without  charge,  are  of  equal  power  and  privilege.  If  the  defection 
of  any  minister  from  the  duties  implied  in  his  ordination  vows  is  serious 
enough  to  disfranchise  him,  it  is  sufficiently  serious  to  call  for  the  orderly 
exercise  of  discipline.     The  remedy,  therefore,  for  the  evil  complained 


164  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

of  lies  with  the  Presbyteries,  and  cannot  be  reached  by  any  action  of 
the  Assembly.  Touching  the  alleged  inequality  between  the  ministers 
and  the  elders  in  our  judicatories,  it  need  only  be  remarked  that  the 
number  of  vacant  churches  in  a  growing  land  like  this  greatly  exceeds 
the  number  of  unemployed  ministers,  and  in  the  Church  at  large  the 
elders  could  at  any  time  obtain  a  large  majority,  if  disposed  so  to  do. 
Apprehending  no  danger  in  this  direction,  and  recognizing  no  antagonism 
between  the  teaching  and  the  ruling  elders  in  the  Church,  this  Assembly 
sees  no  reason  for  special  action  in  the  case,  leaving  the  Presbyteries  in  our 
large  cities,  where  ministers  without  charge  are  prone  to  collect,  to  deal 
with  them  in  an  orderly  manner  as  their  wisdom  may  suggest. — 1859,  p. 
533,  0.  S. 

4.  May  a  Minister  hold  a  Civil  OflQce? 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  communication  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Ohio  respecting  the  Rev.  Boyd  Mercer  and  his  letter  to  the 
moderator  of  the  Assembly,  exhibited  their  report. 

The  report,  having  been  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz.: 

With  respect  to  the  abstract  question,  whether  the  tenure  of  a  civil 
office  be  or  be  not  incompatible  with  that  of  the  holy  ministry,  the  Assem- 
bly is  of  opinion  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  or  in  the  Con- 
stitution, acts  or  proceedings  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United 
hftates,  expressly  prohibitory  of  such  union  of  offices. 

With  respect  to  the  particular  case  referred  to  their  consideration,  as 
]Mr.  Mercer  in  his  letter  expressly  asserts  that  it  is  not  his  intention  to 
decline  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry,  and  that  he  was  led  to  devote  him- 
self for  the  present  to  the  functions  of  an  associate  judge  by  a  state  of 
health  so  infirm  as  to  interrupt  the  regular  discharge  of  his  public  duties 
as  a  minister  of  religion,  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  Presby- 
tery of  Ohio  ought  not  to  censure  him  unless  there  be  some  circumstances 
in  the  case  unknown  to  the  Assembly. 

That  none,  however,  may  so  far  misconstrue  these  sentiments  as  to  per- 
suade themselves  that  they  countenance  a  covetous,  ambitious  spirit,  your 
committee  further  beg  leave  to  suggest  the  propriety  of  cautioning  your 
clergy  against  worldly-mindedness;  of  exhorting  them  not  to  aspire  after 
places  of  emolument  or  civil  distinction;  of  reminding  them  that  the  cure 
of  souls  is  their  peculiar  business,  and  that  they  who  serve  at  the  altar 
ought,  as  far  as  possible,  to  avoid  temporal  avocations. — 1806,  p.  363. 
Reaffirmed.— 1808,  p.  399. 

6.  He  may  hold  the  Office  of  Chaplain  in  the  Army  or  Navy. 

a.  Application  was  made  to  Bynod  by  Mr.  Beatty,  desiring  to  know 
their  mind  with  respect  to  his  going  as  chaplain  to  the  forces  that  may  be 
raised  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  if  he  shall  by  the  Government  be 
called  to  that  service.  The  Synod  do  judge  it  to  be  his  duty. — 1756,  \), 
275. 

b.  Application  having  been  made  to  Mr.  Beatty  by  Colonel  Armstrong 
to  serve  as  chaplain  to  the  first  battalion  of  the  Pennsylvania  Provincials 
for  the  ensuing  campaign,  he  requested  the  advice  and  judgment  of  this 
Synod  with  respect  to  his  duty  therein.  The  Synod  do  unanimously 
agree  that  it  is  his  duty  to  go. — 1758,  j:*.  282. 

c.  'Tis  allowed  tliat  Messrs.  Alexander  McDowel  and  Hector  Allison 
go  as  chaplains  to  the  Pennsylvania  forces,  and  that  ]\[r.  Kirkpatrick  go 
with  the  New  Jersey  forces,  the  ensuing  campaign. — 1760,  p.  3U2. 


OF  THE  PRESBYTERY.  165 

d.  The  First  Philadelphia  Presbytery  report  that  they  have  ordained 
Mr.  Israel  Evans  and  Mr.  William  Lynn  to  qualify  them  to  act  as  chap- 
lains in  the  army  to  which  they  had  been  appointed. — 1776,  p.  472. 

e.  Also  ordained  Mr.  Robert  Keith  to  qualify  him  to  act  as  a  chaplain 
in  the  army. — 1777,  p.  477. 

/.  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  on  the  propriety  of 
their  ordaining  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry  a  licentiate  under  their 
care  who  now  holds  the  office  of  a  chaplain  in  the  navy  of  the  United 
States  was  considered,  Avhereupon  the  Assembly  resolved, 

That  this  judicature  of  the  Pi'esbyterian  Church  feels  a  deep  and  lively 
interest  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  mariners  of  this  country,  and  espe- 
cially of  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  naval  service  of  our  Union ;  and 
that  the  Assembly  therefore  will  rejoice  if  any  Presbytery  under  its  care 
has  the  opportunity  of  ordaining  any  well-qualified  persons,  men  of  piety 
and  learning,  with  a  view  to  their  rendering  permanent  ministerial  ser- 
vices to  large  congregations  of  our  fellow-citizens  who  dwell  in  ships-of- 
war.— 1826,  p.  171. 

6.  Demission  of  the  Ministry. 

a.  There  being  from  time  to  time  complaints  of  the  weakness  and  defi- 
ciency of  Mr.  Robert  Laing,  rendering  his  exercise  of  the  ministerial 
function  a  detriment  to  the  interest  of  religion,  and  rather  a  scandal  than 
an  help  to  the  gospel,  the  Synod  advised  him  to  demit  the  whole  exercise 
of  the  ministry,  and  not  to  take  it  up  again  but  by  the  approbation  of  at 
least  three  ministers  of  the  Presbytery  wherein  he  may  reside ;  the  said 
Mr.  Laing  did  quietly  and  humbly  acquiesce  in  the  aforesaid  advice. — 1726, 
p.  84. 

h.  The  Presbytery  of  New  York  report  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  William  Wood- 
hull,  one  of  their  members,  appeared  before  them  at  their  last  meeting, 
and  stated  to  them  his  situation,  as  being  still  incapable  of  exercising 
his  ministry  by  his  continued  indisposition,  and  the  little,  or  rather  no, 
probability  of  his  ever  being  able  to  attempt  the  exercise  of  it  in  future, 
and  that  he  was  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  certain  secular  eraplov- 
inents  that  would  seem  to  render  it  improper  to  have  his  name  in  their 
records  as  a  member,  while  he  is  incapable  of  attending  their  meetings,  or 
discharging  any  of  the  great  duties  of  his  ministry,  and  therefore  submits 
to  them  the  propriety  of  their  continuing  and  considering  him  as  a  member 
from  time  to  time ;  and  that  the  Presbytery,  on  considering  his  situation, 
thought  it  best  to  leave  his  name  out  of  their  records  in  future,  till  he 
shall  be  able  to  return  to  the  exercise  of  his  ministry,  an  event  that  would 
give  them  great  pleasure. 

The  Synod  considered  the  above  report,  and  are  of  opinion  that  ]\Ir. 
Woodhuli  ought  to  be  continued  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
and  therefore  direct  that  Presbytery  to  insert  his  name  in  their  roll. — 
1783,  p.  497. 

c.  In  consequence  of  Mr.  Joseph  Montgomery's  having  informed  them 
[the  New  Castle  Presbytery]  that  through  bodily  indisposition  he  was 
incapable  of  officiating  in  the  ministry,  and  liaving  also  accepted  an  office 
under  the  civil  authority,  they  have  left  his  name  out  of  their  records. 

The  Synod  disapprove  of  the  conduct  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Cilstle, 
in  striking  the  name  of  I\Ir.  Montgomery  oft'  their  roll  for  the  reasons  given 
in  their  report;  neither  of  which,  nor  both  together,  seem  to  be  sufficient ; 
and  in  future  recommend  to  all  Presbyteries,  when  any  ministers  under 
their  inspection  resign  their  charge,  or  discontinue  the  exercise  of  their 


166  FORM  or   GOVERNMENT. 

office  while  they  remain  in  the  same  bounds,  to  pass  a  regular  judgment 
on  the  reasons  given  for  such  conduct ;  and  continue  their  inspection  of 
those  who  shall  not  have  deserved  to  be  deprived  of  the  ministerial  charac- 
ter, though  they  may  be  laid  aside  from  immediate  usefulness. — 1785,  pp. 
507,  510. 

d.  By  a  report  from  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes,  it  appeared  that  a  min- 
ister, heretofore  a  member  of  that  Pi'esbytery,  had  been  declared  to  be  no 
longer  a  member  thereof;  and,  as  the  Assembly  were  informed,  is  considered 
by  them  as  divested  of  the  ministeral  office,  and  this  without  deposition, 
suspension,  or  censure ;  wherefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  is  a  principle  of  this  Church  that  no  minister  of  the 
gospel  can  be  regularly  divested  of  his  office  except  by  a  course  of  discipline, 
terminating  in  his  deposition.  That  if  any  minister,  by  providential  cir- 
cumstances, become  incapable  of  exercising  his  ministerial  functions,  or  is 
called  to  suspend  them,  or  to  exercise  them  only  occasionally,  he  is  still  to 
be  considered  as  possessing  the  ministerial  character  and  privileges  ;  and 
his  brethren  of  the  Presbytery  are  to  inspect  his  conduct;  and  while  they 
treat  him  with  due  tenderness  and  sympathy,  they  are  to  be  careful  that 
he  do  not  neglect  his  ministerial  duty,  beyond  what  his  circumstances 
render  unavoidable. — 1802,  p.  258. 

[In  1858  an  overture  was  sent  down  by  the  Assembly,  O.  S.,  proposing 
to  add  to  chap,  xv..  Form  of  Government,  three  sections  providing  for 
the  demission  of  the  ministry. — p.  299. 

[This  overture  was  rejected ;  affirmative  24  Presbyteries,  negative  84 
Presbyteries.— 1859,  p.  532.] 

e.  A  Full  Minxde  on  Demisdon  of  the  Ministry. 

The  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  special 
committee  (Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  D.  D.,  Henry  B.  Smith,  D.  D.,  and  Walter 
S.  Griffith,  Esq.)  on  the  Demission  of  the  Ministry.  After  considerable 
discussion,  the  I'eport  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred,  by  the  last  General  Assembly, 
an  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  Third,  on  the  "Volun- 
tary Demission  of  the  Ministry,"  respectfully  submit  the  following  report: 

The  Constitution  of  our  Church,  it  is  well  known,  provides  for  the  de- 
position of  the  unworthy,  by  due  process  of  discipline;  but  seems  not  to 
have  anticipated  that  any  other  class  would  require  to  be  separated  from 
the  responsibilities  of  an  office  so  high  and  so  sacred.  It  nowhere  con- 
templates the  dismission  of  the  members  of  the  church  to  the  world,  nor 
the  return  of  the  ministry,  at  their  own  instance,  to  the  mere  secularities 
of  every<lay  life. 

Such  is  the  view  that  has  been  taken  of  our  standards  from  the  be- 
ginning. Neither  the  old  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  nor 
any  of  our  General  Assemblies,  has  ventured  to  give  auy  diilercnt  inter- 
pretation. The  Assembly  of  1802,  on  the  occasion  of  the  cxerci.^e,  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Lewes,  of  the  prerogative  of  divesting  one  of  their  minis- 
ters of  his  office,  without  deposition,  suspension,  or  censure,  passed  the 
following  resolution : 

"  Itemlved,  That  it  is  a  principle  of  this  Church  that  no  minister  of  the 
gospel  can  be  regularly  divested  of  his  office  except  by  a  course  of  disci- 
pline terminating  in  his  deposition.  That  if  any  minister,  by  providential 
circumstances,  become  incapable  of  exercising  his  ministerial  functions,  or 
is  called  to  suspend  them,  or  to  exercise  them  only  occasionally,  he  is  still 
to  be  considered  as  possessing  the  ministerial  character  and  privileges; 
uud  his  brethren  of  the  Presbytery  ai-e  to  inspect  his  conduct ;  and  w  hile 


OF   THE   PRESBYTERY.  167 

they  treat  him  with  due  tenderness  and  sympathy,  they  are  to  be  careful 
that  he  do  not  neglect  his  ministerial  duties  beyond  what  his  circumstances 
render  unavoidable." 

The  office  is  to  be  retained ;  but,  for  sufficient  reason,  the  exercise  of 
the  office  may  be  discontinued  in  whole  or  in  part.  Such  was  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Synod  of  1726,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Robert  Laing,  who,  by 
reason  of  the  complaints  of  his  "weakness  and  deficiency,"  brought  against 
him,  "  rendering  his  exercise  of  the  ministerial  function  a  detriment  to  the 
interests  of  religion,  and  rather  a  scandal  than  a  help  to  the  gospel,"  "ad- 
vised him  to  demit  the  whole  exercise  of  the  ministry,  and  not  to  take  it 
up  again  but  by  the  approbation  of  at  least  three  ministers  of  the  Pres- 
bytery wherein  he  may  reside." 

Similar  was  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  of  1783,  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
William  Woodhull,  who  had  represented  to  the  Pi-esbytery  of  New  York, 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  "his  situation,  as  being  still  incapable  of  exer- 
cising his  ministry  by  his  continued  indisposition,  and  the  little,  or  rather 
no,  probability  of  his  ever  being  able  to  attempt  the  exercise  of  it  in  fu 
ture;  and  that  he  was  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  certain  secular  employ- 
ments that  would  seem  to  render  it  improper  to  have  his  name  in  their 
records  as  a  member."  The  Synod  judged,  "that  Mr.  Woodhull  ought  to 
be  continued  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York." 

Two  years  afterward,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Joseph  Montgomery,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  whose  name  had  been  dropped  from  the  roll  of 
the  Presbytery,  at  his  own  instance,  on  account  of  indisposition  of  body, 
and  the  acceptance  of  "an  office  under  the  civil  authority,"  the  Synod  ex- 
pressed their  disapprobation  of  the  measure,  and  recommended  "to  all 
Presbyteries,  when  any  ministers  under  their  inspection  resign  their  charge, 
or  discontinue  the  exercise  of  their  office  while  they  remain  in  the  same 
bounds,  to  pass  a  regular  judgment  on  the  reasons  given  for  such  conduct, 
and  continue  their  inspection  of  those  who  shall  not  have  deserved  to  be 
deprived  of  the  ministerial  character,  though  they  may  be  laid  aside  from 
immediate  usefulness." 

Thus  uniformly  has  the  doctrine  been  maintained  by  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  of  our  Church,  "  that  no  minister  of  ihe  gospel  can  be  regu- 
larly divested  of  his  office  except  by  a  course  of  discipline  terminating  iu 
his  deposition."  The  Assembly  of  1852  took  the  same  ground,  or  at  least 
refused  to  take  ground  to  the  contrary.  In  the  case  of  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Portage,  "  who,  though  chargeable  with  no  disciplinable 
ofience,  had  forsaken  the  ministry  for  ten  or  more  years,  had  regularly 
and  permanently  engaged  in  secular  employments,  had  become  a  private 
member  of  the  Church,  and  had  no  design  of  again  acting  as  a  minister 
of  the  gospel,  and  who,  on  this  ground,  had  requested  his  Presbytery  to 
strike  his  name  from  the  roll  of  members,"  the  Presbytery  took  the  po- 
sition "  that  presbyterial  law  contemplates  the  ministerial  office  as  per- 
manent, ceasing  not  but  by  death  or  deposition  ;"  yet  they  referred  the 
case  to  the  wisdom  of  the  General  Assembly.  And  the  Assembly  of  1852, 
although  the  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  recommended  "that 
the  Presbytery  be  directed  to  strike  his  name  from  the  roll,  without  im- 
plying any  censure  or  any  imputation  upon  his  Christian  character," 
refused  to  adopt  the  recommendation  ;  thereby  confirming  the  position 
taken  by  the  Presbytery,  and  conforming  their  action  to  the  uniform 
decisions  of  the  highest  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  our  Church  from  the 
beginning. 

It  is  true  that,  in  common  with  most  of  the  evangelical  denominations, 
we  maintain  that  ordination  is  but  a  ceremony — an  outwaid  sign — a  pub- 


168  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

lie  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  ordaiiiers  of  the  fitness  of  him  who  i& 
ordained  for  the  office  to  whicli  he  is  set  apart;  it  does  not  impress  a  cha- 
racter or  impart  a  fitness  not  previously  possessed.  But,  in  the  case  of  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  it  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  man  has  consecrated 
himself  to  this  high  and  holy  calling;  has,  by  irrevocable  vows,  set  him- 
self apart  from  merely  secular  pursuits  to  the  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  ministry.  From  these  vows  the  Church  has  received  no  dis- 
pensation to  release  him,  and,  therefore,  has  ever  disclaimed  the  j^ower 
and  right,  even  in  the  exercise  of  discipline. 

So  long,  therefore,  as  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  minister,  he  is  to  exercise 
his  gifts  and  graces  in  this  particular  calling.  He  is  under  covenant,  both 
to  Christ  and  to  the  Cluirch,  thus  to  serve  God.  He  may  not,  without 
breach  of  covenant,  abandon,  merely  at  his  own  instance,  the  ministerial 
for  a  secular  calling.  If  the  providence  of  God  puts  it  out  of  his  power, 
evidently  and  unmistakably,  to  pursue  his  ministerial  work,  it  becomes  his 
duty  to  bring  his  case  before  his  brethren  of  the  Presbytery,  and  submit  it  to 
their  decision.  If  any  minister  neglects  this  obvious  duty,  and  of  his  own 
accord  devotes  himself  to  secular  pursuits,  his  Presbytery  are  to  investi- 
gate the  case,  and  pass  judgment  upon  it.  Such  was  the  judgment  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1834, 

"When  ministers  have  withdrawn,"  they  say,  "or  may  hereafter  Avith- 
draw,  wholly  or  in  part,  from  the  work  of  the  ministry,  it  is  enjoined  upon 
the  Presbyteries  to  which  they  belong  to  require  of  such  ministers  their 
reasons  for  so  doing;  which  reasons  are  to  be  put  upon  record  by  the 
Presbytery,  with  an  expression  of  their  approbation  or  disapprobation  of 
the  same." 

In  like  manner,  also,  the  Assembly  of  1802,  in  order,  very  properly,  to 
guard  against  the  practical  demission  of  the  office,  determined  and  di- 
rected, "  that  if  any  minister  of  the  gospel,  through  a  worldly  spirit,  a 
disrelish  for  the  duties  of  his  office,  or  any  other  ci-iminal  motive,  becomes 
negligent  or  careless,  he  is  by  no  means  to  be  suffered  to  pursue  this  course, 
so  as  at  length  to  be  permitted  to  lay  aside  the  ministry,  without  censure; 
because  this  would  be  to  encourage  a  disregard  of  the  most  solemn  obliga- 
tions, by  opening  a  way  to  escape  from  them  with  impunity.  But,  in  all 
such  cases.  Presbyteries  are  seasonably  to  use  the  means  and  pursue  the 
methods  pointed  out  in  the  word  of  God  and  the  rules  of  this  Church,  to 
recall  their  offending  brother  to  a  sense  of  duty;  and  if  all  their  endeav- 
ors be  ineffectual,  they  are  at  length  regularly  to  exclude  or  depose  him 
from  his  ofhce." 

This  rehearsal  of  the  action  of  previous  Assemblies,  it  is  thought,  is  a 
sufficient  answer  to  the  overture,  without  entering  upon  a  discussion  of  the 
abstract  question  :  "  May  an  ecclesiastical  body,  in  any  case,  demit  from 
the  office  of  the  ministry  without  discipline  or  censure?"  We  simply  refer 
to  the  usages  of  our  own  Church,  and  urge  them  upon  the  attention  of 
our  Presbyteries.  They  are  not  to  allow  any  of  their  ministers  to  retire 
from  the  ministerial  work  of  their  own  accord  ;  but  to  require,  of  such  as 
are  desirous  to  enter  into  a  secular  calling,  their  reasons  for  such  a  course, 
which  they  are  to  put  upon  record,  approvingly  or  otherwise.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  the  age  call  loudly  upon  this  Assembly  to  reaffirm  these 
long-established  principles,  and  to  enjoin  upon  the  Presbyteries  tlie  utmost 
carefulness  in  preventing  the  secularization  of  our  niinistrv. — 18G(),  pp. 
234,  236,  N.  S.  .    .         "  .   . 

[In  the  Assembly  of  1871  an  overture  on  the  demission  of  the  ministry 
was  committed  to  Rev.  Drs.  Z.  ^l.  Humphrey,  Charles  Hodge,  Henry  B. 
Smith,  George  W.  Musgrave,  and  Elijah  P.  Craven,  to  report  to  the  next 


OF   THE   PRESBYTERY.  169 

Assembly,  p.  590.  For  the  Report  and  Overture,  see  Minutes,  1872,  pp. 
46-50.  The  overture  was  rejected.  Affirmative  45  Presbyteries,  negative 
65,  not  voting  69.— 1873,  p.  526. 

7.  Ministers  are  not  to  be  Enrolled  as  Members  of  Particular 

Congregations. 

From  tlie  Presbytery  of  Miami  the  question,  whether  ordained  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel  ought  not  to  be  considered  church  members,  and  to 
have  their  names  enrolled  on  the  sessional  records  of  the  church  where 
they  are  settled  as  pastors  or  stated  supplies,  which  question  the  Commit- 
tee recommended  to  be  answered  in  the  negative.  After  debate  the  rec- 
ommendation was  adopted. — 1843,  p.  176,  O.  S. 

8.  Ministers  "who  "Withdraw  from  Presbjrtery  and  Unite  ■with  an- 
other Denomination  Stricken  from  the  Roll. 

a.  The  Committee  on  the  reference  from  the  Chenango  Presbytery  in 
the  case  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Andrews,  made  the  following  report,  which 
was  adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  Assembly,  that  though  the  conduct  of 
Mr.  Andrews  was  disorderly,  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbytery  to  do 
nothing  further  in  the  case  than  simply  to  strike  his  name  from  the  list 
of  their  members. — 1828,  p.  240. 

[Mr.  Andrews  had  withdrawn  to  the  Episcopal  Church  and  been  reor- 
dained.] 

b.  Resolved,  That  when  a  minister  otherwise  in  good  standing  gives  no- 
tice in  form  to  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs  that  he  renounces  the 
fellowship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  or  by  neglecting  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings of  its  judicatories,  after  being  dealt  with  for  such  neglect,  gives  evi- 
dence that  he  has  done  so  in  fact,  his  name  ought  to  be  struck  from  the 
roll  of  its  members,  a  notice  of  this  procedure  communicated  to  the  dis- 
owned member,  and  if  necessary  published  to  the  Church. 

The  congregation  under  the  care  of  such  minister  ought  to  be  held 
as  still  under  the  care  of  Presbytery  unless  they  give  evidence  that  they 
also  have  been  withdrawn,  in  which  case  their  name  ought  also  to  be 
struck  from  the  list  of  congregations  belonging  to  the  Presbytery. — 1830, 
p.  305. 

c.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  majorities  of  Presbyteries 
and  church  sessions  to  take  no  other  action  in  relation  to  members  who 
have  left  them  to  join  other  ecclesiastical  bodies  not  in  connection  with 
us  than  to  strike  their  names  from  the  roll. — 1839,  p.  24,  N.  S. 

d.  Overture  No.  5,  from  the  Second  Presbytery  of  New  York,  asking 
the  direction  of  the  Assembly  as  to  the  action  to  be  taken  by  Presbytery 
in  the  case  of  a  member  who,  without  jjrevious  conference  with  his  co- 
presbyters,  or  without  receiving  a  certificate  of  dismission,  leaves  the  Pres- 
bytery, and  abandons  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
Committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  res- 
olution as  an  answer  to  the  request  of  the  Presbytery: 

Resolved,  That  in  such  cases  as  that  presented  in  the  overture,  the  Pres- 
bytery ought  simply  to  erase  the  name  of  the  minister  from  the  roll,  pro- 
vided he. leaves  the  Church  without  being  chargeable  with  fundamental 
error  in  doctrine  or  immorality  of  life.     Adopted. — 1854,  p.  17,  O.  S. 

[See  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  x.,  ii.] 
22 


170  FORM   OF   GOYERNMEXT. 

VII.  TO  EXAMINE  AND  APPROVE  OR  CENSURE  CHURCH  REC()RDS. 
43.  Presbyteries  must  Review  the  Records  of  Sessions. 

a.  Whereas,  It  appeared  in  the  course  of  the  free  couversation  on  re- 
ligion that  in  one  of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, the  sessional  records  of  the  several  church  sessions  were  not  regu- 
larly called  up  and  examined  every  year  by  the  .said  Presbytery,  and  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  other  Presbyteries  had  conducted  in  the  same 
manner,  therefore, 

Besolved,  That  it  be  and  it  hereby  is  required  of  all  the  Presbyteries 
within  the  bounds  of  the  General  Assembly  annually  to  call  up  and  ex- 
amine the  sessional  records  of  the  several  churches  under  their  care,  as 
directed  in  the  Book  of  Discipline.- — 1809,  p.  429. 

b.  The  Assembly,  after  seriously  reviewing  the  order  of  the  last  Assem- 
bly, and  maturely  deliberating  on  the  remonstrance  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  against  it,  can  by  no  means  rescind  the  said  order,  inasmuch 
as  they  consider  it  as  founded  on  the  constitution  of  our  Churcli,  and  as 
properly  resulting  from  the  obligation  on  the  highest  judicatories  of  the 
Church  to  see  that  the  constitution  be  duly  regarded ;  yet,  as  it  is  alleged, 
that  insisting  on  the  rigid  execution  of  this  order  with  respect  to  some  of 
the  church  sessions  would  not  be  for  edification,  the  Assembly  are  by  no 
means  disposed  to  urge  any  Presbytery  to  proceed  under  this  order  beyond 
what  they  may  consider  prudent  and  useful. — 1810,  p.  453. 

[The  principles  laid  down  by  the  Assembly  for  the  guidance  of  Synods 
apply  mutatis  mntamlis  to  the  minutes  of  sessions.  See  chap,  xi.,  sec.  vi., 
Form  of  Government.] 

VIII.  TO  RESOLVE  QUESTIONS  OF  DOCTRINE  OR  DISCIPLINE. 

IX.  TO  CONDEMN  FRRONEOUS  OPINIONS. 

X.  TO  VISIT  PARTICULAR  CHURCHES,  TO  INQUIRE  AND  REDRESS. 

44.  OvertTire  on  the  Right  of  a  Church  to  dismiss  its  Elders. 

a.  The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church,  to  whom  was  referred 
the  overture — When  a  church  shall  dismiss  its  ruling  elders,  and  deny  to 
its  members  the  right  of  appeal  and  complaint,  and  deny  the  authoi-ity 
of  Presbytery  over  it,  has  it  a  right  to  be  represented  in  the  judicatories 
of  our  Ciiurch  ? — reported  as  follows  : 

Our  Church  is  organized  on  constitutional  principles,  with  powers  and 
duties  appropriate  to  each  branch  or  part  thereof;  and  with  a  gradation 
of  subordinate  and  superior  judicatories,  designed  to  preserve  unity  of 
doctrine,  and  orderly  discipline,  according  to  the  Scriptures. 

This  constitution  docs  not  recognize  a  right  of  revolution,  and  makes  no 
provision  therefor;  but  treats  all  such  cases  simply  as  breaches  of  order, 
and  visits  them  with  appropriate  constitutional  remedies.  Any  individual 
church  is  represented  in  the  Church  jmlicatories  constitutionally  only 
by  the  pastor  or  an  elder,  one  or  both  ;  and  it  can  lind  admission  inti)  such 
judicatories  only  through  such  a  mode  of  representation. 

The  overture  supposes  three  cases:  1st,  a  dismissal  of  elders;  2d,  a 
denial  of  the  right  of  appeal  and  complaint;  and  od,  a  denial  of  the 
authority  of  the  Presbytery. 

Each  of  these  is  anunconstitutional  act,  is  utterly  null  and  void,  and 
subjects  the  otfending  church  to  visitation  and  (liscii)line  at  the  hands  of 
the" Presbytery.  The  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.,  empowers 
the  Presbytery  "to  visit  particular  churches,  for  the  ])urpose  of  incpiiring 
into  their"state,  and  redressing  the  evils  that  may  have  arisen  in  them  ;  to 


OF   THE   PRESBYTERY.  171 

unite  or  divide  congregations,  at  the  request  of  the  people ;  or  to  form  or 
receive  new  congregations ;  and,  in  general,  to  order  whatever  pertains  to 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  churches  under  their  care." 

The  above-named  acts  of  insubordination,  being  void,  work  no  effect ; 
the  session  have  still  the  right,  and  it  is  their  duty,  to  send  one  of  the 
elders  to  the  Presbytery  and  the  Synod  ;  and  his  votes  and  acts  in  these 
bodies  are  the  votes  and  the  acts  of  the  church.  So,  too,  the  Presbytery 
may  send  any  one  of  such  elders  to  the  General  Assembly  ;  and  should  such 
church  I'efuse  obedience  to  the  acts  of  the  judicatories  so  constituted,  it 
would  be  subject  to  the  discipline,  in  due  form,  of  our  ecclesiastical  law. 
Such  church  has  a  right  to  be  represented  by  elders,  and  it  cannot  pass  by 
them  and  substitute  a  private  member  as  its  representative.  A  void  act  of 
deposition,  or  dismission  of  its  elders,  does  not  incapacitate  the  church. 
In  sending  one  of  its  dismissed  elders  to  the  Presbytery  or  the  Synod,  it 
disaffirms  its  illegal  act,  and  that  is  an  end  of  it ;  and  if  it  should  send  a 
delegate,  not  an  elder,  he  could  not  be  received  ;  and  the  church  would 
be  simply  unrepresented  (except  by  the  pastor),  jj?'o  hue  vice ;  but  the  church 
is  still  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery,  and  subject  to  its  government. 
The  bond  of  union,  which  was  formed  by  mutual  and  concurrent  consent 
and  act,  cannot  be  dissolved  by  an  ex  parte  act  of  insubordination  or  rev- 
olution, until  the  other  party  has  acted  thereon.  The  Committee,  there- 
fore, recommend  the  following  answer  to  the  overture : 

Remhed,  That  the  acts  of  insubordination,  specified  in  the  overture,  do 
not,  of  themselves,  infer  a  forfeiture  of  the  church's  right  to  be  represent- 
ed in  the  Church  judicatories ;  but  such  representation  must  be  in  the 
mode,  and  by  the  persons,  specified  in  the  constitution  of  the  Church. — 
18G0,  pp.  260,  261,  N.  S. 

h.  The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  reported  Overture  No.  5: 

Where  one  portion  of  a  church  connected  with,  and  under  the  juris- 
diction of,  the  Presbytery,  denies  the  jurisdiction  and  authority  of  the  Pres- 
bytery and  every  other  body,  and  all  right  to  review  its  proceedings,  and 
the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Presbytery,  and  declare  their  determination  so  to 
continue ;  and  the  other  portion  of  such  church  declare  to  the  Presbytery 
their  wish  to  continue  their  connection  with  tlie  Presbytery  as  heretofore, 
instead  of  setting  up  as  an  independent  church,  what  is  the  duty  of  the 
Presbytery  toward  that  portiou  who  remain  faithful  to  such  jurisdiction? 

And  recommended  the  following  answer :  That,  in  the  judguient  of 
the  Assembly,  the  report  on  the  subject  last  year  (see  Minutes,  pp.  260, 
261)  implies  that  the  church  sustains  the  same  relation  to  the  Presbytery 
as  before  the  denial  of  its  jurisdiction  ;  and  that  the  delegate  of  the  church 
is  entitled  to  a  seat  in  the  Presbytery,  as  in  years  previous  to  the  act 
aforesaid.— 1861,  p.  478,  N.  S. 

45.  Presbytery  may,  without    Petition,  direct   an    Elder  to  cease 

Acting. 

Overture  from  the  session  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Ironton,  ]Mis- 
souri,  in  reference  to  the  power  of  the  Pi-esbytery  to  declare  that  a  mem- 
ber of  the  session  shall  cease  to  be  an  acting  elder,  without  request  from 
the  session,  or  any  members  of  the  church. 

The  Committee  would  recommend  the  following  answer.  (See  Form  of 
Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  8.)  Presbytery  has  power  to  visit  particular 
churches  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  their  state,  and  redressing  the 
evils  that  may  have  arisen  in  them,  and  to  order  whatever  pertains  to  their 
spiritual  welfare,  without  being  requested  by  the  session. 


172  FORM   OF   GOYEPtXMEXT. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1869,  p.  924,  0.  S. 
[See  Form  of  Goverument,  xiii.,  vii.] 

46.  A  Church  may  not  "Withdraw  "without  Consent  of  Presbytery. 

a.  From  the  Presbytery  of  Bloomington,  asking,  Has  any  church,  or 
any  part  of  a  church  in  our  connection,  the  constitutional  right  to  Avith- 
draw  from  a  Presbytery  without  its  consent,  and  to  unite  with  another 
body?     Answered  in  the  negative. — 1866,  p.  54,  O.  S. 

b.  [From  the  Presbytery  of  Iowa  City:]  Can  a  Presbyterian  church, 
under  the  care  of  a  Presbytery,  witlidraw  regularly  without  first  asking 
consent  and  leave  of  the  Presbytery? 

We  unhesitatingly  reply,  that  no  Presbyterian  church,  under  care  of  a 
Presbytery,  can  withdraw  regularly  without  first  asking  consent  and  leave 
of  the  Presbytery  under  whose  care  and  jurisdiction  it  voluntarily  placed 
itself— 1867,  pp.  511,  512,  N.  S. 

47.  Course  to  be  Pursued  -when  a  Church  -wishes  to  "Withdravsr. 

Also  Overture  No.  4,  from  certain  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Athens, 
asking  "whether  it  is  allowable  for  a  Presbytery  and  a  church  under  its 
charge  to  dissolve  their  connection  by  mutual  consent,  the  church  retain- 
ing its  organization  and  standing  as  an  independent  body." 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  following  answer  be  given : 
The  only  proper  method  of  dissolving  the  relation  between  a  Presby- 
tery and  a  church  desiring  to  become  an  independent  body  is  for  such 
church  to  withdraw,  declining  the  further  jurisdiction  of  the  Presbytery, 
and  the  Presbytery  to  make  such  a  record  of  its  withdrawal  as  the  charac- 
ter of  the  action  of  the  withdrawing  church  requires.  The  recommenda- 
tion was  adojited. — 1862,  p.  33,  N.  S. 

48.  Presbytery  may  Dissolve  a  Church. 

Judicial  Case  No.  3,  being  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  Smiley  Shep- 
herd against  the  Synod  of  Illinois.     The  report  was  as  follows: 

The  following  facts  are  stated  in  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Bloomington,  and  are  not  denied  by  the  complainant:  The  Second  Church 
of  Union  Grove  in  October,  1859,  had  for  about  twenty  years  neitlier 
meeting-house,  pastor  nor  stated  supply,  nor  had  it  submitted,  through  the 
whole  of  that  period  until  1859,  either  statistical  reports  or  sessional  rec- 
ords. It  had  worshiped  regularly  with  the  First  Church  of  Union  Grove. 
In  fact,  in  1859  it  consisted  of  the  complainant  and  his  family  alone;  but 
the  complainant  claimed  and  exercised  the  right,  as  ruling  elder,  to  re- 
ceive members  to  his  church  and  to  sit  and  vote  in  Presbytery  and  Synod. 
For  about  fifteen  years  the  Presbytery  had  considered  the  church  as  with- 
out even  a  nominal  existence,  having  in  1841  dropj^ed  it  from  the  roll, 
and  it  was  not  restored  to  the  roll  till  1856,  and  then  only  with  a  view  of 
having  it  regularly  united  with  the  First  Church  of  Union  Grove.  On 
the  11th  of  October,  1859,  Presbytery  dissolved  the  .said  Second  Church, 
and  directed  the  stated  clerk  to  furnish  its  members  with  the  usual  certifi- 
cates to  some  other  Presbyterian  cluu'ch. 

Against  this  proceeding  Mr.  SlH'])lierd  appealed,  and  complained  to  the 
Synod  of  Illinois,  but  his  comjjlaint  was  not  sustained.  He  now  appeals 
and  complains  to  the  General  Assembly. 

He  does  not  deny  the  facts  as  stated  by  the  Presbytery,  but  alleges 
that  both  Presbytery  and  Synod  w(>re  guilty  of  certain  gross  irregulai'ities 
and  au  arbitrary  use  of  power  in  the  proceeding.     But  the  papers  do  not 


OF   THE    PRESBYTERY  373 

contain  evidence  sustaining  these  allegations.  There  is  no  testimony  of 
any  kind  tiled  with  these  papers.  It  is  impossible  for  the  Assembly  to 
determine  from  the  record  whether  the  power  of  the  Presbytery  was  dis- 
creetly exercised.  The  Committee  therefore  recommend  that  the  appeal 
and  complaint  be  dismissed. 

The  report  was  adopted,  and  the  appeal  and  complaint  dismissed.— 
1863,  p.  36,  O.  S. 

XI.  TO  OEGxVXIZE,  UNITE  AXD  DIVIDE  CHURCHES. 
49.  The  Org-anizing  of  Churclies  belongs  to  Presbytery. 

Is  a  minister  of  the  gospel  in  our  connection,  ex-officio,  authorized  to 
organize  churches  in  the  bounds  of  Presbyteries  witliout  any  previous 
order  of  Presbytery  directing  such  organization?. 

Resolved,  That  except  in  frontier  and  destitute  settlements,  where,  by 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  xv.,  sec.  xv.,  it  is  made  a  part  of  the  business 
of  evangelists  to  organize  churches,  and  except  in  cases  where  it  is  ex- 
ceedingly inconvenient  to  make  application  to  a  Presbytery  (for  which 
provision  is  made  in  the  act  of  Assembly  of  1831),  it  is  not  the  preroga- 
tive of  a  minister  of  the  gospel  to  organize  churches  without  the  previous 
action  of  some  Presbytery  directing  or  permitting  it,  since  in  Form  of 
Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.,  to  form  new  congregations  is  enumerated 
among  the  powers  of  a  Presbytery,  and  since  in  chap,  iv.,  "Of  Bishops  or 
Pastors,"  no  mention  is  made  of  any  such  power  being  lodged  in  the  hands 
of  an  individual  minister. — 1833,  p.  410. 

50.  Organization  on  Petition  of  a  Minority. 

Has  a  Presbytery  the  constitutional  right  to  divide  a  church  where  a 
majority  of  the  members  of  said  church  are  opposed  to  its  division? 

Resolved,  That  where  the  minority  request  it,  and  the  Presbytery  has 
reason  to  believe  that  the  interests  of  religion  will  be  promoted  by  it,  the 
Presbyterv  has  the  right  to  form  the  minority  into  a  new  congregation. — 
1848,  p.  29,  O.  S. 

51.  Presbjrtery  may  Prohibit  an  Organization. 

[The  people  about  White  Clay  Creek,  in  New  Castle  county,  Delaware, 
petitioned  Presbytery  to  have  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  administered 
■with  more  convenience  and  nearness  to  the  place  of  their  abode,  for  the 
greater  advantage  and  ease  to  their  several  families.  Against  this  the 
people  of  New  Castle  protested,  craving  that  the  people  of  White  Clav 
Creek  may  not  be  suffered  to  set  up  a  meeting-house  in  the  country,  that 
their  meetiiig-house  and  congregation  in  New  Castle  may  not  be  dam- 
aged by  this  rupture  of  their  fellow-members  of  White  Clay  Creek.] 

The  General  Presbytery 

Ordered,  Tliat  the  people  of  New'  Castle  and  the  country  should  not  be 
divided  by  setting  up  two  separate  meetings. — 1708,  pp.  11,  12. 

52.  "When  ne^w  Congregations  may  be  Formed. 

The  Assembly  censure  a  minister  for  irregularity  in  dividing  tin? 
church  in  Peoria,  by  w'hich  he  did  not  make  a  separation  from  the  great 
body  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  a  schism  in  the  body,  contrary  to 
the  word  of  God  and  the  government  of  the  Church,  which  allow  of  the 
division  of  the  Church  universal  into  separate  congregations  only  when 


174  FOEM    OF    GOYERXMEXT. 

the  people  of  God  are  too  numerous  or  too  remote  from  each  other  to 
assemble  in  one  place  to  worship  God. — 1840,  p.  302,  O.  S. 

53.  To  Divide  a  Congregation  -without    Request    of   the    People 

Irregular. 

The  Synod  [of  Illinois]  seem  to  have  overlooked  the  irregularity  of  the 
Presbytery  in  dividing  a  congregation  when  there  was  no  request  from 
the  people  on  the  subject— 1840,  p.  302,  O.  S. 

XII.  TO  OEDER  WHATEVER  PERTAINS  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  WELFARE  OF 

THE  CHURCHES. 

54.  A    Presbytery  Dissolves   a   Pastoral   Relation   on   its   o^wn  ' 

Discretion, 

a.  The  moderator  explained  the  state  of  the  question,  and  read  the 
action  of  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis  complained  against,  which  was  as 
follows  : 

The  memorial  of  certain  members  of  Pine  Street  church  having  been 
presented,  after  discussion, 

Be^olved,  1.  That  by  the  action  of  Presbytery  in  June,  1863,  the  pas- 
toral relation  between  Dr.  McPheeters  and  the  Pine  Sti'eet  church  wns 
dissolved,  and  Dr.  McPheeters  ceased  to  be  the  pastor  of  that  church,  and 
ceased  to  have  the  right  to  exercise  discipline,  or  perform  the  functions  of 
the  pastoral  office  in  that  church. 

Resolved,  2.  That  inasmuch  as  this  action  was  taken  by  Presbytery  in 
the  exercise  of  its  power  "  to  ordain  whatever  pertains  to  the  spiritual 
■welfare  of  the  churches  under  their  care,"  and  is  its  solemn  judgment  that 
the  interests  of  the  Pine  Street  church  required  that  Dr.  INIcPheeters 
should  cease  to  exercise  the  functions  of  minister  to  that  church,  therefore 
Presbytery  learn  with  regret  that  Dr.  McPheeters  is  still  officiating  as 
minister  in  that  church,  whether  by  invitation  of  session  or  at  his  own 
instance  is  not  known  to  Presbytery,  but  in  either  case  they  do  hereby 
ordain  and  declare  that  in  the  judgment  of  Presbytery  the  peace  and  har- 
mony and  spiritual  interests  of  Pine  Street  church,  as  well  as  a  proper 
respect  for  the  feelings  of  a  large  minority  opposed  to  the  ministration  of 
their  former  pastor,  require  that  Dr.  McPheeters  shall  cease  all  connection 
with  that  church,  and  no  longer  attempt  to  minister  to  that  congregation. 

The  vote  in  the  case  was  then  taken  by  calling  the  roll,  and  with  the 
following  result:  To  sustain  the  complaints  against  the  Presbytery,  47; 
not  to  sustain,  119;  to  sustain  in  part,  2  ;  excused  from  voting,  1. 

Whereupon  the  moderator  announced  that  the  complaints  in  this  case 
against  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Ijouis  were  not  sustained. 

Dr.  Krebs  moved,  and  it  was  carried,  to  ap})()int  a  Committee  to  draw 
up  and  report  a  minute  in  this  case. 

The  following  persons  were  appointed  as  the  Gmimittee,  viz. :  Drs. 
Beatty,  Musgrave,  Elliott,  Tustin,  Craven  and  Judge  Linn. — 1864,  p.  311, 

0.  s. 

The  following  is  the  minute  in  the  case,  viz. : 

h.  The  Assembly  does  not  sustain  the  complainants,  because  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis  in  this  case  appear  constitutional 
and  regular,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  perceive,  were  judicious,  equitable,  and 
for  the  edification  of  the  church. 

These  complaints,  both  in  tluir  language  and  the  necessity  of  the  case., 
brought  the  whole  proceeding  under  our  review.  The  question  of  a  dis 
solution  of  the  pastoral  relation  between  Dr.  McPheeters  and  the  Pint 


me 


OF   THE    PRESBYTERY.  175 

Street  church  was  originally  brought  in  an  orderly  manner  before  the 
Presbytery,  by  petition  of  a  minority  of  said  church,  and  a  personal 
tender  of  resignation  by  the  pastor  ;  and  after  all  the  constitutional  steps 
were  taken  with  care  and  deliberation  was  decided  by  the  Presbytery, 
acting  for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  that  church.  That  which  was  called 
an  appeal  and  complaint  to  Synod  against  that  action  could  not  so  suspend 
all  further  proceedings  as  to  pi'event  the  Presbytery  from  considering  and 
acting  upon  the  continued  disturbed  state  of  that  congregation  ;  and  when, 
at  a  subs<^quent  stated  meeting  of  that  body,  this  subject  came  before  them, 
they  did,  almost  unanimously,  deem  it  unadvisable  that  the  late  pastor 
should  continue  ministerial  labors  in  that  congregation.  Against  this 
decision  of  the  Presbytery,  Dr.  McPheeters  and  others  have  uttered  these 
complaints,  which  we  do  not  sustain. 

The  Assembly  has  patiently  listened  to  the  history  of  this  case  from  the 
opposite  points  of  view  taken,  but  in  their  decision  have  strictly  confined 
themselves  to  the  facts  on  record.  The  resignation  of  the  pastoral  re- 
lation, and  the  distracted  state  of  the  church,  seemed  plainly  to  call  for 
the  action  of  the  Presbytery;  and  being  upon  the  ground,  and  conversant 
with  all  the  circumstances  and  demands  of  the  case,  they  seem  most  com- 
petent to  understand  and  decide  what  that  action  should  be.  The  question 
of  the  pastor's  loyalty  to  his  national  government,  which  seemed  to  be  so 
largely  a  disturbing  element  in  the  church,  has  not  been  properly  before 
the  x\ssembly,  as  it  was  not  pronounced  upon  in  any  presbyterial  action. 
They  judged  it  best  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  that  particular  church 
that  the  late  pastor  should  retire  altogether,  and  cease  from  his  public  min- 
istrations to  them  ;  and  this  Asseinbly  cannot  decide  otherwise.  And  though 
many  of  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  were  absent  from  that  meeting 
which  so  decided,  this  could  not  invalidate  their  proceedings,  as  it  was  a 
regular  and  lawful  meeting  of  that  body. 

Tlie  right  and  duty  of  the  Presbytery  "  to  order  whatever  pertains  to 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  churches  under  their  care,  and  especially  to 
heal  dissensions,  bj  seeking  to  remove  the  occasions  of  them,  is  a  dis- 
tinctive and  important  feature  in  our  Presbyterian  polity.  And  when  the 
pastor  himself  so  far  recognized  the  propriety  of  his  withdrawal  as  to  ten- 
der to  the  Presbytery  his  resignation,  it  was  clearly  competent  for  that 
body  not  only  to  grant  his  request,  but  to  order,  if  necessary,  that  he 
cease  his  ministrations  to  that  people,  if  they  believed  that  by  longer  con- 
tinuing to  serve  them  the  dissensions  would  be  fomented,  the  strife  become 
embittered,  and  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  church  endangered.  And 
Avhen  the  Presbytery  did,  at  length,  so  interfere  and  direct,  without  pro- 
nouncing upon  tlie  rumors  and  side  issues  which  were  the  occasions  of  the 
strife  and  unhappy  condition  of  the  church,  they  simply  undertook  to 
control  the  relations  of  pastor  and  people  for  the  welfare  of  the  church, 
without  impeaching,  by  any  expression,  the  moral  character  and  minis- 
terial standing  of  that  pastor.  They  only  ordered,  as  a  prudential  mea- 
sure, that  the  resignation  which  he  had  himself  voluntarily  tendered  to 
them,  should  properly  and  entirely  be  carried  out,  by  his  ceasing  in  any 
way  to  keep  up  this  unhappy  state  of  things,  and  by  ceasing  to  minister 
to  them  as  their  pastor," — l6Qi,  pp.  327,  328,  O.  S.  ' 

55.  A  Presbytery  may  not  Dismiss  or  Receive  a  Church  -without 
the  Consent  of  Synod. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  unconstitutional  for  a  Presbytery  to  dismiss  a  con- 
gregation under  their  care,  and  for  any  other  Presbytery  to  receive  the 


176  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

congregation  so  dismissed,  without  the  approbation  of  the  Syiiod  to  which 
such  Presbyteries  respectively  belong. — 1823,  p.  91. 

66.  The  Po-wer  of  Presbytery  over  Unemployed  Ministers  and  Va- 
cant Churches.— Mode  of  Proceeding. 

The  Assembly  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  Report  of  the 
Committee  on  Church  Polity,  on  "Vacant  Churches  and  Unemployed 
Ministers,"  which  was  adopted,  as  follows : 

Sundry  papers  on  the  general  subject  of  "  Vacant  Churches  and  Unem- 
ployed jNIinisters,"  to  wit :  The  report  of  a  Committee  appointed  by  the 
Assembly  of  1871  made  to  the  AsseudDly  of  1872,  and  referred  to  this 
Assembly ;  2.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  "Wooster,  with  accom- 
panying documents ;  and  3.  A  memorial  from  Eev.  Alien  H.  Brown,  a 
member  of  the  Presbytery  of  West  Jersey. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  following  plan,  namely: 

I.  That  the  Assembly  enjoin  on  each  Presbytery,  to  submit  this  im- 
portant matter  to  that  Committee  (standing  or  special)  which  has  the  par- 
ticular care  of  its  missionary  churches,  with  the  following  instruction,  viz.: 

1.  To  provide,  as  far  as  may  be  possible,  permanent  or  occasional  work 
for  every  minister  desiring  it,  who  is  without  charge,  within  its  Presby- 
terial  jurisdiction ;  and  also  to  provide  permanent  or  occasional  preach- 
ing for  every  destitute  church  under  its  presbyterial  care. 

2.  To  arrange  for  grouping  the  smaller  aid-receiving  vacant  churches, 
so  as  most  eftectively  to  furnish  competent  support  for  the  minister  serving 
them,  and  so  as  also  to  secure  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the  greatest 
possible  nund:)er. 

3.  And  since  aid-receiving  churches,  when  they  become  vacant,  are 
usually  cut  oft' from  Home  JNlissionary  aid  until  they  shall  have  found  au 
acceptable  minister  ready  to  be  commissioned ;  and  since  many  of  these 
churelies,  being  unable  to  provide  for  themselves  even  occasional  supplies, 
thereby  sufter  serious  injury  in  any  long  vacancy,  each  presbyterial  Com- 
mittee is  urged  to  endeavor,  in  its  own  way,  to  nourish  and  sustain  these 
churches  until  they  are  advanced  to  a  condition  in  which  they  can  be 
assisted  by  the  Board  of  Home  Missions. 

4.  To  report,  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Synodical  Committee,  the  names 
of  "  vacant  churches  and  unemployed  ministers"  in  their  bounds  for 
Avhom  they  are  not  able  to  provide. 

II.  It  is  further  recommended,  that  each  Synod  appoint  a  Committee 
on  "  vacant  churches  and  unemployed  ministers,"  consisting  of  one  from 
each  of  the  presbyterial  Committees  aforesaid,  in  like  manner,  and,  as  far 
as  possible,  to  distribute,  among  the  vacant  churches  of  their  own  Synod, 
such  unemployed  inini.sters  as  have  been  reported  to  them,  always  regard- 
ing the  rights  of  the  Presbyteries  and  the  wishes  of  the  people. 

If  there  sliould  yet  remain  a  surplus  of  either  vacant  churches  or  un- 
employed ministers  within  the  bounds  of  any  Synod,  the  chairnian  of  its 
Committee  on  this  subject  ^hall  report  the  same  to  the  Board  of  Home 
Missions. 

III.  And  whereas,  there  may  be,  in  the  vast  extent  of  our  territory,  an 
excess  of  "  unemployed  ministers  "  in  one  part  thereof,  and  in  another  au 
excess  of  "vacant  churches,"  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  is  hereby  au- 
thorized and  instructed  to  organize  a  SrixiAL  Bureau,  whose  business  it 
shall  be  to  gather  and  publi.^h  such  statistics  bearing  on  the  subject  as 
maybe  important  for  the  information  of  the  churches,  and  to  consider  the 
case  of  such  "vacant  churches  and  unemployed  ministers"  as  may  have 


OF   THE   PRESBYTERY.  177 

been  reported  to  them  by  the  synodical  Committees ;  and  to  endeavor  to 
adjust  and  distribute  these,  so  that,  as  far  as  possible,  every  capable  min- 
ister, asking  for  it,  may  have  something  to  do,  and  every  church  may  be 
supplied ;  always,  however,  so  as  not  to  interfere  in  any  ■wise  with  Presby- 
terial  prerogatives. 

IV.  It  is  further  recommended,  that,  whereas  the  Minutes  of  the  Assem- 
bly for  1872  report  1029  vacant  churches,  of  which  485  have  each  but 
25  members  or  less,  and  174  have  each  only  10  members  or  less,  the  Pres- 
byteries embracing  them  be  instructed  to  consider  whether  some  of  these 
churches  may  not  be  consolidated  advantageously  to  themselves,  without 
injury  to  the  cause  of  religion. — 1873,  p.  562. 

IX.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  tlie  Presbytery  to  keep  a  full  and  fair 
record  of  their  proceedings,  and  to  report  to  the  Synod  every  year 
licensures,  ordinations,  the  receiving  or  dismissing  of  members,  the 
removal  of  members  by  death,  the  union  or  division  of  congregations 
or  the  formation  of  new  ones,  and,  in  general,  all  the  important 
changes  which  may  have  taken  place  within  their  bounds  in  the 
course  of  the  year. 

[See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xi.,  sec.  vi.  Nearly  every  case 
tliere  applies  equally  to  the  Records  of  Presbytery.] 

1.  Narratives  and  all  Important  Papers  to  be  Recorded. 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  the  Synods  and 
Presbyteries  to  record  in  their  minutes  the  Narrative  of  Religion  and  ali 
other  papers. — 1870,  p.  91. 

2.  Modification  of  the  Rule  as  to  Reports  to  Synods. 

The  stated  clerk,  to  whom  was  committed  Overture  No.  6  from  the 
Synod  of  Virginia,  reported  the  following  resolution,  which  was  adopted, 
viz.: 

Resolved,  That  the  standing  rule  of  the  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  the 
reports  of  Pi-esbyteries  to  their  respective  Synods,  contained  on  page  84 
of  the  Digest  of  1820,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  repealed ;  and  hereafter 
Presbyteries  are  required  to  make  no  other  reports  to  Synods  than  such 
as  are  required  by  chap,  x.,  sec.  ix,,  in  the  Form  of  Government,  and  these 
in  as  general  terms  as  that  article  of  the  Constitution  will  allow. — 1833, 
p.  400. 

PRESBYTERIAL   REPORTS. 

It  is  required  of  every  Presbytery  to  prepare  and  forward  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly: 

1.  A  Statistical  Report,  according  to  the  form  exhibited  on  page  194  of 
the  present  Appendix,  of  which  a  printed  blank  will  be  furnished  in  due 
season,  by  order  of  the  Assembly,  to  the  stated  clerk  of  every  Presbytery. 
This  report  should,  if  possible,  embrace  all  the  changes  in  the  Presbytery 
previous  to  the  first  day  of  April. 

2.  A  Narrative  of  the  State  of  Religion  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presby- 
tery for  the  year  ending  April  1st.  These  narratives  should  specify  facts 
in  regard  to  the  particular  churches,  their  state,  trials,  encouragements 
and  prospects ;  how  many  of  them,  and  which,  have  enjoyed  revivals  of 
religion  through  the  year ;  in  which  of  them  the  catechisms  are  taught^ 

23 


178  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

Sabbath-schools  and  Bible  classes  organized,  with  the  number  of  scholars 
and  teachers.  Also  the  various  arrangements  of  the  Presbytery  for 
church  extension,  stating  the  number  of  their  ministers,  and  the  particular 
manner  in  which  they  are  employed;  the  number  of  their  churches,  and 
how  they  are  supplied ;  the  gross  amount  of  funds  collected  in  their 
bounds  for  home  missions  and  church  erection ;  the  amount  received  by 
their  churches  from  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions  or  the 
Assembly's  Sustentation  Committee ;  the  number  of  houses  of  worship, 
with  their  probable  value,  whether  they  are  free  from  debt,  and  what  has 
been  done  within  the  year  to  relieve  them  from  debt ;  the  number  of  new 
churches  organized  and  new  houses  of  worship  erected ;  what  itinerant 
arrangements  have  been  adopted  for  preaching  the  gospel;  what  and  how 
much  agency  has  been  employed,  together  with  all  such  other  facts  and 
suggestions  as  will  show  from  year  to  year  what  has  been  accomplished, 
and  what  may  need  to  be  undertaken,  to  bring  all  the  churches  to  a  proper 
degree  of  effort  to  promote  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  As  the  narratives  are 
not  to  be  publicly  read,  less  care  may  be  given  to  their  style  and  more  to 
the  detail  of  particulars,  such  as  will  aid  the  Committee  of  the  Assembly 
in  preparing  their  Annual  General  Narrative  of  the  State  of  the  Church. 
—1872,  pp.  191,  192. 

X.  The  Presbytery  shall  meet  on  its  own  adjournment ;  and  when 
any  emergency  shall  rec{uire  a  meeting  sooner  tlian  the  time  to  which 
it  stands  adjourned,  the  moderator,  or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  death 
or  inability  to  act,  the  stated  clerk,  sliall,  with  the  concurrence  or  at 
the  recjuest  of  two  ministers  and  two  elders,  the  ciders  being  of  differ- 
ent congregations,  call  a  special  meeting.  For  this  purpose  he  shall 
send  a  circular  letter,  specifying  the  particular  business  of  the  in- 
tended meeting,  to  every  minister  belonging  to  the  Presbytery,  and 
to  the  session  of  every  vacant  congregation,  in  due  time  previous  to 
the  meeting ;  which  shall  not  be  less  than  ten  days.  And  nothing 
shall  be  transacted  at  such  special  meeting  besides  the  particular  busi- 
ness for  whicii  the  judicatory  has  been  thus  convened. 

1.  PreslDytery  may  Meet  without  its  ov^rn  Bounds. 

1.  Resolved,  That  Synod  has  power  to  order  a  Presbytery  to  meet  and 
to  transact  such  business  as  in  the  judgment  of  Synod  is  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  good  order  and  well-being  of  the  Church. 

2.  Besolved,  That  as  such  meetings  are  of  the  nature  of  pro  re  nata 
meetings,  the  rules  that  are  laid  down  in  our  book  for  the  regulation  of 
such  called  meetings  ought  to  regulate  and  govern  in  all  cases  these  nieet- 
ings  ordered  by  Synod,  except  wlien  ordered  to  meet  during  the  sessions 
of  Synod  on  business  immediately  connected  with  the  proceedings  of  that 
body.  In  such  cases  the  Presbytery  may  be  required  to  meet  at  once  by 
order  of  the  Synod. 

3.  Rexolved,  Tluit  Avhilst  it  would  be  inexpedient  and  wrong  for  the 
Synod  to  order  a  Presbytery  to  meet  beyond  its  own  bounds  without  the 
express  consent  of  its  members,  we  see  no  constitutional  or  valid  objection 
against  a  Presbvtery  agreeing  to  meet  without  its  own  geographical  lim- 
its.—1848,  p.  60,  O'.  S 


OF  THE   PRESBYTERY.  179 


2.  A  Meeting  pro  re  nata  must  be  Called  by  the  Moderator 
Chosen  at  a  Stated  Meeting. 

a.  [The  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi  approved,]  with  the  excep- 
tiou  that  the  Synod  acknowledges  the  constitutionality  of  a  meeting  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Clinton  that  had  been  called  by  a  moderator  chosen  p?-o 
tempore  at  a  previous  pi'o  re  nata  meeting,  instead  of  benig  called  by  the 
moderator  appointed  at  the  last  stated  meeting  of  the  Presbytery. — 1842, 
p.  28,  O.  S. 

3.  "When  Meetings  pro  re  nata  may  be  Called. 

In  answer  to  the  first  query,  the  Synod  judge  that  meetings  of  judica- 
tures pro  re  nata  can  only  be  necessary  on  account  of  important  occur- 
rences unknown  at  their  last  meeting,  and  which  cannot  be  safely  deferred 
till  their  stated  meeting,  such  as  scandal  raised  on  a  minister's  character 
tending  to  destroy  his  usefulness  and  bring  reproach  on  religion,  or  feuds 
in  a  congregation  threatening  its  dissolution,  or  some  dangerous  error  or 
heresy  broached ;  but  not  matters  judicially  deferred  by  the  judicature, 
except  some  unforeseen  circumstance  occurs,  which  makes  it  appear  that 
some  principal  things  on  which  the  judgment  depends  may  then  be  had, 
and  cannot  be  obtained  if  it  is  deferred  till  their  stated  meeting,  nor  for 
any  matters  that  ordinarily  come  in  at  their  stated  meetings.  And  when 
such  occasional  meetings  appear  necessary  to  the  moderator  himself,  it  is 
proper  to  call  the  judicature  together,  or  upon  the  application  of  any  two 
members  judging  it  necessary,  provided  always  that  seasonable  notice  be 
given  to  all  the  members  of  the  occasion,  time  and  place  of  meeting,  and 
that  it  be  appointed  at  such  a  season  as  may  render  the  attendance  of  the 
members  practicable. — 1760,  p.  305. 

4.  Applicants  for  a  Meeting  pro  re  nata  may  Name  a  Time  and 
Place  -which  the  Moderator  may  not  Change. 

1.  In  an  application  to  the  moderator  of  a  Presbytery  to  call  a  ^j?'0  re 
nata  meeting  of  that  body,  is  it  competent  for  applicants  to  specify  a  par- 
ticular time  and  place  for  such  meeting? 

2.  If  a  particular  time  or  place,  or  both,  be  specified  in  the  application 
for  a  pro  re  nata  meeting  of  Presbytery,  has  the  moderator  a  right,  on 
such  application,  to  call  a  meeting  at  a  different  time  and  place? 

The  first  question  was  answered  afiirmatively,  the  second  negatively,  at 
the  recommendation  of  the  Committee. — 1856,  p.  522,  O.  S. 

XI.  At  every  meeting  of  Presbytery  a  sermon  shall  be  delivered, 
if  convenient;  and  every  particular  session  shall  be  opened  and  closed 
with  prayer. 

The  Preacher  not  Necessarily  a  Member  of  that  Presbytery. 

The  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana  approved,  except  that  on  i)age 
253  it  appeared  that  the  Presbytery  of  Madison,  at  a  certain  meeting, 
in  the  absence  of  the  moderator,  invited  a  minister  from  another  Presby- 
tery to  preach  the  opening  sermon.  This  act  of  Presbytery  the  Synod 
condemn  as  unconstitutional.  The  Committee  are  of  the  opinion  tiiat  the 
Presbytery  by  so  doing  violated  no  principle  of  the  constitution. 

Adopted.— 1849,  p.  250,  O.  S. 


180  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

XII.  Ministers  in  good  standing  in  other  Presbyteries,  or  in  any 
sister  churches,  who  may  happen  to  be  present,  may  be  invited  to  sit 
with  the  Presbytery  as  corresponding  members.  Such  members 
shall  be  entitled  to  deliberate  and  advise,  but  not  to  vote  in  any  de- 
cisions of  the  Presbytery. 

1.  Ssmods  and  Presbyteries  may  Correspond  with  Local  Bodies. 

a.  Resolved,  That  while  this  Assembly  would  not  interfere  authorita- 
tively with  the  lower  judicatories  in  the  exercise  of  their  prerogative,  they 
would  recommend  that  no  ministers  should  be  invited  to  sit  as  correspond- 
ents who  do  not  belong  to  some  body  in  correspondence  with  this  Assem- 
bly.—1843,  p.  23,  N.  S.  _ 

b.  The  report  of  the  Committee  in  reference  to  correspondence  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  conferences,  which  had  been  put  upon  the  docket, 
was  taken  up,  and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Whereas,  the  communication  of  the  Oneida  Annual  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  solicits  only  a  correspondence  between  them- 
selves and  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  not  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church  generally ;  and  whereas,  the  Synod  has  referred  the 
matter  to  the  Assembly  without  submitting  any  specific  proposition  or 
plan  for  such  correspondence ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  communication  be  referred  back  to  the  Synod  to 
adopt  such  measures  as  they  may  deem  proper  in  pursuance  of  the  request 
for  a  correspondence  of  the  local  bodies. — 1850,  p.  323,  N.  S. 

c.  Overture:  Is  it  orderly  for  our  Presbyteries  and  Synods  to  invite 
ministers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  to  sit  as  corresponding  mem- 
bers ?  which  was  answered  by  the  Assembly  unanimously  in  the  affirma- 
tive.—ISid,  p.  174,  N.  S. 

2.  The  Ecclesiastical  Bodies  must  be  Named. 

Minutes  (Synod  of  Albany)  approved,  with  the  exception  of  having  in- 
vited several  ministers  to  take  their  seats  as  corresponding  members  with- 
out describing  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  to  which  such  ministers  belong. — 
1815,  p.  578. 


OF  THE  SYNOD.  181 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OF  THE  SYNOD. 

I.  As  a  Presbytery  is  a  convention  of  the  bishops  and  elders  within 
a  certain  district :  so  a  Synod  is  a  convention  of  the  bishops  and  elders 
within  a  larger  district,  including  at  least  three  Presbyteries.  The 
ratio  of  the  representation  of  elders  in  the  Synod  is  the  same  as  in  the 
Presbytery. 

The  Form  of  Government,  as  adopted  in  1789,  reads :  "  As  a  Presbytery, 
etc.,  so  a  Synod  is  the  Convention  of  several  Presbyteries  within  a  larger 
district,  including  at  least  three  Presbyteries."  The  Assembly  of  1804, 
p.  304,  sent  down  an  overture  to  the  Presbyteries  to  change  the  section  so 
as  to  read  as  at  present,  and  adds  in  a  note,  "  Under  this  section  it  has  been 
doubted  whether  the  members  can  proceed  to  business  as  a  Synod,  unless 
there  are  present  several  Presbyteries,  i.  e.,  at  least  three  ministers  from  one 
of  the  existing  Presbyteries  and  three  from  another.  The  doubt  has  not 
only  caused  delay  in  several  instances,  but  defeated  the  whole  business 
of  one  entire  meeting.  The  amendment  therefore  goes  to  make  a  Synod 
consist  not  of  Presbyteries,  but,  as  it  ought,  of  bishops  and  elders. 

The  amendment  was  adopted. — 1805,  p.  333. 

1.  Synod  may  not  Refuse  to  Receive  the  Members  of  its  Presby- 
teries, nor  Order  their  Names  to  be  Erased. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Michigan  were,  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  Committee,  approved,  with  the  following  exception.  That  on  pages 
137, 138, 139, 140,  the  Synod  declined  to  receive  two  members,  whose  names 
appear  on  the  minutes  of  two  of  the  Presbyteries,  and  that  the  Synod 
also  directed  said  Presbyteries  to  strike  the  names  of  said  members  of  Pres- 
bytery from  their  roll,  one  of  the  members  belonging  to  the  Presbytery 
of  Monroe,  the  other  to  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Joseph. — 1849,  p.  176,  N.  S. 

b.  On  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  the  following  report  was 
adopted : 

The  Committee  to  which  were  referred  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
Indiana  reports  that  it  has  examined  said  records,  and  recommends  their 
approval,  with  the  following  exception  : 

On  pages  157  and  8  the  record  declares  that  Synod  refused  to  enroll 
the  Rev.  E.  B.  Smith,  because  he  had  made  no  public  contradiction  of  the 
fact  that  his  name  appears  in  the  public  prints  as  a  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion and  Testimony,  although  he  privately  informed  the  stated  clerk  of 
Synod  that  he  had  neither  himself  signed  the  "  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony," nor  authorized  any  one  to  sign  it  for  him,  as  appears  from  page 
153  of  the  records. 

It  seems  to  the  Committee  that  the  Synod  should  have  directed  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Smith  to  make  a  public  contradiction  before  taking  further 
action,  because,  as  the  record  now  stands,  it  implies  that  the  Synod  has  no 
confidence  in  his  statements.  If  his  statements  are  unworthy  of  belief  he 
should  be  disciplined.  The  Committee  recommend  that  the  Synod  be 
directed  to  review  its  action. — 1867,  p.  357,  0.  S. 


182  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

c.  Overture  No.  28.  Ou  the  doings  of  the  Synod  of  Michigan,  the 
matter  of  enjoining  the  Presbyteries  of  St.  Joseph  and  Monroe  to  erase 
the  names  of  Eev.  ISIarcus  Harrison  and  Rev.  A.  L.  Payson  from  their 
rolls,  was  taken  up.  It  was  Resolved,  That  the  action  of  the  Synod  in  the 
premises  is  unconstitutional. — 1849,  p.  177,  N,  S. 

[For  a  history  of  the  Synods  prior  to  1869,  see  Baird,  Revised  Edition, 
pp.  264,  275,  853.    New  Digest,  pp.  142-154.] 

2.  The  Synods  as  Constituted  in  1870. 

The  order  of  the  day,  viz.,  the  Enabling  Act,  was  then  taken  from  the 
docket,  amended,  and  passed  as  follows : 

Besolved,  That,  in  order  to  carry  into  full  effect  the  plan  of  Reunion, 
the  fifty-one  Synods,  into  which  the  Presbyteries  of  this  Church  are  now 
distributed,  be  and  they  are  hereby  so  arranged  as  to  make  but  thirty-four 
Synods,  to  be  constituted  as  follows  : 

1.  The  Synod  of  Long  Island  is  hereby  constituted;  to  consist  of  the 
several  Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  counties 
of  King's,  Queen's,  Suffolk  and  Richmond,  in  the  State  of  New  York ;  to 
meet  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  June,  1870,  at  3  P.  M.,  in  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  (Remsen  street)  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

2.  The  Synod  of  New  York  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  counties  of 
New  York,  Westchester,  Putnam,  Dutchess,  Rockland,  Orange,  Ulster 
and  Sullivan,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  within  New  England  ;  to 
meet  on  the  twenty-fii-st  day  of  June,  1870,  at  11  A.  M.,  in  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  New  York ;  and  the  Synod  of  New  York  is  hereby 
declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  and  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  posses- 
sion and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  per- 
formance of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

3.  The  Synod  of  Albany  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  district  nortli  of  the 
northern  line  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  and  east  of  the  western  line  of 
the  counties  of  Greene,  Schoharie,  Montgomery,  Fulton,  Hamilton  and 
Franklin,  N.  Y. ;  to  meet  on  the  fourth  Tuesday  of  June  next,  in  the 
Second  Church  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  at  7*  p.  m.  ;  and  the  Synod  of  Albany  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Albany,  New 
School,  and  of  the  Synod  of  Albany,  Old  School,  and  as  such  entitled  to 
the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to 
the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

4.  The  Synod  of  Utica*  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  district  west  of  the 
Synod  of  Albany,  extending  to  the  State  line  on  the  north,  and  to  the 
western  line  of  Tioga,  Cortland,  Onondaga  and  Oswego  counties,  in  the 
State  of  New  York ;  to  meet  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  June,  1870,  at  7^ 
p.  M.,  in  the  Fii-st  Presbyterian  Church  of  Oneida,  N.  Y. ;  and  the  Synod 
of  Utica  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of 
Utica  and  Susquehanna,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoy- 
ment of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all 
the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

5.  The  Synod  of  Geneva  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  district  west  of  the 
Synod  of  Utica,  and  extending  to  the  west  line  of  Steuben,  Ontario  and 

*  Changed  to  Central  New  York,  1873,  p.  525. 


OF   THE   SYNOD.  183 

"Wayne  counties,  in  the  State  of  New  York ;  to  meet  on  the  eleventh  clay 
of  July  next,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  at  7-^ 
p.  M, ;  and  the  Synod  of  Geneva  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor 
of  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoy- 
ment of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all 
the  duties,  of  that  Synod. 

6.  The  Synod  of  Genesee*  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  district  lying  west 
of  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  in  the  State  of  New  York  ;  to  meet  on  the 
twenty-eighth  day  of  June  next,  in  the  Central  Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  at 
7 2"  P.M.;  and  the  Synod  of  Genesee  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal 
successor  of  the  Synods  of  Genesee  and  Bufialo,  and  as  such  entitled  to 
the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable 
to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

7.  The  Synod  of  New  Jersey  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  together  with  the  Presbytery  of  Corisco,  in  Africa ;  to  meet  on  the 
twenty-first  day  of  June  next,  at  3  p.  M.,  in  the  Westminster  Church  of 
Elizabeth,  N.  J. ;  and  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  is  hereby  declared  to  be 
the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the 
possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the 
performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  that  Synod. 

8.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  district  between 
the  eastern  line  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  west  line  of  the  counties  of 
Bradford,  Sullivan,  Luzerne,  Schuylkill,  Lebanon  and  York,  together 
with  the  Presbytery  of  Western  Africa ;  to  meet  on  the  twenty-first  day 
of  June,  1870,  at  8  p.  m.,  in  Spring  Garden  Church,  Philadelphia;  and 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of 
the  Synods  of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the 
possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the 
performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

9.  The  Synod  of  Harrisburg  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  district  lying 
west  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  east  of  the  west  line  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Mclvean,  Cameron,  Clearfield,  Blair  and  Bedford,  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania;  to  meet  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  June  next, at  7^  p.m., 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Bellefonte,  Pennsylvania. 

10.  The  Synod  of  Erie  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the  Presby- 
teries and  parts  of  Presbyteries  in  the  north-west  counties  of  Pennsylvania, 
west  of  the  Synod  of  Harrisburg,  and  bounded  south  by  the  counties  of 
Cambria  and  Westmoreland,  and  the  Allegheny  and  Ohio  rivers  to  the 
State  line,  except  that  part  of  Indiana  county  lying  east  and  south  of  the 
Black  Lick  Creek;  to  meet  on  the  seventh  day  of  July,  1870,  at  71  p.  m., 
in  the  Park  Presbyterian  Church,  Erie,  Pa. ;  and  the  Synod  of  Erie  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of  Allegheny  and 
West  Pennsylvania,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment 
of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the 
duties,  of  those  Synods. 

11.  The  Synod  of  Pittsburg  is  hereby  constituted;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  remainder  of 
Pennsylvania,  west  of  the  Synod  of  Harrisburg,  and  south  of  the  Synod 
of  Erie,  and  all  of  West  Virginia  west  of  the  Allegheny  ridge ;  to  meet 

*  Changed  to  Western  New  York,  1871,  p.  539. 


184  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

on  the  twenty-third  day  of  June,  1870,  at  10^  a.  m.,  in  the  First  Church 
of  Pittsburg,  Pa. ;  and  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  is  hereby  declared  to  be 
the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the 
possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the 
performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  that  Synod. 

12.  The  Synod  of  Baltimore  is  hereby  constituted;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  States  of  Del- 
aware and  Maryland,  the  District  of  Columbia,  Virginia,  and  that  part  of 
West  Virginia  east  of  the  Allegheny  ridge,  together  with  the  Presbytery 
of  Rio  Janeiro;  to  meet  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  June,  1870,  at  7]  p.  m., 
in  the  Central  Church  of  Wilmington,  Del. ;  and  the  Synod  of  Baltimoi-e 
is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Baltimore,  and_ 
as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and 
franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  that  Synod. 

13.  The  Synod  of  Atlantic  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  States  of  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Florida;  to  meet  on  the  seventh  day  of  July, 
1870,  at  11  A.M.,  in  Biddle  Institute,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

14.  The  Synod  of  Cleveland  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  district  bounded 
by  the  Ohio  State  line  on  the  east,  and  the  west  and  south  lines  of  the 
counties  of  Lorain,  Medina,  Summit,  Stark,  Tuscarawas,  Guernsey,  Koble 
and  Monroe;  to  meet  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  June,  1870,  at  72  p.  m., 
in  the  Second  Church  of  Cleveland,  Ohio ;  and  the  Synod  of  Cleveland  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of  Wheeling  and 
Western  Reserve,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of 
all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  du- 
ties, of  those  Synods. 

15.  The  Synod  of  Toledo  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  counties  west  of  the 
Synod  of  Cleveland,  and  the  east  and  south  lines  of  the  counties  of  Erie, 
Huron,  Crawford,  Wyandot,  Hardin,  Logan,  Champaign,  Shelby  and  Mer- 
cer, Ohio;  to  meet  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  June,  1870,  at  7-i  p.  m.,  in  the 
Reunion  Presbyterian  Church  of  Lima,  Ohio;  and  the  Synod  of  Toledo  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Sandusky,  and 
as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and 
franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  that  Synod. 

16.  The  Synod  of  Cincinnati  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  counties 
bounded  by  the  north  and  east  lines  of  Darke,  Miami,  Clarke,  Greene, 
Fayette,  Ross,  Vinton  and  Gallia,  in  the  State  of  Ohio;  to  meet  on  the 
twelfth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  11  A.M.,  in  the  Second  Church  of  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio  ;  and  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal 
successor  of  the  Synods  of  Cincinnati,  N.  S.,  and  Cincinnati,  O.  S.,  and  as 
such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  fran- 
chises, and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

17.  The  Synod  of  Columbus  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  remaining, 
being  the  central,  counties  of  Ohio;  to  meet  on  the  twelfth  day  of  July, 
1870,  at  8  p.  M.,  in  the  Second  Church  of  Columbus,  Ohio;  and  the  Synod 
of  Columbus  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of 
Ohio,  N.  S.,  and  Ohio,  O.  S.,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  en- 
joyment of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of 
all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

18.  The  Synod  of  Michigan  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the 


OF   THE  SYNOD.  185 

Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  that  part  of  Mich- 
igan embracing  the  whole  of  the  lower  peninsula  of  that  State  ;  to  meet 
on  the  twelfth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  8  p.  M.,  in  the  Westminster  Church 
of  Detroit,  Mich. ;  and  the  Synod  of  Michigan  is  hereby  declared  to  be 
the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Michigan,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the 
possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to 
the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  that  Synod. 

19.  The  Synod  of  Kentucky  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky;  to  meet  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  June,  1870,  at  8  p.  m.,  in  the 
Chestnut  Street  Church  of  Louisville,  Ky. ;  and  the  Synod  of  Kentucky 
is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and 
franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  that  Synod. 

20.  The  Synod  of  Tennessee  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  States  of  Ten- 
nessee, Louisiana  and  Texas,  with  all  our  ministers  and  churches  in  the 
States  intervening ;  to  meet  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  2 
P.M.,  in  New  Market,  Tenn. ;  and  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  is  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  and  of  the 
Synod  of  Nashville,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment 
of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the 
duties,  of  those  Synods. 

21.  The  Synod  of  Indiana,  South,  is  hereby  constituted;  to  consist  of 
the  Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of 
Indiana,  south  of  the  north  line  of  the  counties  of  Wayne,  Henry,  Han- 
cock, Marion,  Hendricks,  Putnam,  Clay  and  Vigo ;  to  meet  on  the  fifth 
day  of  July,  1870,  at  7i  p.  m.,  in  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indi- 
anapolis, lud. ;  and  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  South,  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the 
legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of  Indiana,  N.  S.,  and  Indiana,  O.  S.,  and  as 
such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  fran- 
chises, and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

22.  The  Synod  of  Indiana,  North,  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of 
the  Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of 
Indiana,  north  of  the  north  line  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  South;  to  meet 
on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  June,  1870,  at  8  p.  m.,  in  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  Logansport,  Ind. ;  and  the  Synod  of  Indiana,  North,  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of  Northern  Indi- 
ana and  Wabash,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment 
of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the 
duties,  of  those  Synods. 

23.  The  Synod  of  Illinois,  South,  is  hereby  constituted;  to  consist  of 
the  Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of 
Illinois,  south  of  the  north  line  of  the  counties  of  Edgar,  Douglas,  Moul- 
trie, Shelby,  Christian,  Montgomery,  Macoupin,  Green  and  Calhoun;  to 
meet  on  the  twelfth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  7h  p.  m.,  in  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  Vandalia;  and  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  South,  is  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  N.  S.,  and  as  such 
entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises, 
and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  that  Synod. 

24.  The  Synod  of  Illinois,  Central,  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of 
the  Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  counties 
north  of  the  north  line  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  South,  and  south  of  the 
south  line  of  the  counties  of  Kankakee,  Grundy,  La  Salle,  Putnam,  Bu- 
reau, Henry  and  Mercer ;  to  meet  on  the  twelfth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  7i 

24 


186  FORM   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

P.M.,  in  the  First  Church  of  Bloomington,  111.;  and  the  Synod  of  Illinois, 
Central,  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Illi- 
nois, O.  S.,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the 
rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of 
that  Synod. 

25.  The  Synod  of  Illinois,  North,  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  remaining  coun- 
ties of  the  State  of  Illinois,  being  those  north  of  the  north  Vine  of  the  Synod 
of  Illinois,  Central;  to  meet  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  June,  1870,  at  7^ 
p.  M.,  in  the  First  Church  of  Chicago,  Illinois;  and  the  Synod  of  Illinois, 
North,  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of  Chi- 
cago and  Peoria,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of 
all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the 
duties,  of  those  Synods. 

26.  The  Synod  of  "Wisconsin  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of  Wis- 
consin, together  with  the  upper  peninsula  of  Michigan,  and  the  county  of 
St.  Louis,  in  the  State  of  Minnesota;  to  meet  on  the  twelfth  day  of  July, 
1870,  at  72  P.  M.,  in  the  North  Church  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.;  and  the  Synod 
of  W^isconsin  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of 
Wisconsin,  N.  S.,  and  Wisconsin,  O.  S.,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  posses- 
sion and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  per- 
formance of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

27.  The  Synod  of  JNIinnesota  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of  Min- 
nesota (except  the  county  of  St.  Louis),  and  also  the  Territory  of  Daco- 
tah;  to  meet  on  the  fifth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  8  p.  m.,  in  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.;  and  the  Synod  of  Minnesota  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of  jMinnesota  and 
St.  Paul,  and  as  such  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable 
to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

28.  The  Synod  of  Iowa,  North,  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  counties  of  the 
State  of  Iowa,  north  of  the  south  line  of  the  counties  of  Clinton,  Jones, 
Linn,  Benton,  Tama,  Marshall,  Story,  Boone,  Greene,  Carroll,  Crawford 
and  Maiiona;  to  meet  on  the  fifth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  8  P.  M.,  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Cedar  Eapids,  Iowa;  and  the  Synod  of  Iowa, 
North,  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of  Iowa, 
N.  S.,  and  Iowa,  O.  S.,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoymfiit 
of  all  tlie  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the 
duties,  of  those  Synods. 

29.  The  Synod  of  Iowa,  South,  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of  Iowa, 
south  of  the  south  line  of  the  Synod  of  Iowa,  North,  Nebraska,  and  the 
Territory  of  Wyoming;  to  meet  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  July,  1870,  at 
8  P.  M.,  in  the  Central  Church  of  Des  INIoines,  Iowa ;  and  the  Synod  of 
Iowa,  South,  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of 
Southern  Iowa,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all 
the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  tiie  duties, 
of  that  Synod. 

80.  The  Synod  of  Missouri  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of  ]Mis- 
souri  ;*  to  meet  on  the  sixth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  8  p.  m.,  in  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.;  and  the  Synod  of  jNIis.souri  is  hereby 
declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  N.  S.,  and  the 


OF   THE   SYNOD.  187 

Synod  of  IMissouri,  0.  S.,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoy- 
ment of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all 
the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

31.  The  Synod  of  Kansas  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  j^arts  of  Presbyteries  included  within  the  State  of  Kansas,  in 
Colorado,  in  New  Mexico  and  in  the  Indian  Territory ;  to  meet  on  the 
twelfth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  7-2  p.  m.,  in  the  First  Church  of  Topeka  ; 
and  the  Synod  of  Kansas  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of 
the  Synod  of  Kansas,  N.  S.,  and  Kansas,  0.  S.,  and  as  such  entitled  to  the 
possei;siou  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the 
performance  of  all  the  duties,  of  those  Synods. 

32.  The  Synod  of  the  Pacific  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the 
Presbyteries  and  parts  of  Presbyteries  west  of  the  Eocky  Mountains  ;  to 
meet  on  the  twelfth  day  of  July,  1870,  at  Ih  o'clock  p.  m.,  in  the  Howard 
Church  of  San  Francisco,  Cal. ;  and  the  Synod  of  the  Pacific  is  hereby 
declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  Synods  of  Pacific  and  Alta  Cali- 
fornia, and  as  such  is  entitled  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  all  the 
rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  performance  of  all  the  duties,  of 
those  Synods. 

33.  The  Synod  of  India  is  hereby  constituted  ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  parts  of  Presbyteries,  and  all  our  missionaries  and  churches, 
in  that  country,  to  meet  on  their  own  adjournment. 

34.  The  Synod  of  China  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  parts  of  Presbyteries,  and  all  our  missionaries  and  churches, 
in  China,  Siam  and  Japan  ;  to  meet  on  the  twentieth  day  of  October,  1870, 
at  7  P.  M.,  in  the  Presbyterian  Mission  Chapel,  at  Shanghai. — 1870,  pp. 
91-97. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church 
it  w^as 

Resolved,  That  the  churches  connected  with  any  of  the  Presbyteries  of 
this  Church  that  are  located  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  United  States  be, 
and  they  hereby  are,  attached  to  the  Presbytery  and  Synod  as  newly  ar- 
ranged to  which  they  are  next  adjacent. — 1*870,  p.  127. 

35.  The  Synod  of  Colorado  is  hereby  constituted ;  to  consist  of  the 
ministers  and  churches  in  the  Presbyteries  of  Colorado,  Santa  Fe  and 
Wyoming ;  and  that  said  Synod  meet  at  Pueblo,  Colorado,  on  the  fourth 
day  of  September,  1871,  at  11  o'clock  A.  m. — 1871,  p.  547. 

3,  Changes  in  the  Boundaries  of  the  Synods. 

a.  OvertureNo.  8,  from  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Paul,  asking  for  the  rele- 
gation of  St.  Louis  county,  Minnesota,  to  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Paul,  Synod 
of  Minnesota.  The  reconstruction  act,  by  special  provision,  embraced  the 
county  of  St.  Louis  in  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin,  instead  of  that  of  Min- 
nesota, to  which  it  geographically  belongs.  The  change  now  asked  for  by 
the  overture  will  make  the  Synod  of  Minnesota  embrace  the  whole  of  the 
State  of  Minnesota.  The  Committee,  therefore,  recommend  that  the  re- 
quest be  granted. — 1871,  p.  540. 

h.  The  Church  of  Milford,  Pa.,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Lackawanna, 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson,  Synod  of  New  York. 
—1871,  p.  540. 

c.  Overture  No,  16,  from  the  American  Presbyterian  Church  of  Montreal, 
Canada,  asking  the  Assembly  to  transfer  it  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cham- 
plain  to  the  Presbytery  of  New  York.  In  view  of  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  this  case,  the  church  being  outside  of  the  United  States,  the 


188  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Committee  recommend  that  the  request  be  granted,  and  that  the  presby- 
terial  connection  of  the  American  church  of  Montreal  be  hereby  changed 
accordingly. — lb.,  p.  541. 

d.  Overture  No.  19,  from  the  Synod  of  Columbus,  asking  for  the 
transfer  of  the  Church  of  Buffalo,  in  Guernsey  county,  with  its  pastor,  the 
Rev.  H.  C.  Foulke,  from  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville,  Synod  of 
Cleveland,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Zanesville,  in  this  Synod.  Also,  a  re- 
monstrance from  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville,  on  the  ground  that  the 
church  and  pastor  had  refused  to  acknowledge  their  Synodical  relation  as 
declared  by  the  last  Assembly,  and  that  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville 
have  remonstrated  with  the  Synod  of  Columbus  against  the  illegal  recep- 
tion of  the  church  and  pastor.  The  Committee  recommend  that  the  re- 
quest be  answered  in  the  affirmative. — lb.,  p.  545. 

e.  Overture  No.  28,  a  memorial  from  the  Synod  of  Minnesota,  asking 
the  Assembly  to  attach  the  Santee  Reservation  in  Nebraska  to  the  Synod 
of  Minnesota.  It  appears,  by  the  memorial,  that  the  Pilgrim  church 
among  the  Santee  Indians  in  Nebraska  was,  by  the  reconstruction  act, 
placed  within  the  Synod  of  Iowa,  South  ;  and  as  it  would  seem  to  be  ad- 
visable that  all  the  churches  in  the  Dakota  Mission  should  be  under  the 
care  of  one  Synod,  the  Committee  recommend  the  granting  of  the  request. 
—lb.,  p.  546. 

/.  The  Church  of  Canal  Fulton,  transferred  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Mahoning,  Synod  of  Cleveland,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Wooster,  Synod  of 
Columbus.— 1872,  p.  86. 

g.  The  Committee  recommend  that  the  western  boundary  of  the  Sy- 
nod of  Harrisburg  be  so  changed  as  to  include  within  that  Synod  the 
Shiloh  Church  of  St.  Mary's,  to  be  attached  to  the  Presbytery  of  North- 
umberland.    Adopted.— 1872,  p.  86. 

h.  To  transfer  the  Churches  of  Mechanicsville  and  Clarence  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Iowa  City  and  Synod  of  Iowa,  South,  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Cedar  Rapids,  Synod  of  Iowa,  North,  and  also  to  alter  the  boundary  line 
between  those  two  Synods  so  that  the  northern  tier  of  townshijjs  in  Cedar 
county  shall  be  included  within  the  limit  of  the  Synod  of  Iowa,  North. 
Adopted.— 1872,  p.  88. 

i.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Austin,  Texas,  asking  to  be  de- 
tached from  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  and  made  a  constituent  part  of  the 
Synod  of  Kansas,  because  of  the  great  distance,  and  inconvenient  access 
to  that  part  of  Tennessee  where  the  Synod  usually  meets,  which  have  thus 
far  hindered  the  Presbytery  altogether  from  attending ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  the  direct  coninuuiication  with  Kansas,  now  established  by  railroad 
connections. 

Recommended  that  the  Presbytery  of  Austin  be  a  part  of  the  Synod  of 
Kansas,  until  a  Synod  be  organized  in  Texas.    Adopted. — 1873,  p.  525. 

k.  The  Church  of  lieem's  Creek,  Presbytery  of  Catawba,  Synod  of  At- 
lantic, transferred  to  Presbytery  of  Holston,  Synod  of  Tennessee,  on  ac- 
count of  inconvenience  of  geographical  position. — 1873,  p.  539. 

/,  A  memorial  from  the  Synod  of  Illinois  Central,  and  one  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Ottawa,  in  connection  with  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  North,  re- 
questing that  the  boundary  line  between  those  Synods  be  changed  so  as  to 
include  the  two  townships  of  Osage  and  Groveland,  in  the  county  of  La 
Salle,  within  the  territory  of  Illinois  Central.     Granted. — 1873,  p.  539. 

II.  Any  seven  ministers,  belonging  to  the  Synod,  who  shall  con- 
vene at  the  time  and  place  of  meeting,  with  as  many  elders  as  may  be 


OF   THE   SYNOD.  189 

present,  shall  be  a  quorum  to  transact  sy nodical  business ;  provided 
not  more  than  three  of  the  said  ministers  belong  to  one  presbytery. 

1.  The  Rvile  as  to  a  Quorum  must  be  Observed. — Irregular  Pro- 
ceedings.— HoviT'  treated. 

a.  It  appears  from  the  record  that  certain  members  of  the  Synod  of 
"West  Tennessee  met  at  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  Oct.  12,  1848,  and  consti- 
tuted themselves  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee,  contrary  to  the  Form  of 
Government,  chap,  xi.,  sec.  2,  there  being  seven  ministers  present,  but  four 
of  them  were  from  one  Presbytery. 

1st.  The  Assembly  declare  all  proceedings  and  acts  of  those  members  of 
the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee  found  recorded  on  pp.  214-230  unconstitu- 
tional and  invalid,  except  so  far  as  relates  to  the  appointment  of  the  time 
and  place  for  the  next  meeting  of  Synod. 

2d.  That  the  Synod  be  directed  to  review,  at  its  first  regular  meeting 
hereafter,  the  proceedings  and  acts  of  said  members  of  the  Synod,  and 
that  they  adopt  or  reject  the  same,  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  they  may  see 
fit.— 1849,  p.  248,  O.  S. 

b.   The  Acts  of  less  than  a  Quorum  Unconstitutional. 

In  regard  to  the  Minutes  of  1855,  Synod  of  Arkansas,  the  Assembly 
declares — 

1st.  That  the  proceedings  and  acts  of  the  members  of  said  Synod,  met 
at  Little  Rock,  Sept.  20,  1855,  are  unconstitutional  and  void — inasmuch 
as  they  proceeded  without  such  a  quorum  as  the  constitution  requires — 
except  so  far  as  relates  to  the  appointment  of  the  time  and  place  of  the 
next  meeting. 

2d.  The  Synod  is  directed  to  review,  at  its  next  regular  meeting,  the 
proceedings  and  acts  of  said  members,  and  to  adopt  or  reject  them,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  as  they  may  see  fit. — 1856,  p.  539,  0.  S. 

2.   Session  on  the  Sabbath  Censured. 

a.  The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
North  Carolina  reported,  when  the  records  were  approved,  with  the  ex- 
ception that  on  page  48  it  is  recorded  that  Synod  held  a  session  on  Sab- 
bath evening.  This  was  the  closing  meeting;  and  though  it  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  one  of  much  business,  still,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly, 
it  was  not  proper. — 1834,  p.  445. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Peoria  approved,  with  the  exception 
"  that  on  page  33  there  is  the  record  of  a  business  meeting  held  on  Sab- 
bath evening."— 1846,  p.  18,  N.  S. 

3.  "When  a  Synod  has  failed  to  Meet  on  its  Adjournment.— The 

Remedy. 

a.  As  it  appeared  from  the  representations  of  ministers  and  elders 
assembled  at  Yorktown,  the  20th  of  October,  1795,  and  signed  Robert 
Davidson,  that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  did  not  meet  according  to  its 
last  adjournment,  nor  since  the  time  to  which  it  was  adjourned.  On  mo- 
tion. 

Resolved,  That  the  moderator  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Robert  Davidson,  ought  to  be  considered  as  competent  to  call  a  meet- 
ing of  the  same,  and  that  he  do  accordingly  call  a  meeting,  to  be  held  in 
tJie  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  Phdadelphia,  on  the  fourth 


190  FORM    OF    GOYERXMENT. 

"Wednesday  of  October  next;  and  that  he  give  due  notice  thereof  by  a 
circuhir  letter  to  the  moderators  of  the  several  Presbyteries  composing 
the  said  Synod,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  acquaint  the  other  members. 

Resolved,  as  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly,  That  from  the  nature  of  the 
thing  two  or  more  members  of  any  judicatory,  meeting  according  to  the 
adjournment,  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day  until  a  sufficient  number  attend 
for  the  transacting  of  business,  and  in  case  a  quorum  should  not  attend 
within  a  reasonable  time,  that  the  moderator  shall  be  considered  as  com- 
petent to  fix  any  time  and  place  he  may  judge  proper  for  convening  the 
body;  and  if  he  be  absent,  that  the  members  assembled  shall  represent 
the  matter  speedily  to  him,  that  he  may  act  accordingly." — 17i)6,  p.  113. 

h.  A  request  from  the  moderator  of  the  Synod  of  Upper  ^Missouri,  that 
as  the  Synod  failed  to  meet  last  fall,  according  to  adjournment,  in  Kansas 
City,  owing  to  the  distracted  state  of  the  country,  the  Assembly  would 
enjoin  upon  said  Synod  to  meet  in  Liberty  Church,  Clay  county,  Missouri, 
on  the  1st  day  of  October  next,  at  7  o'clock  p.  m. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  request  be  granted,  and  the  Synod 
be  and  hereby  is  directed  to  meet  accordingly. — 18G2,  p.  596.  "  Time 
changed  to  Oct.  8,  and  report  adopted." — p.  610,  O.  S. 

[At  the  same  meeting  a  similar  request  from  the  Synod  of  Baltimore 
was  answered  in  the  same  manner.] — p.  596,  O.  S. 

Also  Synod  of  Missouri,  N.  S.— 1862,  p.  14. 

On  petition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  the  Assembly  changed  the 
time  of  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  on  account  of  the  meeting 
of  the  Evangelical  Alliance. — 1873,  p.  525. 

4,  Meetings  pro  re  nata  Constitutional. 

a.  The  Committee  of  Overtures  also  reported  Overture  Ko.  13.  This 
overture  was  taken  up,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.;  "An  answer  is  requested  to 
the  following  question,  viz..  Has  the  moderator  of  a  Synod  a  right  to  call 
a  meeting  of  the  Synod  during  the  interval  of  its  stated  sessions?" 

Resolved  bv  the  Assembly,  That  this  c^uestion  be  answered  in  the  af- 
firmative.—1829,  p.  268. 

h.  The  Assembly  took  up  the  protest  and  complaint  of  a  minority  of 
the  Synod  of  Virginia  against  a  decision  of  said  Synod  in  favor  of  called 
meetings  of  Synod.  The  complainants  and  Synod  were  heard,  after 
which  it  was  resolved  that  the  complaint  be  not  sustained. — 1832,  p.  368. 

c.  The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  reported 
that  after  a  careful  examination  of  those  records  they  find  them  correct ; 
and  the  attention  of  the  Committee  having  been  called  to  the  report  of  a 
committee  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  relating  to  the  constitutionality  of  a 
called  meeting  of  said  Synod,  convened  in  accordance  Avith  a  declaratory 
resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1796, 
and  found  on  page  321  of  the  Digest  published  in  1820,  after  a  careful 
examination  of  the  whole  subject,  they  recommend  the  following  action 
in  the  case:  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly  the  meeting 
of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  at  Knoxville,  in  said  State,  on  the  ninth  day 
of  November,  was  in  accordance  with  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  the  Assembly  do  so  declare.  The  report  was  adopted. — 1855, 
p.  16,  N.  S. 

5.  The  Moderator  must  Specify  the  Object  of  the  Meethig-. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  were  approved,  except  the  record 
of  a  meeting  of  Synod,  which  was  convened  pursuant  to  call  of  the  modera- 


OF   THE   SYNOD.  191 

tor  without  a  specification  of  the  object  for  which  they  were  convened. — 
1823,  p.  74. 

6.  Moderator  may  not  Change  the  Time  of  Meeting. 

a.  licsolred.  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  be  ap- 
proved, with  the  exception  of  the  postponement  of  the  reguhir  meeting  of 
Svnod  by  the  moderator,  which  this  Assembly  consider  irregular. — 1848, 
p!  36,  O.  S. 

b.  Eecords  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  approved,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
action  of  that  body,  as  recorded  on  page  415,  sustaining  the  act  of  the 
moderator  of  the  Synod  in  changing  the  time  of  its  annual  meeting. — 
1854,  p.  500,  N.  S. 

7.  A  Superior  Court  may  make  the  Change. 

A  request  from  the  Presbytery  of  Missouri  that  the  Assembly  will 
change  the  place  of  the  next  stated  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri. 
The  Committee  recommended  that  the  request  be  granted,  and  that  the 
next  stated  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri  be  held  at  Boonville  instead 
of  Jetierson  City,  to  which  place  it  now  stands  adjourned,  which  was 
adopted.— 1842,  p.  16,  O.  S. 

[On  the  same  page  is  a  similar  action  changing  the  stated  meeting  of 
the  Synod  of  North  Carolina.] 

III.  The  same  rule  as  to  corresponding  members,  which  was  laid 
dowai  with  respect  to  the  Presbytery,  shall  apply  to  the  Synod. 

[See  ante,  chap,  x.,  sec.  xii.,  Form  of  Government.] 

IV.  The  Synod  has  power  to  receive  and  issue  all  appeals  regu- 
larly broiiglit  up  from  the  Presbyteries ;  to  decide  on  all  references 
made  to  them  ;  to  review  the  records  of  Presbyteries,  and  ap]irove  or 
censure  them ;  to  redress  whatever  has  been  done  by  Presbyteries  con- 
trary to  order ;  to  take  effectual  care  that  Presbyteries  observe  the 
constitution  of  the  Church ;  to  erect  new  Presbyteries,  and  unite  or 
divide  those  which  were  before  erected;  generally  to  take  such  order 
with  respect  to  the  Presbyteries,  sessions  and  people  under  their  care, 
as  may  be  in  conformity  with  the  word  of  God  and  the  established 
rules,  and  which  tend  to  promote  the  edification  of  the  Church;  and, 
finally,  to  propose  to  the  General  Assembly,  for  their  adoption,  such 
measures  as  may  be  of  common  advantage  to  the  whole  Church. 

1.  The  Synod  has  Appellate,  but  not  Original,  Jurisdiction. 

a.  The  Assembly  having  maturely  considered  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Davis 
from  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  in  his  case, 

Resolved,  That  although  they  highly  approve  of  the  zeal  of  the  Synod 
to  preserve  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church  within  their  bounds,  yet 
they  cannot  but  decide  that  in  their  proceedings  in  the  above  case,  in  de- 
ciding that  they  had  a  right  to  try  Mr.  Davis,  when  there  was  no  reference 
nor  appeal  in  his  case  before  them,  they  have  not  strictly  adhered  to  the 
constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. — 1810,  p.  448. 


192  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

b.   This  Decision  Reaffirmed. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  report  on  the  petition  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina  relative  to  a  reconsideration  of  a  decision  of  last  Assem- 
bly reported,  and  recommended  the  reconsideration.  Their  report  wa3 
rejected  and  the  Committee  discharged.     Whereupon, 

Resolved,  That  though  the  General  Assembly  regret  the  dissatisfaction 
of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Davis,  yet  they 
cannot  see  it  to  be  expedient  or  proper  to  reconsider  the  judgment  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  last  year  on  the  case  in  question. — 1811,  p.  468. 

c.  That  the  Synod  (of  Genesee)  seem  to  have  forgotten  the  nature  and 
limits  of  their  appellate,  as  distinguished  from  the  original,  jurisdiction  in 
the  case,  in  that  they  censure  at  their  bar  the  appellant  in  a  v;ay  compe- 
tent in  any  circumstances  only  to  the  session  of  the  church  to  which  the 
appellant  was  primarily  amenable. — 1840,  p.  11,  N.  S. 

2.  The  Synod  may  not  institute  Judicial  Process. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  in  the  institution  and  pros- 
ecution of  judicial  process  against  William  Graham,  are  unconstitutional 
and  irregular,  and  therefore  null  and  void  ;  and  the  Synod  is  hereby  en- 
joined to  take  constitutional  action  in  the  case,  and  to  revise  and  cor- 
rect its  proceedings  accordingly. — 1846,  p.  31,  N.  S. 

3.  A    Synod   Censured    for   Entertaining    an   Appeal    irregularly 

brought. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Utica  excepted  to. 

1  and  2.  See  under  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub.  sec.  v.,  3  h. — 
1840,  p.  12,  N.  S. 

4.  The  Synod  may  Reverse  and  Correct  the  Action  of  Presbytery, 

but  must  Observe  the  Rules  of  Discipline. 

The  Assembly  having  heard  the  complaint  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle 
against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  case  of  William  S.  M'Dowell, 
with  the  facts  and  arguments  oti'ered  both  by  the  Presbytery  and  the  Syn- 
od, judge  that  the  Synod  had  a  constitutional  right  to  reverse  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Presbytery  in  this  case,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  to  thera 
might  seem  proper,  but  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  right  the  Synod  have 
not  duly  regarded  the  principles  of  discipline  prescribed  in  the  constitu- 
tion ;  inasmuch  as  it  appears  by  their  records  that  they  have  removed  all 
censure  from  a  man  whom  they  declare  to  be  deserving  of  rebuke,  with- 
out directing  that  rebuke  to  be  administered,  and  without  receiving  any 
evidence  of  his  penitence. — 1823,  p.  81. 

5.  The  Synod  has  Jurisdiction  over  the  Members  of  an  Extinct 
Presbytery  not  received  by  any  other  Presbytery. — 1825,  p.  147. 

See  above,  chap  x.,  sec.  viii.,  17. 

6.  A  Synod  visits  a  Church  to  Ascertain  the  Acceptability  of  its 

Elders. 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  expresses  no  opinion  upon  the  action  of  the 
Synod  (of  New  Jersey)  in  appointing  a  committee  to  visit  the  Third  Church, 
Newark,  in  order  to  ascertain  if  any  member  of  the  session  were  unaccept- 
able to  the  people. — 1862,  p.  631,  6.  S. 


OF   THE   SYNOD.  193 

The  next  year  the  complaint  of  William  B.  Guild  against  the  action  of 
Synod  was  sustained  p-o/orwia. — 1863,  p.  35,  0.  S. 

A  Synod  directs  a  Presbytery  to  dissolve  the  pastoral  relation,  and  on 
complaint  to  the  Assembly  is  sustained.  See  above,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.,  etc., 
appeal  of  Jos.  Connell  vs.  Synod  of  Pittsburg.— 1868,  p.  648,  O.  S. 

V.  The  Synod  shall  convene  at  least  once  in  each  year;   at  the 

opening  of  which  a  sermon  shall  be  delivered  by  the  moderator,  or, 

in  case  of  his  absence,  by  some  other  member ;  and  every  particular 

session  shall  be  opened  and  closed  with  prayer. 

1.  The  above  Rule  construed  Literally,  and  must  be  Obeyed. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  approved,  except_  "  that  at 
the  opening  of  the  Synod  no  sermon  was  delivered,  as  the  Constitution  re- 
quires, but  on  the  following  evening." — 1827,  p.  205. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved,  except  that  "  the 
Synod  was  opened  without  a  sermon,  whereas  the  Form  of  Government, 
chap,  xi.,  sec.  v.,  requires  that  a  sermon  shall  be  preached." — 1843,  p.  181, 
O.  S. 

c.  Records  of  Synod  of  Buffalo,  except, 

od.  That  it  appears  by  the  record  on  page  75  that  a  meeting  of  the 
Synod  was  opened  without  a  sermon,  Avhereas  the  Form  of  Government, 
chap,  xi.,  sec.  v.,  requires  that  a  sermon  shall  be  preached. 

And  again,  on  page  79,  that  at  the  opening  of  the  Synod  no  sermon 
was  delivered,  as  the  Constitution  requires,  but  on  the  following  evening. 
—1856,  p.  520.  0.  S. 

2.  The  Records  should  State  that  the  Meetings  were  Opened  and 
Closed  with  Prayer. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  approved,  except  that 
"  there  is  no  evidence  from  the  records  that  the  last  meeting  of  the  Synod 
was  opened  with  prayer."— 1850,  p.  314,  N.  S. ;  1859,  p.  531,  O.  S. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  were  approved,  with  the  fol- 
lowing exceptions : 

1.  On  p.  84  it  appears  from  the  record  that  the  Synod  adjourned  at  the 
close  of  the  day  without  prayer. 

2.  On  p.  36  it  is  recorded  that  the  Synod  was  constituted  with  prayer, 
it  being  the  second  day  of  the  sessions  of  the  Synod. — 1854,  p.  500,  N.  S. 

c.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  approved,  except  that  "  there 
is  no  record  of  prayer  in  p.  176." — 1854,  p.  501,  N.  S. 

d.  Records  of  Synod  of  Minnesota  approved,  except  "  that  on  p.  54,  in 
the  record  of  the  session  of  Friday,  Sept.  30,  1859,  no  mention  is  made 
of  the  opening  services." — 1860,  p.  239,  N".  S. 

e.  The  opening  minute  of  each  session  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  is 
defective,  in  not  recording  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  before  its  being 
opened  with  prayer. — 1849,  p.  177,  N.  S. 

/.  Records  of  Synod  of  Cincinnati  approved,  except  "  that  on  p.  5  the 
Synod  adjourned  without  prayer." — 1865,  p.  553,  O.  S. 

g.  Synod  of  Geneva,  except  "that  it  does  not  appear  from  the  record 
that  they  finally  closed  their  sessions  with  prayer." — 3830,  p.  288. 

h.  It  does  not  appear  from  the  records  that  the  Synod  of  Ncn-th  Caro- 
lina closed  its  final  session  with  the  usual  exercises  of  singing,  prayer  and 
the  apostolical  benediction. — 1852,  p.  216,  O.  S. 
25 


194  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

i.  The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Sandusky  reported, 

That  they  had  examined  the  same,  and  recommend  their  approval,  witli 
the  following  exception : 

On  page  49,  on  motion  to  approve  records  of  Presbytery  of  ^lichigan, 
the  following  exception  was  made  by  members  of  Synod  :  "With  tlie  ex- 
ception to  so  much  of  the  record  as  excepts  to  the  sessional  records  of  the 
Westminster  Church,  Detroit,  and  the  church  in  Pontiac,  for  the  failure  to 
close  meetings  with  prayer. 

"While  the  Synod  regards  it  as  eminently  proper  to  open  and  close  the 
meetings  of  session  with  prayer,  yet,  as  the  matter  is  left  by  the  Forui  of 
Government  at  the  discretion  of  the  session  ;  and  as  such  meetings  are 
sometimes  held  under  circumstances  which  render  the  formal  opening  and 
closing  with  prayer  inconvenient,  the  exercise  of  the  discretion  of  the  ses- 
sion is  not  properly  a  matter  of  censure  by  Presbytery."  The  exception 
was  lost. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  your  Committee  that  Synod  erred  in  declining  to  sus- 
tain this  exception,  it  being  in  harmony  with  the  Form  of  Government  of 
our  Church.— 1803,  p.  48,  0.  S.  ' 

j.  The  Synod  of  Columbus,  "except  that  on  several  occasions,  if  the 
sessions  of  this  Synod  were  opened  with  prayer,  there  is  no  record  of  the 
fact."— 1872,  p.  (38. 

VI.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Synod  to  keep  full  and  fair  records 
of  its  proceedings,  to  submit  them  annually  to  the  inspection  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  to  report  to  the  Assembly  the  number  of  its 
Presbyteries,  and  of  the  members  and  alterations  of  the  Presbyteries. 

1.  The    Records   must   be    Full    and   Fair.— Reasons    for   Decisions 
must  be  Recorded. 

a.  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  except  resolution  on  ])age  74,  disapproving  of 
the  proceedings  of  a  Presbytery,  without  assigning  tlie  reasons. — 182U,  p. 
728. 

b.  Synod  of  Ohio,  except  a  minute  on  page  243,  disapproving  of  a  de- 
cision of  a  Presbytery,  and  ordering  said  Presbytery  to  reconsider  that  de- 
cision, without  any  reasons  being  assigned. — 1827,  p.  202. 

c.  Absentees  must  be  Recorded;  Judicicd  Cases  must  be  Stated. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  were  approved,  with  the  fol- 
lowing exce])tions,  viz.  : 

1st.  That  there  is  no  record  of  absentees  from  the  meeting. 

2d.  That  it  appears,  from  page  282,  that  an  appeal  and  complaint  was 
issued  in  the  usual  form,  without  any  intimation  of  what  the  sentence  or 
proceeding  was  against  which  the  complaint  was  made. 

3d.  That  it  appears,  from  page  273,  that  another  complaint  Avas  is>ucd, 
■without  any  record  of  the  ])roceeding  complained  of  or  the  body  whose  pro- 
ceeding was  the  subject  of  complaint. — 1852,  p.  21(i,  O.  S. 

d.  BesoJidion  must  be  Recorded;  Nature  and  Reasons  for  Dcci.sloji. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  were  approved,  with  the  exceptions, 
1st.  That  on  page  77  it  is  stated  that  after  discussion  certain  resolutions 
were  adopted,  as  follows.  None  of  these  resolutions  appear  on  record,  and 
their  character  is  not  described.  2d.  In  a  judicial  case,  on  its  issue,  the 
final  record,  containing  the  sentence  of  the  court,  is  defective,  inasmuch 


OF    THE    SYNOD.  195 

as  its  statement  gives  no  clue  to  the  merits  or  significance  of  the  decision, 
or  reasons  for  it. — 1861,  p.  315,  O.  S. 

e.   Overture  Answered  must  be  Described. 

The  Committee  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  presented  the 
following  report,  which  was  adopted : 

The  Committee  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  report,  recom- 
mending their  approval,  with  exception  of  a  minute,  page  152  of  the 
records,  where  an  overture  from  the  United  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Pitts- 
burg appears  to  have  been  answered  without  any  description  being  given 
of  it.— 1865,  p.  541,  O.  S. 

/.  Papers  must  be  Preserved,  Pages  numbered. 

The  Committee  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin  presented  the 
following  report,  which  was  adopted  : 

The  Committee  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin  report,  recom- 
mending their  approval  as  far  as  written,  with  these  exceptions:  1st.  The 
pages  are  not  numbered.  2d.  There  seems  to  have  been  a  want  of  proper 
care  in  the  preservation  of  papers,  as  the  Committee  on  the  Minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly  made  a  verbal  report  which  was  accepted,  but  the 
report  is  wanting.  This  thing  the  Synod  itself  condemns  in  the  case  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Dane. — 1865,  p.  541,  O.  S. 

ff.  Judicial  Cases  must  be  Described. 

Synod  of  Cincinnati.  On  pp.  6  and  13  a  complaint  was  received,  re- 
ferred and  decided,  without  any  statement  in  regard  to  the  character  of 
said  complaint. — 1865,  p.  553,  O.  S. 

h.  Beasons  must  be  Recorded. 

The  Committee  on  the  Synod  of  Onondaga  reported,  recommending 
that  they  be  approved  as  far  as  written,  with  the  following  exception: 

On  page  186  we  find  the  Synod  administering  censure  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Cayuga  for  an  act  of  discipline  toward  one  of  its  churches,  on  the 
ground  that  tlie  reasons  for  such  discipline  were  not  given  according  to 
the  requirements  of  our  Book  of  Discipline ;  yet  on  the  next  page  we  find 
said  Synod  reaffirming  the  acts  of  a  church  censured  by  its  Presbytery, 
and  reversing  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  without  giving  the  required 
reasons  for  such  a  singular  proceeding. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1863,  p.  277,  N.  S. 

i.  The  Synod  (of  Illinois)  have  not  discharged  their  duty.  They  ought 
to  have  spread  upon  their  record  everything  which  influenced  their  judg- 
ment in  the  case. — 1840,  p.  303,  O.  S. 

j.  The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  I'eported 
as  follows : 

1.  That  they  have  examined  the  records,  and  move  they  be  approved 
as  far  as  written,  with  the  following  exceptions,  that  on  page  36  the  min- 
ute is  defective  in  that  a  complaint  was  received,  referred  and  decided, 
without  any  statement  with  regard  to  the  subject  matter  of  said  complaint. 

2.  This  defect  in  the  record  disables  this  x\sseml)ly  from  deciding  as  to 
the  validity  of  the  recorded  reasons  given  for  the  decision  of  the  Svnod 
in  the  case  on  page  87. 

3.  This  defect  in  the  minutes  is  the  more  to  be  excepted  against,  inas- 
much as  it  records  the  implied  censure  of  the  complainant,  while  the  As- 


196  FOUM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

sembly  is  deprived  of  the  opportunity  to  pass  upon  the  case. — 1866,  p.  50, 
O.  S. 

See  also  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  sub.  sec.  iii. 

2.  The  Records  Should  be  Fair. 
a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Northern  Indiana  were  approved,  Avith 
the  exception  of  the  mode  of  recording  the  minute  of  a  joint  session  of 
the  two  Synods  of  Indiana  and  Northern  Indiana,  which,  instead  of  being 
written,  is  cut  from  a  newspaper  and  pasted  in  the  book. — 1868,  p.  64U, 
0.  S. 

h.  Sundry  Omissions  and  Irregularities  Censured. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin  were  approved,  with  the  follow- 
ing exceptions,  viz.: 

1.  The  records  are  marked  by  several  verbal  omissions  and  the  neglect 
of  orthography  and  punctuation,  and  the  absentees  of  1852-1853  are  not 
recorded. 

2.  During  the  sessions  of  1852  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Synod  read, 
corrected  or  approved  the  records,  though  on  page  16  it  appears  that  the 
records  of  that  year  were  read  twelve  months  after  in  Synod,  though  still 
there  is  no  evidence  that  they  were  approved  by  it.  The  minutes  of  1853 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  ever  read  or  approved  in  Synod.  And  the 
records  of  1854  were  not  read  and  approved  till  the  meeting  of  1855. 

3.  On  page  23  it  appears  that  the  Synod,  October  13,  1853,  adjourned 
to  meet  at  Neenah  the  second  Thursday  of  October,  1854.  A  quorum 
having  failed  to  meet  at  that  time,  the  members  present  adjourned  to  a 
different  time  and  place  (Madison,  October  26),  and  there  is  no  evidence 
that  any  steps  were  taken  to  cause  their  modei'ator  to  notify  all  the  minis- 
ters and  church  sessions  of  the  new  meeting.  This  is  contrary  to  the  spirit 
of  the  precedents  approved  by  the  Assembly  (see  minutes  1796,  p.  113; 
Baird,  p.  212),  and  transcends  the  liberty  allowed  for  such  cases  by  the 
third  general  rule  for  judicatories. 

4.  On  pages  23,  27  and  32  are  recorded  adjournments  without  any  evi- 
dence that  the  sessions  were  closed  with  prayer. 

5.  On  pages  35,  36,  the  report  of  a  Committee  of  Review  on  the  Records 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Dane,  containing  an  exception  against  the  action  of 
the  Presbytery  for  appointing  Rev.  J.  W.  Sterling  its  lay  commissioner  to 
the  General  Assembly,  is  entered  on  the  records  of  Synod  without  any 
record  of  its  adoption  by  Synod  ;  and  again  it  is  stated  that  this  report 
was  amended  by  striking  out  the  exception,  and  there  is  still  no  evidence 
of  its  adoption  as  amended.  Also,  on  pages  39,  40,  the  report  of  a  com- 
mittee touching  the  complaints  of  J.  Y.  Smith  is  made  a  part  of  the  rec- 
ords of  Synod,  though,  so  far  as  these  records  show,  it  was  only  accepted 
and  laid  on  the  table. 

6.  The  records  of  the  Synod's  action  on  the  complaints  of  said  J.  Y. 
Smith  against  the  Presbytery  of  Dane  are  not  complete  enough  to  fulfill 
the  demands  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  iv.,  sec.  xxiii.,  which  says 
that  the  record  ought  to  "  exhibit  everything  which  had  an  influence  on 
the  judgment  of  the  court."  No  exception  is  proposed  against  the  action 
of  Synod  touching  those  complaints,  inasmuch  as  they  have  been  brought 
before  this  Assembly  through  another  channel  (the  Judicial  Committee) 
and  passed  upon. — 1856,  p.  520,  O.  S. 

3.  The  Records  must  be  Presented  Annually. 
a.    Ordered,  That  the  minutes  of  the  respective  Synods  be  laid  yearly 
before  the  General  Asseml)ly,  to  be  by  them  revised. — 1789,  p.  7. 


OF   THE   SYNOD.  197 

h.  Overture  No.  6  was  taken  up,  viz.,  a  request  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana, 
that  the  General  Assembly  be  requested  to  dispense  with  synodical  reports 
in  future. 

Resolved,  That  this  request  cannot  be  granted  because  it  is  unconstitu- 
tional.—1830,  p.  302. 

c.  Resolved,  That  the  respective  Synods  make  yearly  reports  to  the  Gen- 
eral iVssembly  of  all  the  licensures,  ordinations  and  installments,  transla- 
tions and  deaths,  and  whatever  changes  may  take  place  among  the  mem- 
bers within  their  bounds. — 1789,  p.  7. 

d.  The  Committee  on  Overture  No.  7,  viz.,  "a  request  from  the  Synod  of 
Ohio  to  change  the  form  of  statistical  reports  from  the  Synods  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,"  made  the  following  I'eport,  which  was  adopted,  viz. : 
That  inasmuch  as  the  General  Assembly  has  required  all  the  Presbyteries 
to  send  up  their  statistical  reports  immediately  after  the  last  stated  meet- 
ing prior  to  the  next  succeeding  Assembly,  and  as  these  reports  anticipate 
the  information  communicated  in  the  synodical  reports  about  a  year ; 
therefore. 

Resolved,  That  each  Synod  shall  not  be  required  to  report  in  detail,  but 
simply  to  report  to  the  Assembly,  the  number  of  its  Presbyteries,  and  of 
the  members  and  alterations  of  the  Presbyteries,  agreeably  to  the  sixth 
section  of  chapter  eleventh  on  Form  of  Government. — 1832,  p.  371. 

e.  The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin  reported 
that  they  have  been  subjected  to  an  increased  amount  of  labor  in  examin- 
ing the  minutes  of  this  Synod  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  the  stated 
clerk  to  send  up  the  records  annually  to  the  Assembly,  as  our  rules  re- 
quire. The  minutes  of  this  body  have  not  been  brought  under  the  in- 
spection of  the  Assembly  since  May,  1860,  leaving  an  accumulation  of 
four  years  of  unexamined  and  unapproved  records. 

There  are  indications  that  the  stated  clerk  has  been  delinquent  in 
punctually  recording  the  annual  minutes  as  taken  by  the  temporary 
clerk.  In  this  way  the  records  were  probably  not  in  readiness  to  be  sent 
to  the  Assembly  at  the  proper  time  by  the  commissioners  annually  ap- 
pointed. 

With  these  exceptions,  the  Committee  recommended  that  the  records 
be  approved  as  far  as  written,  in  the  usual  form. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 18(U,  p.  482,  N.  S.     [See  1856,  p.  519,  O.  S.] 

/.  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Wabash  approved,  except  tliat  they  have 
not  been  presented  to  the  Assembly  since  1859. — 1861,  p.  462.  N.  S. 

ff.  Records  of  Synod  of  Columbus,  except  that  these  records  have  not 
been  presented  to  the  Assembly  since  the  reconstruction  of  the  Synod  in 
1870.-1872,  p.  68. 

h.  Resolved,  That  the  stated  clerk  be  directed  to  remind  the  Synod  of 
Alta  California  of  its  neglect  of  duty  in  the  failure  for  several  years  to 
send  its  records  to  the  General  Assembly  for  review. — 1868,  p.  15,  N.  S. 

i.  The  Synods  of  Atlantic,  China,  Harrisburg,  Illinois  South,  Indiana 
North,  Kansas  and  Pacific  were  directed,  at  their  next  regular  meeting, 
to  call  their  stated  clerks  to  account  for  not  having  sent  up  their  records 
to  this  Assembly. — 1872,  p.  68. 

4.  The  Records  must  Sho-w  all  Changes  in  the  Presbyteries. 

"The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved  as  orderly  and  correct, 
excepting  that  the  Presbyterial  reports  are  not  so  fully  recorded  as  to  ex- 
hibit in  detail  even  the  changes  which  take  place  from  time  to  time  in 
the  Presbyteries."— 1811,  p.  479. 


198  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 


5.  The  Record  should.  State  the  Body  to  -which  a  Corresponding 

Member  belongs. 

a.  The  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  having  invited  several  ministers  to  take  their  seats  as  corre- 
sponding members,  without  describing  the  ecclesiastical  body  to  which 
such  ministers  belong. — 1815,  p.  578. 

b  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  approved,  "  except  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  James  H.  Dickey,  Dewey,  Whitney  and  W.  Comstock,  ministers 
of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  being  present,  were  invited  to  sit  as  corre- 
sponding members,"  the  bodies  to  which  the  ministers  respectively  belong 
not  being  mentioned. — 1840,  p.  296,  O.  S. 

c.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Peoria  were  approved,  with  the  ex- 
ception that  on  page  28  mention  is  made  of  a  minister  being  invited  to 
sit  as  a  corresponding  member  without  designating  the  ecclesiastical  body 
to  which  he  belonged. — 1846,  p.  18,  N.  S. 

d.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  p.  440,  "  do  not  state  the  eccle- 
siastical connection  of  the  Rev.  Amasa  Lord,  who  was  invited  to  sit  as  a 
corresponding  member." — 1857,  p.  387,  N.  S. 

6.  The  Minutes  should  be  Read  and  Approved. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  approved,  except  "the 
omission  at  the  opening  of  each  session  to  read  the  minutes  of  the  previ- 
ous session,  with  no  evidence  in  the  records  that  the  minutes  were  ap- 
proved by  Synod.''— 1849,  p.  177,  N.  S. 

b.  Synod  of  Wabash,  except  "  that  on  pp.  51  and  52  the  Synod  met  and 
proceeded  to  business  without  reading  the  minutes  of  the  previous  day's 
session.  On  page  59  the  Synod  closed  its  annual  sessions  and  adjourned 
Avithout  reading  or  approving  the  minutes  of  the  clerk." — 1854,  p.  500, 
N.  S. 

c.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin,  except  that  "  during  the 
sessions  of  1852  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Synod  read,  corrected  or 
approved  the  records;  though  on  p.  16  it  appears  that  the  records  of  that 
year  were  read  twelve  months  after,  in  Synod,  though  still  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  they  were  approved  by  it.  The  minutes  of  1853  do  not  appear 
to  have  been  ever  read  or  approved  in  Synod.  And  the  records  of  1854 
Avei-c  not  read  and  approved  till  the  meeting  of  1855." — 1856,  p.  520,  O.  S. 

d.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  were  approved,  excepting 
"that  it  does  not  appear  from  the  book  that  the  records  have  ever  been 
approved  by  the  Synod."— 1857,  p.  387,  N.  S. 

e.  Synod  of  Arkansas,  "  the  minutes  were  not  read  and  approved." — 
1860,  p.  34,  O.  S. 

7.  The  Minutes  should  be  Attested  by  the  Stated  Clerk. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Svnod  of  Tennessee  are  not  attested  bv  the  stated 
clerk.— 1854,  p.  500,  N.  S. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  not  approved  by  the  Synod, 
and  some  not  attested  by  the  stated  clerk. — 1854,  p.  501,  N.  S. 

c.  Synod  of  Wabash,  "not  signed  by  the  stated  clerk,  as  our  Church 
order  requires."— 1862,  p.  28,  N.  S. 

8.  Absentees  must  be  called  to  AnsAver. 

a.  The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Vir- 
ginia reported,  and  the  book  was  approved  to  page  83,  with  the  exception 


OF   THE   SYNOD.  199 

of  a  resolution  found  in  page  82,  in  which  the  Synod  determined  to  dis- 
continue the  practice  of  calling  upon  their  mtmbers  for  the  reasons  of 
their  absence  from  its  meetings. — 1825,  p.  140. 

b.  Synod  of  New  York,  except  "  that  reasons  for  tardiness  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  required  of  those  who  were  not  present  at  the  opening 
of  Synod."— 1873,  p.  506. 

9.  Names  of  Absentees  should  be  Recorded. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Peoria  were  approved,  except  "that  in  the 
roll  of  the  Synod  record  is  made  that  no  members  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Belvidere  were  present,  but  no  record  of  the  names  of  absentees." — 1850, 
p.  314,  N.  S. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi  approved,  except  "  that  the 
absentees  are  not  recorded  in  their  meetings  of  1854  and  1855," — 1856,  p. 
538,  O.  S. 

h.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  approved,  except  "that 
there  is  no  record  of  absentees  from  the  meeting." — 1852,  p.  216,  O.  S. 

c.  "The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  were  approved,  Avith  the 
exception  that  no  record  is  made  of  the  names  of  absentees,  and  no  ex- 
cuse for  absence  required." — 1868,  p.  640,  O.  S. 

10.  Synod  may  not  Discipline  Absentees. 

"The  records  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  were  approved,  with  the 
exception  of  the  resolution  to  make  a  minister  liable  to  suspension,  without 
trial,  for  three  years'  absence  from  Synod,  without  sending  forward  his 
reason  for  absence." — 1811,  p.  468. 

11.  A  Narrative  of  the   State  of  Religion  should  be  Prepared  and 

Recorded. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  were,  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  Committee,  approved,  with  the  following  exception,  viz. : 

At  the  sessions  of  Synod  in  October,  1846,  it  does  not  appear  from  the 
records  that  a  narrative  of  the  state  of  religion  was  prepared.  Such  an 
omission  is  considered  contrary  to  the  general  usage  of  Synods,  and  not 
for  the  edification  of  the  Church. — 1849,  p.  176,  N.  S. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  were  approved,  except  "that  they 
do  not  contain  the  narrative  on  the  state  of  religion  which  was  presented 
bv  the  Committee  on  that  subject  at  the  sessions  of  the  Synod  in  1854,  p. 
434."— 1857,  p.  387,  N.  S.;  1861,  p.  462,  N.  S. ;  1862,  p.^28,  K  S. 

e.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  the  Presbyteries 
and  Synod  to  record  in  their  minutes  the  narrative  of  religion,  and  all 
other  important  papers. — 1870,  p.  91. 

SYNODICAL  KEPORTS. 

A  Statisfieal  Report  is  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Assembly  by  the  stated  clerk 
of  every  Synod,  in  which  are  to  be  stated  the  number  of  Presbyteries, 
ministei'S,  churches,  licentiate^  and  candidates  within  their  bounds,  and 
how  distributed,  the  changes  which  m;iy  have  been  made  in  the  number  or 
arrangement  of  their  Presbyteries,  the  names  of  the  stated  clerks  of  the 
Presbyteries,  the  place  and  hour  of  the  next  annual  meeting,  and  the 
name  of  the  moderator  and  stated  clerk  of  the  Synod.  Such  a  report  is 
necessary  in  order  to  the  correctness  of  the  tabular  report  of  the  Synods 
printed  in  the  appendix  to  the  minutes. 


200  FOEM    OF    GOVEENMEVr. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY* 

I.  The  General  Assembly  is  the  highest  judicatoiy  of  the  Presbv- 
terian  Church.  It  shall  represent,  in  one  body,  all  the  particular 
churches  of  this  denomination  ;  and  shall  bear  the  title  of  The  Gex- 
EEAL  Assembly  of  the  Peesbyteeian  Chuech  ix  the  United 
States  of  Ameeica. 

*  Tiie  radical  principles  of  Presbyterian  church  government  and  discipline  are: 
That  the  several  different  congregations  of  believers,  taken  collectively,  constitute  one 
Church  of  Christ,  called  erni)hatically  the  Church  ;  that  a  larger  part  of  the  Church, 
or  a  representation  of  it,  should  govern  a  smaller,  or  determine  matters  of  contro- 
versy which  arise  therein ;  that,  in  like  manner,  a  representation  of  the  whole  should 
govern  and  determine  in  regard  to  every  part  and  to  all  the  parts  united — that  is,  that 
a  majority  shall  govern,  and  consequently  that  appeals  may  be  carried  from  lower  to 
higher  judicatories,  till  they  be  finally  decided  by  the  collected  wisdom  and  united 
voiceof  the  whole  Church.  For  these  principles  and  this  procedure,  the  example  of  the 
apostles  and  the  practice  of  tlie  primitive  Church  are  considered  as  authority.  See 
Acts  XV.  to  the  29th  verse,  and  the  proofs  adduced  under  tlie  last  three  chapters. 

1.  Formation  of  the  General  Assembly. 

a.  The  Synod,  considering  the  number  and  extent  of  the  churches  under 
their  care,  and  the  inconvenience  of  the  present  mode  of  government  by 
one  Synod, 

Resolved,  That  this  Synod  will  establish  out  of  its  own  bddy  three  or 
more  subordinate  Synods,  out  of  which  shall  be  composed  a  General  As- 
sembly, Synod  or  Council,  agreeably  to  a  system  hereafter  to  be  adopted. 
—1786,  p.  517. 

h.  Bemlved  unanimously,  That  this  Synod  be  divided,  and  it  is  hereby 
divided,  into  four  Synods,  agreeably  to  an  Act  nuide  and  provided  for  that 
purpose  in  the  sessions  of  Synod  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  eighty-six  ;  and  that  this  division  shall  commence  on  the  dis- 
solution of  the  present  Synod. 

Resolved,  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  be  consti- 
tuted out  of  the  above  said  four  Synods,  be  held,  and  it  is  liereby  appoint- 
ed to  be  held,  on  the  third  Thursday  of  IVIay,  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  eighty-nine,  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of 
Pliiladeljihia,  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  m.  ;  and  that  Dr.  Withcrspoon,  or,  in  his 
absence.  Dr.  Rogers,  open  the  General  Assembly  with  a  sermon,  and  pre- 
side till  a  moderator  be  chosen. — 1788,  p.  548. 

2.  Organization  of  the  Assembly. 

[Usage  has  fixed  the  third  Thursday  of  May,  at  11  A.  M.,  as  the  time 
for  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Assembly.  The  last  moderator  present 
preaches  the  sermon,  and  then  opens  the  session  with  prayer,  and  presides 
during  the  organization  of  the  Assembly.  The  Committee  on  Commissions 
report;  irregular  conunissions  are  referred  to  a  special  Committee,  who  re- 
port, and  the  roll  is  completed.  A  moderator  and  temporary  clerks  are 
chosen,  an.l  the  Assembly  is  ready  for  business.] 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  201 


'^  Last  Moderator  present,"  Not  necessarily  in  Commission. 

Pittsburg,  May  21,  1835. 
The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  met  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lindsley,  the  moder- 
ator of  the  last  Assembly,  being  absent,  was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  at  the  i-equest  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  A. 
McDowell,  the  last  moderator  present,  with  a  sermon  on  2  Coinnthiaus  iv. 
7  :  "  But  we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  that  the  excellency  of 
the  power  may  be  of  God  and  not  of  us."  After  the  sermon  the  stated 
clerk  called  the  house  to  order  and  informed  them,  that  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Lindsley,  the  moderator  of  the  last  Assembly,  being  absent,  the  duties  of 
the  chair  devolved  upon  the  last  moderator  wlio  is  present,  and  has  a 
commission  to  sit  in  this  Assembly,  and  therefore  he  moved  that  the  Rev. 
Nathan  S.  S.  Beman,  D.  D.,  be  called  to  the  chair.  This  motion  pre- 
vailed, and  Dr.  Beman  took  the  chair,  and  constituted  the  Assembly  with 
prayer. — 1835,  p.  461. 

Thursday  afternoon,  3  o'clock. 

The  Assembly  met. 

A  motion  was  made  to  reconsider  the  vote  by  which  Dr.  Beman  was 
called  to  the  chair,  on  the  ground  that  many  persons  voted  in  the  appre- 
hension that  Dr.  Wm.  A.  McDowell,  the  moderator  immediately  preceding 
Dr.  Lindsley,  was  not  in  the  house,  and  that  many  others  believed  the 
rule  of  the  house  required  the  constituting  moderator  to  be  in  commission, 
Avhich  Dr.  McDowell  was  not.  This  motion,  after  considerable  discussion, 
was  adopted  unanimously. 

After  some  further  remarks,  it  was  agreed  that  the  original  motion  of 
the  stated  clerk  should  be  again  submitted  to  the  house,  and  the  vote  be 
taken  by  him.  Whereupon  Dr.  Ely  put  the  question  :  "  All  who  are  in 
favor  of  sustaining  the  resolution  passed  in  the  morning,  by  which  Dr. 
Beman  was  called  to  the  chair,  will  signify  it  by  saying  Aye."  This 
motion  was  lost. 

It  was  then  moved  that  the  Rev.  Wm.  A.  McDowell,  D.  D.,  being  the 
last  moderator  present,  be  requested  to  take  the  chair.  This  motion  pre- 
vailed, and  Dr.  McDowell  took  the  chair  accordingly. — 1835,  p.  4/56. 

Who  shall  open  the  Assembly,  the  Moderator  being  absent? — A  Commissioner. 

Whereas,  there  exists  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  person 
to  open  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  case  the  moderator  of  the 
Assembly  immediately  preceding  be  not  present ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  deliberate  judgment  of  this  General  Assem- 
bly, that  by  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  no  person  is  authorized  to 
open  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  or  to  preside  at  the  opening 
of  said  sessions,  except  the  moderator  of  the  Assembly  immediately  pre- 
ceding, or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  a  commissioner  to  the  Assembly,  selected 
for  the  purpose  by  the  other  commissioners,  met  at  the  time  and  place 
fixed  for  said  meeting. — 1843,  p.  194,  0.  S. 

The  Rule  as  Adojjted  in  1871. 

If  a  quorum  be  assembled  at  the  hour  appointed,  and  the  moderator 
be  absent,  the  last  moderator  present,  or,  if  there  be  none,  the  senior  mem- 
ber present,  shall  be  requested  to  take  his  place  without  delay  until  a 
new  election.    (Rule  ii.) — 1871,  p.  491. 

26 


202  FORM  OF   GOVERNMEXT. 


3.  Rules  of  Org-anization. — Corrunittee  on  Commissions. 

Resolved,  That  the  permaneut  and  stated  clerks  be  and  they  hereby  are 
appointed  a  standing  Committee  of  Commissions  ;  and  that  the  commission- 
ers to  future  Assemblies  hand  their  Commissions  to  said  committee,  in  the 
room  in  Avhich  the  Assembly  shall  hold  its  sessions,  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  on  which  the  Assembly  opens,  previous  to  11  o'clock;  and  further, 
that  all  commissions  Avhich  may  be  presented  during  the  sessions  of  the 
Assembly,  instead  of  being  read  in  the  house,  shall  be  examined  by  said 
Committee,  and  reported  to  the  Assembly. — 1829,  p.  269. 

I.  That  the  Committee  of  Commissions  shall,  in  the  afternoon,  report  the 
names  of  all  whose  commissions  shall  appear  to  be  regular  and  constitu- 
tional, and  the  persons  whose  names  shall  thus  be  reported  shall  immedi- 
ately take  their  seats  and  proceed  to  business. 

a.  II.  The  first  act  of  the  Assembly,  when  thus  ready  for  business,  shall 
be  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of  Elections,  whose  duty  it  shall  be 
to  examine  all  informal  and  unconstitutional  commissions,  and  report  ou 
the  same  as  soon  as  practicable. — 1826,  p.  191. 

stj^nding-  order. 

The  credentials  of  commissioners  and  delegates  are  to  be  presented  at 
a  previous  hour  of  the  same  day,  or  of  the  preceding  day,  according  to 
public  notice,  to  the  stated  and  permaneut  clerks,  acting  as  a  standing 
Committee  ou  Commissions. 

h.  The  Committee  on  Commissions  reported  that  several  persons  had 
appeared  as  commissioners  whose  commissions  were  either  entirely  wanting 
or  defective. 

Whereupon  a  Committee  on  Elections,  consisting  of  the  Rev.  George  C. 
Heckman,  D.  D.,  the  Kev.  Samuel  M.  Morton  and  ]\[r.  David  Eobiuson, 
was  appointed,  to  whom  these  cases  were  referred. — 1870,  p.  3. 

[Subsequently]  on  recommendation  of  the  Committee  on  Commissions 
and  the  Committee  on  Elections,  the  following  persons  were  recognized 
as  duly  appointed  commissioners  of  this  General  Assembly,  and  their 
names  entered  on  the  roll  of  the  Assembly. — 1870,  p.  4. 

c.  The  Rev.  Daniel  W.  Poor,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  David  X.  Junkin,  D.  D., 
ministers,  and  Hon.  James  Pollock  and  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  elders,  Avere 
appointed  a  Committee  on  Elections,  who  presently  reported,  recommend- 
ing the  enrollment  of  a  number  of  ministers  and  elders,  present  without 
commissions,  or  with  informal  commissions,  but  with  evidence  satisfactory 
of  appointment  by  their  respective  Presbyteries;  and  their  report  was 
adopted.— 1871,  p.  490. 

[For  usages  as  to  defective  commissions,  see  under  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, chap,  xxii.,  sec.  ii.] 

4.  Of  the  Mode  of  Choosing  the  Moderator  of  the  Assembly. 

On  motion  agreed  that  it  be  the  standing  rule  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, in  choosing  a  moderator,  that  any  commissioner  may  nominate  a 
candidate  for  the  chair.  The  candidates  so  pointed  out  shall  then  sever- 
ally give  their  votes  for  some  one  of  their  number,  and  withdraw ;  when 
the  remaining  commissioners  shall  proceed,  viva  voce,  to  choose  by  a  plu- 
rality of  votes  one  of  said  candidates  for  moderator. — 1791,  p.  39. 

In  the  Assembly  of  1846,  O.  S.,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  given  for  moderator  be 
necessary  for  a  choice. — p.  189. 


OF   THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  203 

A  like  resolution  was  passed  by  nearly  every  Assembly  from  1851  to 
1869. 

5.  Of  the  Manner  of  Installing  the  Moderator. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  rules  of  the  house,  and  to  add 
to  them,  if  they  should  judge  it  necessary,  a  rule  dii'ecting  the  method 
in  which  a  moderator,  after  his  election,  shall  be  introduced  to  his  office, 
made  their  report,  which  was  agreed  to,  and  is  as  follows : 

Your  Committee  report  that  when  a  new  moderator  hath  been  elected, 
before  he  take  the  chair,  the  former  moderator  shall  address  him  and  the 
house,  in  the  following  or  like  manner,  viz. : 

Sir  :  It  is  my  duty  to  inform  you,  and  announce  to  this  house,  that  you 
are  duly  elected  to  the  office  of  moderator  in  this  General  Assembly.  For 
3'our  direction  in  office,  and  for  the  direction  of  this  Assembly  in  all  your 
deliberations,  before  I  leave  this  seat,  I  am  to  read  to  you  and  this  house 
the  rules  contained  in  the  records  of  this  Assembly,  which  I  doubt  not 
will  be  carefully  observed  by  both,  in  conducting  the  business  that  may 
come  before  you. 

[Here  the  moderator  is  to  read  the  rules,*  and  afterward  add :] 

Now,  having  read  these  rules,  according  to  order,  for  your  instruction 
as  moderator,  and  for  the  direction  of  all  the  members  in  the  management 
of  business,  praying  that  almighty  God  may  direct  and  bless  all  the  de- 
liberations of  this  Assembly  for  the  glory  of  his  name,  and  for  the  edifica- 
tion and  comfort  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  I  resign 
my  place  and  office  as  Moderator. — 1791,  p.  34  ;  1822,  pp.  43,  44. 
Rules  Relating  to  the  Moderator. 

1.  The  moderator  shall  take  the  chair  precisely  at  the  hour  to  which  the 
judicatory  stands  adjourned,  shall  immediately  call  the  members  to  order, 
and  on  the  appearance  of  a  quorum  shall  open  the  session  with  prayer. 

4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  moderator,  at  all  times,  to  preserve  order, 
and  to  endeavor  to  conduct  all  business  before  the  judicatory  to  a  speedy 
and  proper  result. 

5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  moderator  carefully  to  keep  notes  of  the 
several  articles  of  business  which  may  be  assigned  to  particular  days,  and 
to  call  them  up  at  the  time  appointed. 

6.  The  moderator  may  speak  to  points  of  order,  in  preference  to  other 
members,  rising  from  his  seat  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  decide  questions 
of  order,  subject  to  an  appeal  to  the  judicatory  by  any  two  members. 

7.  The  moderator  shall  appoint  all  committees,  except  in  those  cases  in 
which  the  judicatory  shall  decide  otherwise. 

8.  When  a  vote  is  taken  by  ballot  in  any  judicatory,  the  moderator  shall 
vote  with  the  other  members  ;  but  he  shall  not  vote  in  any  other  case,  un- 
less the  judicatory  be  equally  divided;  when,  if  he  does  not  choose  to  vote, 
the  question  shall  be  lost. 

6.  Communications  addressed  to  the  Moderator. 

Resolved,  That  every  letter  or  communication  addressed  to  the  modera- 
tor be  opened  and  read  by  him,  and  at  his  discretion  be  either  communi- 
cated immediately  to  the  Assembly  for  their  decision,  or  to  the  Committee 
of  Overtures,  to  be  by  them  brought  before  the  house  in  the  ordinary  chan- 
nel.—1794,  p.  79. 

*  Instead  of  readhig  the  rules,  it  has  become  usage  to  put  the  book  containing 
them  formally  in  tlie  hands  of  the  new  moderator,  and  to  make  the  necessary  change 
in  the  formula  above.  See  page  205  for  the  rules  in  full.  For  convenience  such  as 
concern  the  moderator  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  are  given  here. 


204  FORM    OF   GOVERlSnVIEXT. 

7.  TTie  Moderator  may  not  have  a  double  Vote. 

On  the  question  being  taken,  the  moderator  claimed  a  right  to  a  vote  as 
a  commissioner  from  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  distinct  from  the  casting 
vote.  He  left  it  to  the  house  to  decide  on  the  claim.  The  house,  having 
taken  a  vote  on  the  subject,  decided  by  a  great  majority  against  the  mod- 
erator's claim. — 1798,  p.  140. 

8.  The  Moderator,  when  a  Member  of  a  Court  appealed  from  or  a 
Party  in  the  Case,  "will  not  Preside. 

a.  The  moderator,  being  a  member  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  (ap- 
pealed from),  withdrew,  and  Dr!  M'Knight  took  the  chair. — 1792,  p.  56. 

b.  Appeal  of  Pope  Bushnell.  The  moderator,  being  a  member  of  the 
Synod  appealed  from,  Mr.  Jennings,  the  last  moderator  present,  took  the 
chair.— 1826,  p.  184. 

e.  Judicial  Case  No.  1  was  taken  up.  The  moderator,  being  a  party  in 
the  case,  vacated  the  chair,  and  on  motion.  Dr.  Krebs  was  requested  to 
act  as  moderator  during  the  trial  of  the  case. — 1866,  p.  48,  O.  S. 

9.  Rules  of  Order  for  the  General  Assembly. 

The  General  Rules  for  Judicatories,  as  adopted  by  the  Assembly, 
have  appended  the  following  note  as  defining  their  authority,  viz. : 

The  following  rules,  not  having  been  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries, 
make  no  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Yet  the 
General  Assembly  of  1821,  considering  uniformity  in  proceedings  in  all 
the  subordinate  judicatories  as  greatly  conducive  to  order  and  despatch  of 
business,  and  having  revised  and  approved  these  rules,  recommend  them 
to  the  Synods,  Presbyteries  and  sessions  as  a  system  of  regulations  which, 
if  they  think  proper,  may  be  advantageously  adopted  by  them. 

The  rules,  as  modified  and  adopted  by  the  Assembly  for  its  guidance  in 
1822,  pp.  42-45,  may  be  found  in  full  in  New  Digest,  pp.  168-171.  Some 
alteration  was  made  chiefly  with  regard  to  the  previous  question — e.  g.,  1835, 
p.  473, 1851,  p.  27,  N.  S.  The  rules  as  in  use  in  the  N.  S.  Assembly  may 
be  found  in  New  Digest,  pp.  602-605,  the  O.  S.  in  Baird's  Digest,  866-870. 
On  the  reunion  the  Assembly  resolved  to  adopt  the  general  rules  for  ju- 
dicatories contained  in  the  appendix  to  the  constitution  as  the  rules  of 
this  Assembly,  except  that  the  13th,  14th,  17th  and  18th  rules  shall  be 
as  follows,  viz.  : 

13.  Motions  to  lay  on  the  table,  to  take  up  business,  to  adjourn,  and  the 
call  for  the  previous  question,  shall  be  put  without  debate. 

On  questions  of  order,  postponement,  or  commitment  no  member  shall 
speak  more  than  once. 

On  all  other  questions,  each  member  may  speak  twice,  but  not  oftener, 
without  express  leave  of  the  Judicatory. 

14.  When  a  question  is  under  debate,  no  motion  shall  be  received  un- 
less to  adjourn,  to  lay  on  the  table,  to  postpone  indefinitely,  to  postpone  to 
a  day  certain,  to  commit  or  to  amend  ;  which  several  motions  shall  have 
precedence  in  the  order  in  which  they  ai*e  herein  arranged,  and  the  motion 
for  adjournment  shall  always  be  in  order. 

17.  The  previous  question  shall  be  put  in  this  form,  namely,  Shall  the 
main  question  be  now  put? 

It  shall  only  be  admitted  when  demanded  by  a  majority  of  the  members 
present;  and  the  effect  shall  be  to  put  an  end  to  all  debate  and  bring  the 
body  to  a  direct  vote:  First,  on  a  motion  to  commit  the  subject  under 
consideration    (if  such  motion  shall  have  been  made)  ;  secondhj,  if  the 


OF   THE    GENEEAL   ASSEMBLY.  206 

motion  for  commitment  does  not  prevail,  on  pending  amendments ;  and 
lastly,  upon  the  main  question. 

The  eighteenth  rule  to  be  omitted,  as  superseded  and  unnecessary, — 
1870,  p.  12. 

A  Committee — Rev.  George  W.  Musgrave,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Z.  M.  Hum 
phrey,  D.  D.,  Rev.  J  C.  Watson,  D.  D.,  Hon.  Wm.  Strong,  LL.D.,  and 
Hon.  J.  Ross  Snowden — was  appointed  to  revise  the  rules  for  judicatories, 
and  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly. — 1870,  p.  13. 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  last  General  Assembly  to  consider  and 
report  general  rules  for  judicatories  presented  a  report,  with  general 
rules,  as  follows : 

The  Conmiittee  appointed  by  the  last  General  Assembly  to  revise  the 
general  rules  for  judicatories  respectfully  present  the  following  report: 

The  Committee  found,  on  a  comparison  of  the  rules  in  use  in  the  two 
former  branches  of  the  Church,  that  they  were,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
identical,  and  that  very  few  changes  were  necessary.  The  Committee 
propose  only  four  changes,  each  of  which  is  indicated  in  the  margin  of  the 
report.  The  proposed  changes  relate  to  the  presentation  of  minutes,  mo- 
tions to  amend,  to  lay  on  the  table,  and  the  previous  question ;  and  are 
numbered  respectively  12,  20,  21  and  22. 

For  the  sake  of  a  more  convenient  reference,  the  rules  have  been  re- 
arranged, so  as  to  bring  those  relating  to  the  same  or  kindred  subjects 
more  nearly  together. 

We  are  hap^iy  to  add  that  the  Committee  are  unanimous  in  recom- 
mending to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  subjoined  rules,  and  would, 
respectfully  suggest  that,  if  adopted,  the  Board  of  Publication  should  be 
directed  to  publish  them  as  thus  arranged  and  modified. 

GENERAL  EULES  FOR  JUDICATORIES. 

I.  The  moderator  shall  take  the  chair  precisely  at  the  hour  to  which 
the  judicatory  stands  adjourned,  and  shall  immediately  call  the  members 
to  order,  and  on  the  appearance  of  a  quorum  shall  open  the  session  with 
prayer. 

II.  If  a  quorum  be  assembled  at  the  hour  appointed,  and  the  moder- 
ator be  absent,  the  last  moderator  present,  or,  if  there  be  none,  the  senior 
member  present,  shall  be  requested  to  take  his  place  without  delay,  until  a 
new  election. 

III.  If  a  quorum  be  not  assembled  at  the  hour  appointed,  any  two 
members  shall  be  competent  to  adjourn  fi'om  time  to  time,  that  an  oppor- 
tunity may  be  given  for  a  quorum  to  assemble. 

IV.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  moderator,  at  all  times,  to  preserve  or- 
der, and  to  endeavor  to  conduct  all  business  before  the  judicatory  to  a 
speedy  and  proper  result. 

V.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  moderator  carefully  to  keep  notes  of  the 
several  articles  of  business  which  may  be  assigned  for  particular  days,  and 
to  call  them  up  at  the  time  appointed. 

VI.  The  moderator  may  speak  to  points  of  order,  in  preference  to  other 
members,  rising  from  his  seat  for  that  purpose,  and  shall  decide  questions 
of  order  subject  to  an  appeal  to  the  judicatory  by  any  two  members, 

VII.  The  moderator  shall  appoint  all  Committees,  except  in  those  cases 
in  which  the  judicatory  shall  decide  otherwise. 

VIII.  When  a  vote  is  taken  by  ballot  in  any  judicatory,  the  moderator 
shall  vote  with  the  other  members ;  but  he  shall  not  vote  in  any  other 
case,  unless  the  judicatory  be  equally  divided ;  when,  if  he  do  not  choose 
to  vote,  the  question  shall  be  lost. 


206  FORM    OF    GOYEEXMENT. 

IX.  The  person  first  named  on  any  Committee  shall  be  considered  as 
the  chairman  thereof,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  convene  the  Committee ; 
and,  in  case  of  his  absence  or  inability  to  act,  the  second  named  member 
shall  take  his  place  and  perform  his  duties. 

X.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  clerk,  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  sessions  of  every  judicatory,  to  form  a  complete  roll  of 
the  members  present,  and  put  the  same  into  the  hands  of  the  moderator. 
And  it  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  clerk,  whenever  any  additional  mem- 
bers take  their  seats,  to  add  their  names,  in  their  proper  places,  to  the  said 
roll. 

XI.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  clerk  immediately  to  file  all  papers,  in 
the  order  in  which  they  have  been  read,  with  proper  endorsements,  and  to 
keep  them  in  perfect  order. 

XII.  The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  of  the  judicatory  shall  be  pre- 
sented at  the  commencement  of  its  sessions,  and,  if  requisite,  read  and 
corrected. 

XIII.  Business  left  unfinished  at  the  last  sitting  is  ordinarily  to  be 
taken  up  first. 

XIV.  A  motion  made  must  be  seconded,  and  afterward  repeated  by 
the  moderator,  or  read  aloud,  before  it  is  debated;  and  every  motion  shall 
be  reduced  to  writing,  if  the  moderator  or  any  member  require  it. 

XV.  Any  member  who  shall  have  made  a  motion  shall  have  liberty  to 
withdraw  it,  w^ith  the  consent  of  his  second,  before  any  debate  has  taken 
place  thereon;  but  not  afterward,  without  the  leave  of  the  judicatory. 

XVI.  If  a  motion  under  debate  contain  several  parts,  any  two  mem- 
bers may  have  it  divided,  and  a  question  taken  on  each  part. 

XVII.  When  various  motions  are  made  with  respect  to  the  filling  of 
blanks  with  particular  numbers  or  times,  the  question  shall  always  be 
first  taken  on  the  highest  number  and  the  longest  time. 

XVIII.  Motions  to  lay  on  the  table,  to  take  up  business,  to  adjourn, 
and  the  call  for  the  previous  question,  shall  be  put  without  debate.  On 
questions  of  order,  postponement  or  commitment,  no  member  shall  speak 
more  than  once.  On  all  other  questions,  each  member  may  speak  twice, 
but  not  oftener,  without  express  leave  of  the  judicatory. 

XIX.  When  a  question  is  under  debate,  no  motion  shall  be  received, 
unless  to  adjourn,  to  lay  on  the  table,  to  postpone  indefinitely,  to  postpone 
to  a  day  certain,  to  commit  or  to  amend,  which  several  motions  shall 
have  precedence  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  herein  arranged  ;  and  the 
motion  for  adjournment  shall  be  always  in  order. 

XX.  An  amendment,  and  also  an  amendment  to  an  amendment,  may  be 
moved  on  any  motion,  but  a  motion  to  amend  an  amendment  to  an  amend- 
ment, shall  not  be  in  order.  Action  on  amendments  shall  precede  action 
on  the  original  motion. 

XXI.  A  distinction  shall  be  observed  between  a  motion  to  lay  on  the 
table  for  the  present,  and  a  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  unconditionally, 
viz. :  A  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  for  the  present  shall  be  taken  with- 
out debate;  and  if  carried  in  the  affirmative,  the  eftect  shall  be  to  ])]ace 
the  subject  on  the  docket,  and  it  may  be  taken  up  and  considered  at  any 
subsequent  time.  But  a  motion  to  lay  on  the  table,  unconditionally,  shall 
be  taken  without  debate  ;  and  if  carried  in  the  affirmative,  it  shall  not  be 
in  order  to  take  up  the  subject  during  the  same  meeting  of  the  judicatory, 
without  a  vote  of  reconsideration. 

XXII.  The  previous  question  shall  be  put  in  this  form,  namely,  Shall 
the  main  question  be  now  put?  It  shall  only  be  admitted  when  demand- 
ed by  a  majority  of  the  members  present ;  and  the  effect  shall  be  to  put 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  207 

an  enrl  to  all  debate,  and  bring  the  body  to  a  direct  vote :  First,  on  a 
motion  to  commit  the  subject  under  consideration  (if  such  motion  shall 
have  been  made) ;  Secondly,  if  the  motion  for  commitment  does  not  pre- 
vail, on  pending  amendments ;  and  lastly,  on  the  main  question. 

XXIII.  A  question  shall  not  be  again  called  up  or  reconsidered  at  the 
same  sessions  of  the  judicatory  at  which  it  has  been  decided,  unless  by  the 
consent  of  two  thirds  of  the  members  who  were  present  at  the  decision, 
and  unless  the  motion  to  reconsider  be  made  and  seconded  by  persons  who 
voted  with  the  majority. 

XXIV.  A  subject  which  has  been  indefinitely  postponed,  either  by  the 
operation  of  the  previous  question  or  by  a  motion  for  indefinite  postpone- 
ment, shall  not  be  again  called  up  during  the  same  sessions  of  the  judica- 
tory, unless  by  the  consent  of  three  fourths  of  the  members  who  were 
present  at  the  decision. 

XXV.  Members  ought  not,  without  weighty  reasons,  to  decline  voting, 
as  this  practice  might  leave  the  decision  of  very  interesting  questions  to  a 
small  proportion  of  the  judicatory.  Silent  members,  unless  excused  from 
voting,  must  be  considered  as  acquiescing  with  the  majority. 

XXVI.  When  the  moderator  has  commenced  taking  the  vote,  no  further 
debate  or  remark  shall  be  admitted,  unless  there  has  evidently  been  a 
mistake,  in  which  case  the  mistake  shall  be  rectified,  and  the  moderator 
shall  recommence  taking  the  vote. 

XXVII.  The  yeas  and  nays  on  any  question  shall  not  be  recorded, 
unless  required  by  one  third  of  the  members  present. 

XXVIII.  No  member,  in  the  course  of  debate,  shall  be  allowed  to  in- 
dulge in  personal  reflections. 

XXIX.  If  more  than  one  member  rise  to  speak  at  the  same  time,  the 
member  who  is  most  distant  from  the  moderator's  chair  shall  speak  first. 

XXX.  When  more  than  three  members  of  the  judicatory  shall  be 
standing  at  the  same  time,  the  moderator  shall  require  all  to  take  their 
seats,  the  person  only  excepted  who  may  be  speaking. 

XXXI.  Every  member,  when  speaking,  shall  address  himself  to  the 
moderator,  and  shall  treat  his  fellow-members,  and  especially  the  moder- 
ator, with  decorum  and  respect. 

XXXII.  No  speaker  shall  be  interrupted,  unless  he  be  out  of  order,  or 
for  the  purpose  of  correcting  mistakes  or  misrepresentations. 

XXXIII.  Without  express  permission,  no  member  of  a  judicatory, 
while  Ixisiness  is  going  on,  shall  engage  in  private  conversation,  nor  shall 
members  address  one  another,  nor  any  person  present,  but  through  the 
moderator. 

XXXIV.  It  is  indispensable  that  members  of  ecclesiastical  judicatories 
maintain  great  gravity  and  dignity  while  judicially  convened;  that  they 
attend  closely  in  their  speeches  to  the  subject  under  consideration,  and 
avoid  prolix  and  desultory  harangues;  and  when  they  deviate  from  the 
subject,  it  is  the  privilege  of  any  member,  and  the  duty  of  the  moderator, 
to  call  them  to  order. 

XXXV.  If  any  member  act,  in  any  respect,  in  a  disorderly  manner,  it 
shall  be  the  privilege  of  any  member,' and  the  duty  of  the  moderator,  to 
call  him  to  order. 

XXXVI.  If  any  member  consider  himself  aggrieved  by  a  decision  of 
the  moderator,  it  shall  be  his  privilege  to  appeal  to  the  judicatory,  and 
the  question  on  the  appeal  shall  be  taken  without  debate. 

XXXVII.  No  member  shall  retire  from  any  judicatory  without  the 
leave  of  the  moderator,  nor  withdraw  from  it  to  return  home  without  the 
consent  of  the  judicatory. 


208  FORM   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

XXXVIII.  All  judicatories  Lave  a  right  to  sit  in  private  on  business 
■which  in  their  judgment  ought  not  to  be  matter  of  public  speculation. 

XXXIX.  Besides  the  right  to  sit  judicially  in  private  whenever  they 
think  proper  to  do  so,  all  judicatories  have  a  right  to  hold  -what  are  com- 
monly called  "  interlocutory  meetings,"  in  which  members  may  freely  con- 
verse together,  without  the  formalities  which  are  usually  necessary  in  ju- 
dicial proceedings. 

XL.  Whenever  a  judieator}'  is  about  to  sit  in  a  judicial  capacity,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  moderator  solemnly  to  announce  from  the  chair 
that  the  body  is  about  to  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  business  assigned 
for  trial,  and  to  enjoin  on  the  members  to  recollect  and  regard  their  high 
character  as  judges  of  a  court  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  solemn  duty  in 
which  they  are  about  to  act. 

XLI.  In  all  cases  before  a  judicatory,  where  there  is  an  accuser  or 
prosecutor,  it  is  expedient  that  there  be  a  Committee  of  the  judicatory 
appointed  (provided  the  number  of  members  be  sufficient  to  admit  it  with- 
out inconvenience),  who  shall  be  called  the  "Judicial  Committee,"  and 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  digest  and  arrange  all  the  papers,  and  to  pre- 
scribe, under  the  direction  of  the  judicatory,  the  Avhole  order  of  proceed- 
ings. The  members  of  this  Committee  shall  be  entitled,  notwithstanding 
their  performance  of  this  duty,  to  sit  and  vote  in  the  cause,  as  members 
of  the  judicatory. 

XLII.  But  in  case  of  process  on  the  ground  of  general  rumor,  where 
there  is,  of  course,  no  particular  accuser,  there  may  be  a  Committee 
appointed  (if  convenient),  who  shall  be  called  the  "  Committee  of  Prose- 
cution," and  who  shall  conduct  the  whole  course  on  the  part  of  the  prose- 
cution. The  members  of  this  Committee  shall  not  be  permitted  to  sit  in 
judgment  in  the  case. 

XLIII.  The  moderator  of  every  judicatory  above  the  church  session,  in 
finally  closing  its  sessions,  in  addition  to  prayer,  may  cause  to  be  sung  an 
appropriate  psalm  or  hymn,  and  shall  pronounce  the  apostolical  benedic- 
tion. 

The  report  was  accepted,  and  the  rules  unanimously  adopted,  for  the  use 
of  the  General  Assembly.  They  were  also  recommended  to  all  the  lower 
judicatories  of  the  Church  for  adoption  ;  and  in  accordance  with  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  report,  the  Board  of  Publication  was  ordered  to  publish 
the  rules,  as  thus  arranged  and  modified,  in  the  appendix  to  the  constitu- 
tion.—1871,  pp.  491-49;5. 

'  X.  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSEMBLX- 

1.   The  Stated  Clerk. 
Appointment. 

a.  Ordered,  that  Dr.  Duffield  be  appointed  stated  clerk  of  the  Assem- 
bly, procure  a  proper  book  into  which  to  transcribe  their  minutes,  and  lay 
the  expense  of  the  book  and  of  transcribing  the  minutes  before  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  at  their  next  meeting. — 1789,  p.  13. 

Duties  of  the  Stated  Clerk. 

b.  The  stated  clerk  shall  transcribe  for  the  press  such  parts  as  may  be 
necessary  of  the  minutes  ordered  to  be  published  from  year  to  year.  He 
shall  correct  the  press,  and  superintend  the  printing  of  all  the  minutes 
and  papers  which  shall  be  ordered  to  be  printed  by  tiie  General  Assembly. 
As  soon  as  the  extracts  are  printed  from  year  to  year,  he  shall  send  one 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  209 

copy  by  mail  to  each  Presbytery,  and  apportion  and  send  the  rest  by 
private  conveyance  to  the  Presbyteries  and  other  bodies,  as  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  the  Assembly,  only  reserving  a  sufficient  number  of  copies  for 
binding.  He  shall  have  the  charge  of  all  the  books  and  papers  of  the 
General  Assembly,  shall  cause  their  minutes  to  be  fairly  transcribed  into 
the  book  or  books  provided  for  the  purpose,  and  give  attested  copies  of  all 
minutes  and  other  documents,  when  properly  required  so  to  do. — 1807, 
p.  377. 

To  Notify  Presbi/teries  whose  Commissioners  have  left  without  Leave. 

c.  Whereas,  it  has  frequently  happened  that  members  of  this  Assem- 
bly, neglecting  their  duty  and  inattentive  to  the  rules  of  decorum,  have 
abruptly  left  the  Assembly  and  returned  home  without  leave  of  absence. 

Resolved,  That  in  all  similar  cases  which  shall  occur  in  future,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  clerk  of  this  House  to  give  notice  thereof  to  the  Pres- 
byteries to  which  such  delinquent  members  may  belong ;  and  that  it  be 
recommended  to  the  said  Presbyteries,  in  their  settlements  with  such  de- 
linquents, not  to  allow  them  any  compensation  for  services  as  members  of 
the  Assembly.— 1801,  p.  233. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  the  duty  of  the  stated  clerk  hereafter  to  report 
to  the  sevei'al  Presbyteries  the  names  of  the  commissioners  who,  at  the 
calling  of  the  roll  at  the  close  of  the  Assembly,  may  appear  to  have  left 
the  Assembly  without  permission. — 1820,  p.  723. 

Resolved,  That  as  the  names  of  persons  who  have  left  the  Assembly 
•without  leave  are  to  be  published  in  the  printed  journals,  therefore  the 
stated  clerk  is  liberated  from  the  duty,  enjoined  by  a  standing  rule,  of 
writing  to  the  Presbyteries  on  the  subject. — 1824,  p.  125. 

a.  Salary  of  the  Stated  Clerh. 

Fixed  by  the  Assembly  at  $400  per  annum. — 1870,  p.  127. 

Stated  Clerh  to  act  as  Treasurer  of  the  Assembly. 

The  Committee  on  Finance  also  recommend  that  the  stated  clerk  have 
added  to  his  duties  that  of  treasurer  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  that 
his  salary  be  increased  one  hundred  dollars. — 1871,  p.  512. 

The  duties  of  the  stated  clerk  as  treasurer  of  the  General  Assembly 
may  be  seen  from  the  following : 

ACCOUNT  CURRENT  OF  THE  TREASURER  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 
OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  U.  S.  A. 

Dr. 

To  balance  from  old  Account, $62  27 

"  Keceipts  of  Mileage  Committee  of  1871,         ....  24,39.'>  06 

"  Miscellaneous  Receipts  for  Minutes,  etc., 530  80 


?24,986  13 


1871.  _    ^  Or. 

May.     By  payments  to  Commissioners,  Traveling  Expenses,    .        ,        .   $16,447  37 
"  "  to  the  Clerks  of  the  Assembly : 

Stated  Clerk : 

Salary, $500  00 

Traveling  Expenses,    ...  45  00 

"  "  Permanent  Clerk : 

Salary, 300  00 

Traveling  Expenses,  ...  43  75 

$888  75 


"  to  the  Janitor,  Mr.  Dyson,       .        .        .  100  00 

27 


$525  90 

3541  76 

118  54 

$4,186  20 

486  15 

$8  80 

30  65 

4  50 

$43  95 
$696  87 

158  80 

$57  00 

30  00 

24  00 

30  00 

56  00 

15  00 

GO  00 

$272  00 

$25  00 

24  00 

$49  00 
12  50 

34  25 

1,610  29 

210  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

By  payments  for  printing : 
Sept        "        '  S.  W.  Green,  Arrears  of  1870, 

"  "  Minutes  of  1871, 

Lakeside  Co.,  Eolls  of  1871, 

«  "  "  the  mailing  of  tlie  Minutes  of  1871,      . 

"  "  "  Stationery : 

W.  G.  Holmes,    .... 

Lambert  &  Benedict, 

W.  C.  Martin,     .... 

Sept.     "  "        of  Expenses,  Cora,  on  Sustentation, 

"  "         "  "         "  Manses, 

"  "  "  Traveling  Expenses  of  Committees: 

Rev.  R.  W.  Patterson,  D.  D., 
"      A.  Reed,  D.  D.,       . 
"      H.  Darling,  I).  D.,       . 
"     S.  J.  Nicoolls,  D.D..       . 
"      G.  C.  Heckman,  D.  D., 
"      H.  .Johnson,  D.  D., 
"      J.  T.  Backus,  D.  D.,    . 

"  "  Traveling  Expenses  of  Delegates: 

Rev.  D.  Tullv,         ... 
"     B.  W.  Chidlaw, 

"  "  Telegram  and  Express  charges, 

"  "  Miscellaneous  Postage,  and  Stationery, 

BalaiK;e  to  new  Account, 

E.E.,  $24,986  13 

New  York  City, 

May  10,  i872.  EDWIX  F.  HATFIELD,  Treasurer. 

—1872,  p.  174. 

2.   Permanent  Clerk. 

Appointment  and  Duties. 

a.  Whereas,  the  business  of  former  Assemblies  has  been  impeded  by  the 
want  of  a  recording  clerk  possessing  that  facility  in  the  business  which  is 
acquired  by  experience;  and  whereas,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  any  one 
person  should  perform  this  service  permanently  without  receiving  an  ade- 
quate compensation  for  his  labor;  and  whereas,  this  Assembly  are  per- 
suaded that  future  Assemblies  will  see  the  reasonableness  of  the  measure 
now  contemplated,  and  co-operate  on  their  part  in  giving  it  etlect; 

Revived,  That  a  permanent  recording  clerk  be  chosen,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  from  year  to  year  to  draught  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly  during 
their  sessions,  and  afterward  to  perform  such  services  respecting  the  tran- 
scribing, printing  and  distributing  the  extracts  as  shall  be  assigned  to  him 
from  tinie  to  time,  and  that  he  be  paid  out  of  the  funds  of  the  Assenihly 
three  dollars  per  day  for  the  time  he  shall  be  employed,  as  well  during  the 
sessions  of  the  Assembly  as  after  their  dissolution.  — 1802,  p.  285. 

b.  Resolved,  That  hereafter  the  permanent  clerk  shall  receive  for  his 
services  two  dollars  per  day  during  the  .sessions  of  the  Assembly,  and  one 
dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  day  while  necessarily  attending  upon  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Assembly  after  their  adjournment. — 180(),  p.  372. 

c.  The  permanent  clerk  shall  furnish  all  the  stationery  for  the  use  of 
the  Assembly  and  the  several  clerks,  lie  shall  make  the  original  draught 
of  all  the  minutes,  and  give  certified  copies,  as  occasion  may  require,  of  all 
such  as  ma}'  be  proper  to  be  transmitted  to  the  trustees  of  the  General 
Assembly  or  any  of  their  officers.     After  the  Assembly  rises  from  year  to 


OF   THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  211 

year  he  shall  carefully  revise  the  manuscript,  render  it  correct  and  legible, 
and  deliver  it  over  to  the  stated  clerk.  He  shall  receive  a  reasonable 
compensation  for  the  stationery  supplied  by  him,  and  the  pay  (per  diem) 
fixed  by  the  last  Assembly — that  is,  two  dollars  per  day  during  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Assembly,  and  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  day  while  neces- 
sarily attending  upon  the  business  of  the  Assembly  after  adjournment. — 
1806,  p.  372 ;  1807,  p.  377. 

Printing  the  Roll. 

d.  JResolved,  That  it  be  a  standing  rule  of  this  body  that  the  permanent 
clerk  annually  cause  to  be  printed  a  number  of  copies  of  the  roll,  not  ex- 
ceeding five  hundred,  for  the  use  of  the  members,  as  soon  as  practicable 
after  the  appointment  of  the  standing  committees. — 1840,  p.  283,  O.  S. 

e.  Salary  of  the  Permanent  Clerk. 

That  the  salary  of  the  permanent  clerk  be  fixed  at  the  rate  of  three 
hundred  dollars  per  annum. — 1870,  p.  127. 

3.  The  Temporary  Clerk. 

a.  Pe-solved  also,  That  a  temporary  clerk  be  chosen  by  each  Assembly 
as  heretofore  to  read  the  minutes  and  communications  to  the  Assembly, 
and  otherwise  aid  the  permanent  clerk  as  occasion  may  require,  and  that 
he  be  paid  one  dollar  per  day  for  his  services. — 1802,  p.  235. 

b.  The  temporary  clerk  shall  hereafter  receive  no  pecuniary  compensa- 
tion for  his  services. — 1806,  p.  372. 

[From  1856  onward,  in  the  New  School  Assembly,  two  temporary  clerks 
were  chosen.  In  the  reunited  Assembly  three  have  been  chosen. — 1870, 
pp.  12,  13;  1871,  p.  490.  Of  those  in  the  Assembly  of  1870  two  were 
ruling  elders.] 

c.   Choice  of  Clerks  not  Confined  to  Members  of  the  Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  considered  as  the  right  of  every  member  of  the 
Assembly  to  vote  for  a  clerk  who  is  not  a  member  of  the  body. — 1793,  p. 
64. 

d.  The  moderator  and  clerk  are  ministerial  ofiicers  of  the  judicatory. 
In  respect  to  their  offices  they  are  servants  merely,  and  not  niembers,  of 
the  body. 

Of  the  clerk  this  would  seem  to  be  unquestionably  true.  The  constitu- 
tion knows  nothing  of  the  temporary  clerk  as  distinguished  from  the 
staled  clerk.  As  far  as  any  provision  of  the  "Book"  is  involved,  it  is 
plain  that  a  judicatory  may  select  any  convenient  person,  though  not  a 
member,  to  record  its  transactions,  and  discharge  all  other  duties  pertain- 
ing to  a  clerk.  For  the  part  of  those  duties  usually  devolved  upon  a  tem- 
2)orary  clerk,  we  believe  it  is  no  infrequent  thing  for  a  Presbytery  to  em- 
ploy a  licentiate  or  other  person  not  a  member  of  the  body. — 1861,  p.  457, 
N.  S.     [See  chap,  xii.,  sec.  vii.,  above.] 

II.  The  General  Assembly  shall  consist  of  an  equal  delegation  of 
bishops  and  elders  from  each  Presbytery  in  the  following  proportion, 
viz. :  each  Presbytery  consisting  of  not  more  than  twenty-four  minis- 
ters, shall  send  one  minister  and  one  elder;  and  each  Presbytery  con- 
sisting of  more  than  twenty-four  ministers,  shall  send  two  ministers 


212  FORM   OP   GOVERNMENT. 

and  two  elders ;  and  in  the  like  proportion  for  every  twenty-four 
ministers  in  each  Presbytery ;  and  these  delegates  so  appointed  shall 
be  styled  Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly. 

1.  The  Ratio  of  Delegation. 

That  every  Presbytery  shall,  at  their  last  stated  meeting  preceding  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  depute  to  the  General  Assembly  com- 
missioners in  the  following  proportion :  each  Presbytery  consisting  of  not 
more  than  six  ministers  shall  send  one  minister  and  one  elder;  each  Pres- 
bytery consisting  of  more  than  six  ministers  and  not  more  than  twelve 
shall  send  two  ministers  and  two  elders,  and  so  in  the  same  proportion  for 
every  six  ministers. — 1786,  p.  524. 

[In  1819,  p.  700,  the  ratio  was  altered  by  substituting  the  word  nine  for 
the  word  six,  and  the  Avord  eighteen  in  place  of  the  word  twelve.  In  1826, 
p.  168,  the  ratio  was  increased  from  nine  to  twelve  and  from  eighteen  to 
twenty-four.     In  1833,  p.  401,  the  present  ratio  was  adopted.] 

2.  "Where  a  Presbytery  sends  more  than  its  Proper  Representa- 
tion, the  Last  Elected  are  Refused. 

The  I'ight  of  two  persons  to  a  seat  in  the  Assembly  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Portage  was  questioned,  whereupon  their  case  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Elections.  After  considering  the  subject,  the  Committee  re- 
ported that  the  names  of  the  minister  and  elder  last  appointed  should  be 
erased,  because  the  Presbytery  is  entitled  to  no  more  than  two  commis- 
sioners.    This  report  was  adopted. — 1835,  p.  466. 

3.  Only  such  Commissioners  should  be  Appointed  as  design  to 
Remain  throughout  the  Sessions. 

It  is  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  Assembly  highly  important  that 
commissioners  should  not  be  appointed,  unless  it  shall  satisfactorily  ap- 
pear to  the  several  Presbyteries  that  they  design  to  remain  throughout 
the  sessions.— 1827,  p.  207. 

[See  also  chap.  xxii.  of  Commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly.] 

4.  Corresponding  Members. — Ministers  Casually  Present  not 

Invited. 

Upon  motion,  it  was  agreed  that  whereas  this  Assembly,  copying  the 
example  of  their  predecessors,  have  admitted  several  ministers  who  are 
not  commissioners  to  join  in  their  deliberations  and  conclusions,  but  not 
to  vote  on  any  question,  and  although  this  Assembly  has  been  much  in- 
debtrd  to  the  wise  counsels  and  friendly  assistance  of  these  corresponding 
jninisters,  nevertheless,  on  mature  deliberation,  it  was 

Besolved,  As  the  opinion  of  this  house, 

1.  That  no  delegated  body  has  a  right  to  transfer  its  powers,  or  any 
part  thereof,  unless  express  provision  is  in  its  constitution. 

2.  That  this  Assembly  is  a  delegated  body,  and  no  such  provision  is  in 
its  constitution. 

3.  Although  such  admission  has  hitherto  produced  no  bad  consequences, 
it  may,  nevertheless,  at  some  future  day  be  applied  to  party  purposes,  and 
cause  embarrassment  and  delay  ;  wherefore, 

Resolved  4,  Lastly,  that  the  practice  of  this  Assembly  in  this  case  ought 
not  to  be  used  as  a  precedent  in  future. — 1791,  p.  42. 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  213 

5.  Delegates  from  Corresponding  Bodies. 

[At  first  these  were  not  allowed  to  vote,  but  in  1794  the  Assembly  asked, 
and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  acceded  to  the  request,  that 
the  delegates  from  these  bodies  respectively  shall  have  a  right  not  only  to 
sit  and  deliberate,  but  also  to  vote,  on  all  questions  which  may  be  deter- 
mined by  either  of  them. — 1794,  p.  80;  1795,  p.  96. 

[The  Assembly  afterward  (1827)  asked  that  the  right  of  voting  be  given 
up,  and  since  1830  corresponding  members  have  the  right  only  to  sit  and 
deliberate,  but  not  to  vote.] 

6.  The  Secretary  of  any  of  the  Permanent  Committees,  the  Stated 
and  Temporary  Clerks,  have  the  Privileges  of  Corresponding 
Members. 

a.  Remhed,  That  it  be  a  standing  rule  of  the  Assembly  that  the  secre- 
tary of  any  of  the  permanent  Committees  shall  be  entitled  to  the  same 
privilege  as  the  delegates  from  corresponding  bodies,  while  the  business 
entrusted  to  that  Committee  is  under  consideration  in  the  house. 

The  Assembly  voted  that  the  same  privilege  be  extended  to  the  stated 
and  permanent  clerks  in  reference  to  matters  pertaining  to  their  official 
duties.— 1858,  p.  581,  N.  S. 

h.  Resolved,  That  all  the  secretaries  of  the  Boards  of  the  Church  have 
the  privilege  of  corresponding  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  dis- 
cussions bearing  upon  the  interests  of  the  Boards  which  they  severally 
represent. — 1870,  p.  85. 

7.  Committees  of  the  Assembly. — Those  appointed  at  each  Annual 
Meeting  are  called  Standing  Committees,  and  are  as  follows, 
viz.  : 

I.  The  Committee  op  Bills  and  Overtures. 

Its  Appointment. 

a.  A  Committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Henry,  Mr.  Anderson  and  Mr. 
Wade,  appointed  to  prepare  and  bring  in  overtures  to  the  Presbytery,  and 
also  take  cognizance  of  whatever  may  be  laid  before  them,  to  prepare  it 
for  the  Presbytery.— 1710,  p.  17. 

h.  The  General  Assembly,  at  every  meeting,  shall  appoint  a  Committee 
of  Bills  and  Overtures,  to  prepare  and  digest  business  for  the  Assembly. 
Any  person  thinking  himself  aggrieved  by  this  Committee  may  complain 
to  the  Assembly. — 1789,  p.  8. 

c.  Powers  and  Duties  of  this  Committee. 

To  the  question  concerning  the  business  and  powers  of  the  Committee 
of  Overtures,  proposed  last  3'ear,  the  Synod  answer,  thnt  Committee  is  in- 
tended to  introduce  business  into  the  Synod  in  an  orderlv  manner,  that 
they  may  give  advice  concerning  either  the  matter  or  manner  of  overtures 
brought  to  them,  but  have  not  power  to  suppress  anything  that  comes 
regularly  before  them  from  inferior  judicatures  according  to  our  known 
rules,  or  such  overtures  and  petitions  as  inferior  judicatures  or  particular 
persons  desire  to  have  laid  before  this  Synod. — 1769,  p.  393. 

Petitions,  questions  relating  either  to  doctrine  or  order,  and  usually  all 
new  propositions  tending  to  general  laws,  should  be  laid  before  the  Com- 
mittee of  Bills  and  Overtures  before  they  be  offered  to  the  Assemblv. — 
1822,  p.  42. 


214  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 


II.  The  Judicial  Committee. 

The  Assembly  shall  also,  at  every  meeting,  appoint  a  committee  Lo  be 
styled  the  Judicial  Committee,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  take  into  considera- 
tion all  appeals  and  references  brought  to  the  Assembly,  to  ascertain 
■whether  they  are  in  order,  to  digest  and  arrange  all  the  documents  relating 
to  the  same,  and  to  propose  to  the  Assembly  the  best  method  of  proceed- 
ing in  each  case. — 1819,  p.  718. 

III.  Committee  on  Polity  of  the  Church. 

Reaolved,  That  a  Committee  of  seven  members  be  appointed  on  the 
polity  of  the  Church,  and  that  it  be  referred  to  this  Committee  to  exam- 
ine and  settle  the  true  roll  of  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods  connected 
with  the  Assembly  ;  and  that  they  receive  the  reports  of  the  several 
Pi-esbyteries  on  amending  the  Constitution  of  the  Church. — 1840,  p.  7, 
N.  S. 

IV.  On  Foreign  Missions. 

V.  On  Home  Missions. 

VI.   On    Education. 

VII.  On  Publication. 

VIII.  On  Church  Erection. 

IX.  On  Theological  Seminaries. 

X.  On  Sustentation. 

XL  On  Ministerial  Relief. 

XII.  On  Freedmen, 

To  these  Committees  are  referred  the  reports  of  the  several  Boards,  etc., 
together  with  the  whole  subject  to  which  they  pertain,  to  report  to  the 
Assembly  at  as  early  a  day  during  its  sessions  as  is  possible. 

XIII.   On  Correspondence. 

To  this  Committee  is  referred  the  matter  of  correspondence  with  other 
Churches;  they  also  nominate  to  the  Assembly  delegates  to  corresponding 
bodies. 

XIV.  On  the  Narrative. 

That  the  General  Assembly  take  measures  to  bring  into  distinct  view  at 
its  different  sessions  the  situation  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  under  its 
jurisdiction  in  the  United  States  of  America,  with  respect  to  the  state  of 
religion  in  the  difierent  Presbyteries,  and  the  most  ])robable  expedients  for 
reviving  and  promoting  the  essential  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom  in  the 
world  ;  whereupon — 

Resolved,  Tliat  it  be  recommended  to  each  Synod  to  enjoin  it  upon  the 
respective  Presbyteries  within  their  bounds,  to  sjjecify  the  above  particu- 
lars in  the  annual  reports  which  they  make  of  the  state  of  their  respective 
churches,  to  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly  at  its  stated  meetings. — 
1792,  p.  59. 

Narrative  to  notice  the  Decease  of  Ministers. 

Resolved,  That  the  narrative  on  the  state  of  religion  annually  contain 
a  notice  of  the  decease  of  all  the  ministers  of  our  Church  who  may  have 
been  removed  ])y  death  during  the  preceding  year;  and  the  several  Pres- 
byteries are  ordered  to  incorporate  with  their  ]-epoi-ts  on  the  state  of  re- 
ligion, made  to  the  Assembly,  the  case  of  every  such  removal  within  their 
bounds.— 1822,  p.  38.  • 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  215 


XV.   On  Leave  of  Absence. 

a.  Resolved,  That,  as  a  standing  rule  of  the  Assembly,  a  committee  of 
five  be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  consider  all  applications  for 
leave  of  absence,  with  power  to  decide  on  the  same,  in  place  of  the  house, 
and  with  instructions  to  require  iu  every  case  satisfactory  reasons  for  the 
necessity  of  such  absence,  and  report  to  the  house,  at  the  commencement 
of  every  session,  the  members  so  dismissed  ;  and  that  an  appeal  to  the 
Assembly  maybe  made  in  any  instance  of  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  Com- 
mittee to  grant  the  application. — 1833,  p.  390. 

b.  A  memorial  was  received  from  the  Presbytery  of  Sydney,  requesting 
the  Assembly  to  take  order  against  granting  its  members  leave  of  absence. 
Whereupon, 

He-solved,  That  the  Committee  on  Leave  of  Absence  be  instructed  to 
give  leave  to  members  of  the  Assembly  to  be  absent  from  the  sessions  only 
for  manifestly  sufficient  reasons ;  and,  in  general,  for  such  reasons  as  have 
arisen  since  the  Assembly  has  convened. — 1843,  p.  173,  O.  S. 

e.  [The  Committee]  wish  to  be  instructed  as  to  the  degree  of  strictness 
which  they  shall  observe  in  refusing  leave  of  absence  to  members.  The 
Committee  were  instructed  to  apply  the  rule  rigidly. — 1847,  p.  394,  O.  S. 

d.  Early  Leave  Forfeits  Mileage. 

It  is,  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  x4.ssembly,  highly  important  that  com- 
missioners should  not  be  appointed  unless  it  shall  satisfactorily  appear  to 
the  several  Presbyteries  that  they  design  to  remain  throughout  the  sessions. 
That  iu  order  to  jDrocure  as  far  as  possible  this  desirable  object,  it  be  and 
it  hereby  is  ordered  that  no  commissioner  who  shall  obtain  leave  of  ab- 
sence within  the  first  six  days  of  the  sessions  shall  be  entitled  to  receive 
anything  from  the  commissioners'  fund,  unless  the  General  Assembly  shall 
order  otherwise,  when  the  reasons  of  the  application  are  given. — 1827, 
p.  207. 

e.  Injunction  on  Presbyteries. 

The  Committee  would  present  to  the  consideration  of  the  General  As- 
sembly as  a  serious  evil  the  frequent  applications  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
missioners, especially  of  elders,  for  permission  to  return  home  within  a 
few  days  after  the  coming  together  of  the  Assembly.  We  believe  that, 
according  to  the  constitution  of  our  Church,  the  ruling  elders  are  essential 
parts  of  our  Church  judicatories;  and  if  so,  it  is  as  important  that  they 
be  present  during  the  whole  sessions  of  the  judicatory  as  at  its  opening. 
Many  of  them  have  their  traveling  expenses  paid  by  their  Presbyteries 
with  a  view  to  secure  their  attendance,  and  yet  comparatively  few  are 
willing  to  remain  till  the  Assembly  is  dissolved.  The  Committee  have 
remarked  that  these  applications  for  leave  most  commonly  are  made,  not 
by  those  whose  residence  is  far  off  from  our  place  of  meeting,  but  by  those 
who  can  reach  their  homes  in  a  few  hours.  Under  these  views,  the  Com- 
mittee are  often  embarrassed  in  regard  to  their  proper  course  of  duty. 
They  would  be  kind  and  indulgent,  but  they  desire  too  to  be  true  to  the 
trust  committed  to  them  ;  and  they  respectfully  suggest  to  the  Assembly 
the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution,  viz. : 

Re>iolved,  That  the  Presbyteries,  in  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to 
the  General  Assembly,  be  directed  to  use  great  care  and  diligence  in  the 
selection  of  such  ministers  and  ruling  elders  as  will  be  willing  and  able  to 
remain  during  the  entire  sessions  of  this  body.     [Adopted.] — 1842,  p.  21, 

0.  s. 


216  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 


XVI.  On  Mileage. 

Resolved,  That  the  members  entitled  to  mileage  shall  give  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Commissioners'  Fund,  within  three  days  after  the  appoint- 
ment of  said  Committee,  in  writing,  their  names,  the  names  of  their  Pres- 
byteries and  their  distance  from  home  to  the  Assembly;  and  if  any 
member  neglects  to  comply  with  this  resolution,  he  shall  forfeit  his  por- 
tion of  said  fund.  And  that  no  member  may  be  ignorant  of  this  resolu- 
tion, the  moderator  shall  read  it  as  soon  as  the  Committee  on  said  fund  is 
appointed  each  year. — 1818,  p.  687. 

The  Committee  on  Mileage  reported  in  part,  when  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  commissioners  from  Newburyport,  Clinton  and  Mad-, 
ison  be  struck  off  from  the  list  of  applicants  for  a  portion  of  the  commis- 
sioners' fund,  on  the  ground  that  their  respective  Presbyteries  have  paid 
nothing  into  this  fund. — 1833,  p.  404. 

See  above,  d;  also  under  chap,  xxii.,  sec.  iii. 

XVII.  On  Finance. 

Resolved,  That  a  standing  Committee  of  Finance  be  appointed,  to  whom 
the  treasui'er's  account  (of  the  trustees)  shall  be  referred. — 1842,  jd.  8,  0.  S. 

XVIII.  On  Devotional  Exercises. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  hereafter  a  standing  rule  of  the  General  Assembly 
to  spend  the  first  Wednesday  of  their  sessions  in  religious  exercises,  as  fol- 
lows, viz. : 

It  is  recommended  that  each  member  should  spend  from  eight  till  nine 
o'clock  A.  M.  of  that  day  in  secret  devotion.  At  ten  the  Assembly  shall 
meet  together,  and  spend  a  season  in  prayer,  praise,  reading  the  Scriptures 
and  exhortation.  In  the  afternoon  there  shall  be  a  public  meeting  of  the 
Assembly,  with  all  who  may  choose  to  convene  with  them,  to  engage  again 
in  religious  exercises. 

Each  Assembly  shall,  at  an  early  period  of  its  sessions,  appoint  a  Com- 
mittee to  make  arrangements  for  the  observance  of  this  day  in  conformity 
with  the  above  general  plan. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  churches  under  the  care  of 
the  General  Assembly  annually  to  observe  tins  day,  or  such  parts  of  it  as 
they  may  respectively  judge  proper,  as  a  season  of  special  prayer  in  the 
closet  and  in  social  or  public  meetings;  to  ask  for  the  presence  of  God 
with  the  General  Assembly,  and  for  the  special  influences  of  his  Sjiirit  to 
descend  upon  the  churches  under  their  care  and  upon  the  world  of  man- 
kind, and  that  the  earth  may  speedily  be  filled  with  his  glory. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  Christians  and  to  the  churches,  in 
the  annual  observance  of  this  day,  as  far  as  may  be  convenient,  to  fix  upon 
the  same  time  with  the  Assemblv  for  secret  devotion  and  for  public  wor- 
ship.—1828,  p.  239. 

[The  usage  now  is  to  appoint  ministers  and  elders  of  the  churches  in 
the  place  where  the  Assembly  is  next  to  meet  as  the  Committee  on  Devo- 
tional Exercises  and  Arrangements  ;  their  report  is  made  at  an  early  day 
during  the  session  of  the  Assembly.     The  folh)wing  are  standing  rules :] 

1.  The  Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  celebrated  by  the  Assembly  on  the  even- 
ing of  Thursday,  the  first  day  of  their  sessions. 

2.  The  evening  of  Friday,  the  second  day  of  their  sessions,  is  assigned 
to  a  popular  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  Sabbath-school  interest  of  the 
Church. 


OF  THE   GENEEAL   ASSEMBLY.  217 

3.  The  first  Tuesday  of  the  sessions  is  appropriated  exclusively  to  the 
consideration  of  the  home  mission  work  of  the  Church,  with  a  popular 
meeting  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day. 

4.  The  first  Wednesday  of  the  sessions  is  appropriated  in  like  manner 
to  the  foreign  mission  work  of  the  Church,  with  a  popular  meeting  in  the 
evening  of  the  same  day. 

III.  Any  fourteen  or  more  of  these  commissioners,  one-half  of 
whom  shall  be  ministers,  being  met  on  the  day  and  at  the  place  ap- 
pointed, shall  be  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

IV.  The  General  Assembly  shall  receive  and  issue  all  appeals  and 
references  which  may  be  regularly  brought  before  them  from  the  in- 
ferior judicatories.  They  shall  review  the  records  of  every  Synod, 
and  approve  or  censure  them ;  they  shall  give  their  advice  and  in- 
struction in  all  cases  submitted  to  them  in  conformity  with  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Church  ;  and  they  shall  constitute  the  bond  of  union, 
peace,  correspondence  and  mutual  confidence  among  all  our  churches. 

1.  The  Assembly  •will  not  Ordinarily  Decide  Questions  in  Thesi. 

a.  But  while  the  General  Assembly  is  invested  with  the  power  of  de- 
ciding in  all  controversies  respecting  doctrine  and  discipline,  of  reprov- 
ing, warning  or  bearing  testimony  against  error  in  doctrine  in  any  church, 
Presbytery  or  Synod,  or  of  suppressing  schismatical  contentions  and  dis- 
putations, all  such  matters  ought  to  be  brought  before  the  Assembly  in  a 
regular  and  constitutional  way.  And  it  does  not  appear  that  the  consti- 
tution ever  designed  that  the  General  Assembly  should  take  up  abstract 
cases  and  decide  on  them,  especially  when  the  object  appears  to  be  to 
bring  those  decisions  to  bear  on  particular  individuals  not  judicially  be- 
fore the  Assembly.  Neither  does  it  appear  that  the  constitution  of  the 
Church  intended  that  any  person  or  persons  should  have  the  privilege  of 
presenting  for  decision,  ren\onstrances  respecting  points  of  doctrine,  on  the 
conduct  of  individuals,  not  brought  up  from  the  inferior  judicatories  by 
appeal,  reference  or  complaint,  and  this  especially  when  such  remon- 
strances contain  no  evidence  whatsoever  of  the  facts  alleged,  but  mere 
statements,  of  the  truth  or  justness  of  which  the  Assembly  have  no  means 
of  judging,  inasmuch  as  a  contrary  course  would  allow  of  counter  and 
contradictory  remonstrances  without  end. — 1822,  p.  50.  See  1870,  p.  28. 
It  is  inexpedient  to  consider  cases  in  thesi. 

b.  It  is  ordinarily  undesirable  for  the  General  Assembly  to  decide  ques- 
tions in  thesi  which  are  liable  to  be  brought  before  it  in  its  judicial  capa- 
city, as  it  may  thus  virtually  prejudge  cases  of  discipline;  it  appears  bet- 
ter that  it  should  ordinarily  follow  in  this  respect  the  uniform  practice  of 
civil  courts  to  decide  legal  principles  only  on  actual  cases  presented. — 
1856,  p.  213,  K  s. 

c.  Overture  No.  13,  being  a  request  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  C.  McCune  that 
the  Assembly  would  answer  various  questions  connected  with  judicial  pro- 
cesses in  the  lower  courts. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  following  answer:  These  questions  per- 
tain either  to  supposed  or  to  actual  judicial  processes.  In  either  case  it 
is  not  deemed  proper  that  the  Assembly  should  give  sj^ecific  answers  to 
them.     Adopted.— 1866,  p.  47,  O.  S. 

d.  Overture  No.  28,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Santa  Fe.     (1.)  Is  it  in 

28 


218  FOEM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

accordance  with  the  spirit  and  Constitution  of  the  Church  for  a  Btard  oi 
Committee  of  the  Assembly  to  receive  complaints  against  the  character 
and  conduct  of  a  minister  without  giving  him  full  information  on  the 
subject,  or  refuse  to  do  so  when  asked?  (2.)  What  course  should  the 
Committee  on  Missions  of  a  Presbytery  take  when  a  missionary  sent  into 
its  bounds  by  a  Board  of  the  Assembly  refuses  to  occupy  the  field  assigned 
him  by  said  Committed  (3.)  Is  it  the  province  of  a  INIissionary  Presby- 
tery to  designate  the  field  of  labor  of  its  members  or  of  a  missionary  sent 
into  its  bounds  by  any  Board  of  the  Assembly?  or  does  this  right  of  desig- 
nation belong  to  the  Board  sustaining  the  missionary? 

The  Committee  recommend  no  action,  inasmuch  as  it  presents  the  case 
in  thesi,  and  the  questions  involved  will  probabl}^  be  settled  ere  long  by 
the  action  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.     Adopted. — 1872,  p.  73. 

[See  at  large  under  sec.  v.,  below.  Powers  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  Book  of  Discipline,  chap.  vii.  throughout.] 

V.  To  the  General  Assembly  also  belongs  the  power  of  deciding 
in  all  controversies  respecting  doctrine  and  discipline ;  of  reproving, 
warning  or  bearing  testimony  against  error  in  doctrine  or  immorality 
in  practice  in  any  church,  Presbytery  or  Synod;  of  erecting  new  Syn- 
ods when  it  may  be  judged  necessary;  of  superintending  the  concerns 
of  the  whole  Church;  of  corresponding  with  foreign  churches  on  such 
terras  as  may  be  agreed  upon  by  the  Assembly  and  the  corresponding 
body;  of  suppressing  schismatical  contentions  and  disputations;  and 
in  general,  of  recommending  and  attempting  reformation  of  manners, 
and  the  promotion  of  charily,  truth  and  holiness  through  all  the 
churches  under  their  care. 

I.  DECISIONS  AND  DELIVERANCES  OX  DOCTRINE. 

1.  Case  of  Samuel  Harker. 

A  reference  was  brought  into  the  Synod  from  the  New  Brunswick  Pres- 
bytery respecting  Mr.  Samuel  Harker,  one  of  their  members,  as  having 
imbibed  and  vented  certain  erroneous  doctrines.  The  further  considera- 
tion of  this  affair  is  deferred  till  the  next  sederunt. — 1758,  p.  283. 

[The  matter  was  continued  from  year  to  year,  Synod  endeavoring  to 
remove  the  difficulty  and  bring  Mr.  Harker  to  a  sense  of  his  error.  In 
1761,  Mr.  Harker  printed  and  published  his  views,  and  the  Synod  (1762) 
appointed  a  Committee  to  examine  tlie  book,  who  reported  next  year.] 

The  Synod  proceeded  to  consider  INIr.  Harker's  princi])les,  collected 
from  his  book  by  the  Committee,  which  are  in  substance  as  follows: 

1.  That  the  covenant  of  grace  is  in  such  a  sense  conditional  that  fallen 
mankind  in  their  unrcgenerate  state,  by  the  general  assistance  given  to  all 
under  the  gospel,  have  a  sufficient  ability  to  fulfill  tlie  conditions  tliercof, 
and  so  by  their  own  endeavors  to  ensure  to  themselves  regenerating  grace 
and  all  saving  blessings. 

2.  That  God  has  bound  himself  by  promise  to  give  them  regenerating 
grace  upon  their  fulfilling  what  he  (Mr.  Harker)  calls  the  direct  condi- 
tions of  obtaining  it,  and,  upon  the  whole,  makes  a  certain  and  an  infalli- 
ble connection  between  their  endeavors  and  the  aforesaid  blessings. 

3.  That  God's  prescience  of  future  events  is  previous  to  and  not  depend- 


OF   THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  219 

ent  on  his  decrees;  that  his  decrees  have  no  influence  on  his  own  conduct, 
and  that  the  foresight  of  faith  was  the  ground  of  the  decree  of  election. 

It  is  further  observed  that  he  often  uses  inaccurate,  unintelligible  and 
dangerous  modes  of  expression  that  tend  to  lead  people  into  false  notions 
in  several  important  matters,  as  that  Adam  was  the  federal  father  of  his 
posterity  in  the  second  covenant  as  well  as  in  the  first ;  that  the  regene- 
rate are  not  in  a  state  of  probation  for  heaven,  and  several  such  like. 

The  Synod  judge  that  these  principles  are  of  a  hurtful  and  a  dangerous 
tendency,  giving  a  false  view  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  perverting  it  into 
a  new  modeled  covenant  of  works,  and  misrepresent  the  doctrine  of  the 
divine  decrees  as  held  by  the  best  reformed  churches,  and,  in  fine,  are  con- 
trarv  to  the  word  of  God  and  our  approved  standards  of  doctrine. — 1763, 
p.  329. 

2.  Testimony  against  Universalism  and  Socinianism. 

«.  Whereas,  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  and  of  the  finite  dura- 
tion of  hell  torments  has  been  propagated  by  sundry  persons  who  live  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  and  the  people  under  our  care  may  possi- 
bly, from  their  occasional  conversation  with  the  propagators  of  such  a 
dangerous  opinion,  be  infected  by  the  doctrine,  the  Synod  take  this  oppor- 
tunity to  declare  their  utter  abhorrence  of  such  doctrines  as  they  appre- 
hend to  be  subversive  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  religion  and  mo- 
rality, and  therefore  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  their  Presbyteries  and 
members  to  be  watchful  upon  this  subject,  and  to  guard  against  the  intro- 
duction of  such  tenets  amongst  our  people. — 1787,  p.  540. 

b.  If  there  is  a  religion  revealed  by  God,  it  is  as  important  to  have  cor- 
rect views  of  its  principles  to  perfi)rm  the  duties  which  it  enjoins  in  the 
various  relations  of  life,  as  it  is  to  have  correct  views  of  morality  that  our 
lives  may  be  moral.  Error  in  principle  invariable  produces  error  in 
practice.  To  be  ever  learning  and  never  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  is  characteristic  of  none  but  those  who  assume  for  the  human  under- 
standing the  pi'erogative  of  sitting  in  judgment  upon  the  inspired  truth 
of  God,  either  condemning  the  whole  as  an  imposition,  or  undertaking  to 
correct  its  alleged  mistakes  by  abridging  and  falsifying  its  contents.  Of 
the  former  class,  we  rejoice  that  the  number  and  influence  are  diminished. 
Not  many  j'ears  past  they  triumphed,  to  the  regret  and  anguish  of  the 
followers  of  Christ.  With  brazen  front,  infidelity  threatened  the  anni- 
hilation of  the  Church  and  the  ruin  of  her  Lord's  authority.  But  the 
Church  not  merely  survives  its  attacks:  she  has  increased  in  numbers  and 
in  grace,  whilst  her  adversaries  are  compelled,  though  unwillingly,  to  pay 
homage  to  the  paramount  claims  of  her  God  and  her  Saviour,  who  is 
King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords.  Few  are  to  be  found  who  respect 
themselves  openly  opj)osing  the  truth  of  God  as  contained  in  the  Scrip- 
tui'es.  There  are,  however,  some  within  our  bounds,  who,  whilst  they  pro- 
fess to  honor  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  with  unhallowed  hands  would  cut 
out  of  its  pages  those  passages  which  command  us  to  honor  the  Son  as  we 
honor  the  Father,  and  rob  the  trembling  sinner  of  the  only  hope  of  ac- 
ceptance with  God  which  his  soul  can  cherish.  The  well-beloved  and  only 
begotten  Son  of  God  thej'-  reduce  to  the  level  of  frail  humanity,  and  his 
work  of  redemption  to  the  mere  fact  of  furnishing  us  a  perfect  example 
of  conversation  and  conduct.  By  denying  his  chai'acter  as  a  covenant- 
surety  to  bear  our  sins  and  carry  our  sorrows,  they  lower  his  example  as 
a  righteous  and  holy  Man  below  that  which  his  apostles  and  primitive  fol- 
lowers afford  us.  And  so  far  as  we  have  had  the  opportunity  of  judging 
from  facts  which  have  fallen  undc  our  observation,  their  principles  have 


220  FORM    OF   GOVERXMEXT. 

introduced  among  all  ^vlio  have  embraced  them  so  great  a  conformity  in 
their  practice  to  the  world  which  lieth  in  wickedness  as  to  render  it  im- 
possible to  discriminate  them  from  the  children  of  that  world. 

In  connection  with  these  Anti-Trinitarians — for  we  reject  the  name  which 
they  have  assumed  of  Unitarians,  holding  the  unity  of  God  as  strictly  as 
they  do — are  the  Universal ists,  or  the  supporters  of  the  doctrine  of  univer- 
sal salvation.  It  is  a  tribute,  however,  which  we  owe  to  truth  to  say  that 
whilst  the  Anti-Trinitarians,  for  the  sake  of  consistency,  are  compelled  to 
maintain  the  ultimate  and  eternal  salvation  of  all,  the  Universalists  be- 
lieve in  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and  the  atonement  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
They,  however,  by  assuring  all  that  they  will  be  in  the  end  for  ever  happy, 
provide  for  the  gratification  of  present  desires  and  continuance  in  sin 
whilst  they  live. 

As  these  errors  in  principle  do  exist  in  some  portion  of  our  Church, 
though  we  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  they  are  not  increasing,  the 
Assembly  trust  that  they  will  be  opposed  and  their  ruinous  tendency  un- 
folded with  fidelity  and  success.— 1818,  p.  677. 

e.  In  some  parts  of  our  land  attempts  are  made  to  propagate  the  most 
pernicious  errors.  With  a  zeal  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  and  under  lofty 
pretensions  to  superior  rationality  and  to  deeper  discoveries  in  religion, 
some  are  endeavoring  to  take  away  the  crown  from  the  Redeemer's  head, 
to  degrade  Him  who  is  the  mighty  God  and  the  Prince  of  life  to  a  level 
with  mere  men,  and  to  rob  us  of  all  our  hopes  of  redemption  through  his 
blood.  Pretending,  too,  a  more  expanded  benevolence  to  man,  and  more 
ennobled  ideas  of  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God,  they  assiduously  prop- 
agate the  sentiment,  that  all  men  will  ultimately  obtain  eternal  happiness, 
however  sinful  their  present  temper  and  conduct  may  be,  without  any  re- 
gard to  the  cleansing  of  the  blood  of  atonement  or  the  sanctifying  influ- 
ences of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Believing  that  these  sentiments  are  utterly 
subversive  of  gospel  truth  and  holiness,  that  they  are  alike  dishonoring  to 
God  and  destructive  to  the  present  and  eternal  welfare  of  men,  we  cannot 
but  affectionately  warn  you  against  them. — 1822,  p.  58. 

3.  Case  of  Rev.  Hezekiah  Balch, 

The  consideration  of  the  references  relative  to  INIr.  Balch  was  resumed, 
and  after  some  amendments  made  on  the  draught  brought  in  by  the  Com- 
mittee, it  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

They  remark  upon  the  first  article  of  the  creed  aforesaid  that  Mr.  Balch 
is  erroneous  in  making  disinterested  benevolence  the  only  definition  of  ho- 
liness or  true  religion,  because  this  may  perplex  the  minds  of  those  not 
accustomed  to  abstract  speculations,  is  questionable  in  itself,  and  may 
convey  the  idea  that  an  absolute  God,  or  a  God  out  of  Christ,  is  the  object 
of  the  highest  affection  to  the  renewed  mind. 

On  the  second  article  they  remark  that  he  has  confounded  self-love 
with  selfishness  in  an  abstract  speculation  calculated  to  puzzle  plain 
Christians  and  lead  to  unprofitable  disputes. 

On  the  third  article  they  remark  that  the  transferring  of  personal  sin 
or  righteousness  has  never  been  held  by  Calvinistic  divines,  nor  by  any 
person  in  our  Church,  so  far  as  is  known  to  us,  and  therefore  that  Mr. 
Balch's  observations  on  that  subject  appear  to  be  either  nugatory  or  cal- 
culated to  mislead.  With  regard  to  his  doctrine  of  original  sin,  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  he  is  erroneous  in  representing  personal  corruption  as  not 
derived  from  Adam,  making  Adam's  sin  to  be  imputed  to  his  posterity  in 
consequence  of  a  corrupt  nature  already  possessed,  and  derived  from  we 


OF   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  221 

Icnotv  not  what;  thus,  in  effect,  setting  aside  the  idea  of  Adam's  being  the 
federal  head  or  representative  of  his  descendants,  and  the  whole  doctrine 
of  the  covenant  of  works. 

It  is  also  manifest  that  Mr.  Balch  is  greatly  erroneous  in  asserting  that 
the  formal  cause  of  a  believer's  justification  is  the  imputation  of  the  fruits 
and  effects  of  Christ's  righteousness,  and  not  that  righteousness  itself,  be- 
cause righteousness,  and  that  alone,  is  the  formal  demand  of  the  law,  and 
consequently  the  sinner's  violation  of  the  divine  law  can  be  pardoned  only 
in  virtue  of  the  Redeemer's  perfect  righteousness  being  imputed  to  hira 
and  reckoned  as  his.  It  is  also  not  true  that  the  benefits  of  Christ's  right- 
eousness are,  with  strict  propriety,  said  to  be  imputed  at  all,  as  these  ben- 
efits flow  to  and  are  possessed  by  the  believer  as  a  consequence  of  his  jus- 
tification and  having  an  interest  in  the  infinite  merits  of  the  Saviour. 

On  the  fourth  article  no  remark  is  necessaiy. 

With  regard  to  the  fifth  article  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  Mr.  Balch 
appears  to  confound  sentiment  with  the  mere  perception  of  truth,  whereas 
it  always  partakes  of  the  disposition  of  the  heart,  and  consequently  in- 
volves in  it  either  sin  or  holiness.  The  article  as  stated  by  him  contra- 
dicts the  principle  laid  down  in  the  introduction  to  our  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, and  levels  the  important  distinction  between  truth  and  falsehood  so 
as  to  be  liable  to  the  construction  that  it  is  no  matter  what  a  man  believes. 
And  though  Mr.  Balch  may  not,  and  probably  did  not,  intend  to  insinuate 
anything  disrespectful  to  the  holy  Scriptures,  where  he  asserts  that  "there 
are  wrong  sentiments  in  the  Bible,"  yet,  as  his  expression  is  liable  to  such 
a  construction,  we  judge  it  highly  censurable. 

With  regard  to  the  sixth  and  seventh  articles  no  remarks  seem  to  be 
necessaiy,  except  that  the  offence  given  by  the  reflection  cast  on  his  breth- 
ren, the  Presbyterians,  in  the  seventh,  has  been  sufficiently  removed  by 
his  candid  acknowledgment  before  the  Synod  and  Cxeneral  Assembly. 

The  eighth,  ninth  and  tenth  articles  require  no  remark,  except  that 
they  appear  to  be  unimportant. 

With  regard  to  the  twelfth  article  it  is  remarked  that  his  observation 
upon  love  as  exercised  by  the  human  race,  so  far  as  it  may  be  applicable 
to  a  state  of  infancy,  is  unintelligible,  and  that  though  a  distinction  may 
be  made  between  regeneration  and  conversion,  yet  the  terms  in  which  the 
article  is  expressed  are  exceptionable,  as  they  seem  to  discourage  the  use 
of  the  means  of  grace. 

With  regard  to  the  thirteenth  article  it  is  remarked  that  in  making  re- 
pentance and  faith  to  proceed  wholly  from  love  or  charity,  Mr.  Balch  has 
expressed  an  opinion  unnecessary  and  improper. 

In  regard  to  the  subject  of  false  doctrine,  in  discoursing  from  Psalm  li. 
5  and  Isaiah  xlviii.  8,  nothing  seems  necessary  to  be  added  to  the  remarks 
made  on  the  subject  of  original  sin  as  contained  in  Mr.  Balch's  creed, 
(>>:cept  that  he  charges  Calvinistic  divines  with  holding  sentiments  rela- 
tive to  infants  which  they  do  not  hold;  and  that  he  makes  positive  decla- 
rations in  regard  to  the  state  of  infants,  when  it  has  pleased  a  wise  and 
holy  God  to  be  silent  on  this  subject  in  the  revelation  of  his  will. 

In  regard  to  the  subject  of  indecent  language  alleged  to  have  been  used 
in  the  pulpit  by  Mr.  Balch,  it  is  remarked,  that  if  he  was  not  misunder- 
stood by  the  witnesses,  he  has,  notwithstanding,  declared  such  a  deep  and 
suitable  abhorrence  of  all  such  language  in  public  discourse  as  renders  it 
unnecessary  to  take  any  further  notice  of  it. 

On  the  whole,  your  Committee  recommend  that  Mr.  Balch  be  required 
to  acknowledge  before  the  Assembly  that  he  was  wrong  in  the  publication 
of  his  creed ;  that  in  the  particulars  specified  as  above  he  renounce  the 


222  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

errors  therein  pointed  out;  that  he  engage  to  teach  nothing  hereafter  of  a 
similar  nature ;  that  the  moderator  admonish  him  of  the  divisions,  disor- 
der, trouble  and  inconvenience  \vhich  he  has  occasioned  to  the  Church 
and  its  judicatories  by  his  imprudent  and  unwarrantable  conduct,  and 
warn  him  against  doing  anything  in  time  to  come  that  may  tend  to  pro- 
duce such  serious  and  lamentable  evils.  That  if  Mr.  Balch  submit  to  this, 
he  be  considered  as  in  good  standing  with  the  Church,  and  that  the  refer- 
ence and  queries  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  be  considered  as  fully  an- 
swered by  the  adoption  of  these  measures. — 1798,  pp.  155,  156. 

Mr.  Balch  appeared  before  the  General  Assembly  and  made  the  follow- 
ing declaration,  viz. :  • 

I  do  fully  acknowledge  that  I  was  wrong  in  publishing  my  creed.  I 
do  solemnly  declare,  however,  as  in  the  presence  of  my  final  Judge,  that 
I  never  did  entertain  the  ideas  nor  intend  to  teach  the  doctrines  which 
are  pointed  out  as  errors  in  the  statement  of  the  Assembly;  but  as  I  can- 
not so  w^ell  judge  as  the  Assembly  what  ideas  my  language  actually  con- 
veys, and  the  Assembly  declares  that  my  language  has  conveyed  these 
ideas  and  doctrines  to  their  minds,  I  do  fully  and  cheerfully  renounce 
them  as  wrong  and  improper ;  and  I  do  solemnly  and  sincerely  engage,  in 
a  reliance  on  divine  grace,  never  hereafter  to  teach  or  preach  what  the 
Assembly  have  stated  as  erroneous ;  and  I  do  finally  and  cheerfully  sub- 
mit myself  to  the  admonition  which  the  Assembly  may  see  meet  to  give 
for  my  irregularities,  which  I  acknowledge  to  deserve  censure,  and  for 
which  I  am  sincerely  sorry. 

Whereupon  the  moderator  gave  to  Mr.  Balch  the  solemn  admonition 
agreed  to ;  and  then  the  Assembly  declared  themselves  fully  satisfied  in 
the  case  of  Mr.  Balch,  and  that  he  is,  and  ought  to  be,  considered  as  in 
good  standing  with  the  Church.  And  the  whole  transaction  was  con- 
cluded with  prayer. — 1798,  p.  158. 

4.  Case  of  Rev.  ■William  O.  Davis. 

The  overture  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  which  had  been  laid  on 
the  table,  referring  to  the  Assembly  an  overture  laid  before  that  Synod, 
requesting  their  attention  to  a  late  publication  of  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Davis, 
denominated  the  "Gospel  Plan,"  was  read;  Messrs.  Robert  G.  Wilson, 
Calhoun  and  Anderson  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  examine  said 
book  and  report  to  this  Assembly  the  doctrines  it  contains,  if  any  such 
they  find,  that  are  contrary  to  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted,  viz.: 

The  Committee,  presuming  that  a  complete  and  perfect  enumeration  of 
all  the  objectionable  parts  of  said  book  is  not  expected,  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Assembly  only  to  the  following  doctrines,  supposed  to  be  con- 
trary to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  : 

Doctrine  I.  That  the  active  obedience  of  Christ  constitutes  no  part  of 
that  righteousness  by  which  a  sinner  is  justified,  pp.  257,  261,  264,  3d 
corollary. 

Doctrine  II.  That  obedience  to  the  moral  law  was  not  required  as  the 
condition  of  the  covenant  of  works,  pp.  178,  180. 

These  pages  being  read,  the  Assembly  resolved  that  they  do  consider 
these  doctrines  as  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  our  Church. 

Doctrine  III.  God  himself  is  as  firmly  bound  in  duty  (not  obedience) 
to  his  creatures  as  his  creatures  are  bound  in  obedience  or  duty  to  him, 
pp.  164,  166.  Also,  that  God's  will  is  not  the  standard  of  right  and 
wrong.     If  God's  will  is  the  primary  rule  of  his  own  actions,  he  would 


OF   THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  223 

be:  1st.  Entirely  void  of  holiness;  2d.  There  could  be  no  justice  in  God; 
3d.  It  would  be  impossible  for  God  to  be  unchangeable;  4th.  If  the  will 
of  God  is  the  standard  of  right  and  wrong,  then  it  would  be  no  infringe- 
ment on  the  divine  character  to  be  unfaithful  to  his  word  and  promise, 
—pp.  168-171. 

These  pages  being  read, 

Resolved,  That,  without  deciding  on  the  question  whether  these  senti- 
ments are  contrary  to  our  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Assembly  consider  the 
mode  in  which  they  are  expressed  as  unhappy,  and  calculated  to  mislead 
the  reader. 

Doctrine  IV.  God  could  not  make  Adam,  or  any  other  creature,  either 
holy  or  unholy.     Compare  page  194  with  166. 

Doctrine  V.  Regeneration  must  be  a  consequence  of  faith.  Faith  pre- 
cedes regeneration,  p.  352. 

Doctrine  VI.  Faith,  in  the  first  act  of  it,  is  not  a  holy  act,  p.  358,  etc. 

These  pages  being  read, 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  do  consider  the  three  last-mentioned  doc- 
trines contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  our  Church. 

Doctrine  Yil.  Christians  may  sin  willfully  and  habitually,  pp.  532,  534. 

These  pages  being  read, 

Resolved,  That  tlie  Assembly  consider  the  expressions  in  the  pages  re- 
ferred to  as  very  unguarded  ;  and  so  far  as  they  intimate  it  to  be  the  au- 
thor's opinion  that  a  person  may  live  in  an  habitual  and  allowed  sin,  and 
yet  be  a  Christian,  the  Assembly  consider  them  contrary  to  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  our  Church,  and  in  their  tendency 
highly  dangerous. 

Doctrine  VIII.  If  God  has  to  plant  all  the  principal  parts  of  salvation 
in  a  sinner's  heart  to  enable  him  to  believe,  the  "Gospel  Plan"  is  quite 
out  of  his  reach,  and  consequently  does  not  suit  his  case;  and  it  must  be 
impossible  for  God  to  condemn  a  man  for  unbelief,  for  no  just  law  con- 
demns or  criminates  any  person  for  not  doing  what  he  cannot  do. — p.  413. 

This  page,  and  several  others  on  the  same  subject,  being  read. 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  do  consider  this  last-mentioned  doctrine 
contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  our  Church. 

On  the  whole, 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  cannot  but  view  with  disapprobation 
various  parts  of  the  work  entitled  "The  Gospel  Plan,"  of  which  William 
C.  Davis  is  stated  in  the  title-page  to  be  the  author.  In  several  instances 
in  this  work,  modes  of  expression  are  adopted,  so  different  from  those 
which  are  sanctioned  by  use  and  by  the  best  orthodox  writers,  that  the 
Assembly  consider  them  as  calculated  to  produce  useless  or  mischievous 
speculations. 

In  several  other  instances  there  are  doctrines  asserted  and  advocated, 
as  has  been  already  decided,  contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  our 
Church  and  the  word  of  God;  which  doctrines  the  Assembly  feel  con- 
strained to  pronounce  to  be  of  very  dangerous  tendency;  and  the  Assem- 
bly do  judge,  and  do  hereby  declare,  that  the  preaching  or  publishing  of 
them  ought  to  subject  the  person  or  persons  so  doing  to  be  dealt  with  by 
their  respective  Presbyteries,  according  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
relative  to  the  propagation  of  errors. — 1810,  pp.  448-453. 

5.  Case  of  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead. 
[On  an  appeal  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky.     After  speaking  of  cer- 
tain irregularities  in  the  conduct  both  of  the  'Synod  and  the  appellant, 
they  say,] 


224  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

But  from  matters  of  form  the  General  Assembly  will  now  pass  to  the 
merits  of  the  ease ;  and  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  the  first  and  second 
charges  only  shall  be  brought  into  view. 

"  Charge  1.  We  charge  him  with  denying  and  vilifying  the  real  agency 
of  the  Spirit  in  regeneration,  and  in  the  production  of  faith  and  sanctifi- 
cation  in  general." 

And  first  they  would  observe  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  de- 
nial of  the  real  agency  of  the  Spirit  is  a  dangerous  and  fundamental 
error;  and  if  Mr.  Craighead  taught  such  an  error,  he  ought  to  have  been 
suspended. 

The  question  then  is,  Do  the  passages  of  Mr.  Craighead's  sermon  re- 
ferred to  in  the  charge  prove  that  he  did  deny  the  reality  of  the  operations 
of  the  Spirit  ? 

Here  it  ^Yill  be  important  to  remark  that  a  man  cannot  fairly  be  con- 
victed of  heresy  for  using  expressions  which  may  be  so  interpreted  as  to 
involve  heretical  doctrines  if  they  may  also  admit  of  a  more  favorable 
construction,  because  no  one  can  tell  in  what  sense  an  ambiguous  expres- 
sion is  used  but  the  speaker  or  writer,  and  he  has  a  right  to  explain  him- 
self; and  in  such  cases  candor  requires  that  a  court  should  favor  the  ac- 
cused, by  putting  on  his  words  the  more  favorable,  rather  than  the  less 
favorable,  construction. 

Another  principle  is  that  no  man  can  rightly  be  convicted  of  heresy 
by  inference  or  implication — that  is,  we  must  not  charge  an  accused  per- 
son with  holding  those  consequences  which  may  legitimately  flow  from  his 
assertions.  Many  men  are  grossly  inconsistent  with  themselves ;  and 
while  it  is  right  in  argument  to  overthrow  false  opinions  by  tracing  them 
in  their  connections  and  consequences,  it  is  not  right  to  charge  any  man 
with  an  opinion  which  he  disavows. 

"With  these  principles  in  view,  the  General  Assembly  proceed  to  ob- 
serve that  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  Mr.  Craigheacl  did  deny  the 
immediate  agency  of  the  Spirit,  but  no  clear  evidence  that  he  denied  the 
real  agency  of  the  Spirit.  These  are  very  different  things,  and  the  proof 
of  the  one  does  by  no  means  establish  the  other.  Immediate  agency  or 
operation  is  opposed  to  mediate.  This  is  a  well-known  distinction  in  the- 
ology, and  a  point  which  has  been  greatly  controverted.  The  Eeformed 
Church,  of  which  ours  is  a  part,  in  all  their  purest  times,  maintained  the 
doctrine  of  the  immediate  operation  of  the  Spirit,  not  without  the  word, 
but  distinct  from  it,  and  in  the  order  of  nature  preceding  it.  Other  Prot- 
estant churches,  never  charged  with  fundamental  error,  have  as  uniformly 
maintained  the  doctrine  of  a  mediate  agency,  and  those  commonly  believe 
that  this  operation  is  not  occasional,  but  uniform,  and  diversified  in  its 
effects  by  the  difference  of  resistance  with  which  it  meets.  Neither  the 
Presbytery  nor  the  Synod  appear  to  have  attended  sufficiently  to  this  dis- 
tinction. They  appear  to  have  thought  that  a  denial  of  immediate  agencv 
was  a  denial  of  all  real  agency.  It  deserves  special  regard  here  that  our 
confession  takes  no  notice  of  these  nice  distinctions  about  the  mode  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  operates.  It  ustuilly  mentions  the  word  and  the 
Spirit  together,  and  the  former  as  tlie  instrument  of  the  latter.  And  they 
who  believe  in  the  immediate  agency  of  the  Spirit  do  not  exclude  the  in- 
strumentality of  the  word ;  they,  however,  explain  it  in  a  difiercnt  way 
from  those  who  hold  tliat  there  is  no  agency  of  the  Spirit  distinct  from 
the  word.  But  this  is  the  more  favorable  construction  ;  there  is  another 
which,  if  not  more  probable,  is  more  obvious.  Mr.  Craighead  may  be  un- 
derstood as  teaching  that  the  only  real  agency  of  the  Spirit  was  in  inspir- 
ing the  Scriptures  and  confirming  them  by  signs  and  miracles.     There  is 


OF   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  225 

much  in  his  discourse  that  has  this  bearing,  and  undoubtedly  this  is  the 
common  impression  among  the  people  where  it  is  best  known.  This  was 
the  idea  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  when  they  condemned  him,  and  this 
is  in  tact  denying  the  reality  of  th'e  operation  of  the  Spirit  in  our  days ; 
and  whether  his  expressions  have  been  fairly  interpreted  or  not,  they  are 
dangerous,  and  ought  to  be  condemned.  In  justice  to  Mr.  Craighead, 
however,  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  he  utterly  disclaims  this  mean- 
ing in  his  defence  set  up  to  this  Assembly  ;  and  would  it  be  fair  to  continue 
to  charge  upon  him  opinions  which  he  solemnly  disavows  ?  Of  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  disavowal  God  is  the  judge.  The  conclusion  is  that  the  first 
charge,  though  supported  by  strcmg  probabilities,  is  not  so  conclusively 
established  as  to  remove  all  doubt,  because  the  words  adduced  in  proof 
will  bear  a  different  construction  from  that  put  on  them  by  the  Presby- 
tery and  Synod. 

The  evidence  in  support  of  the  second  charge  is  still  less  clear  and  con- 
clusive.    The  charge  is : 

"We  charge  him  with  denying,  vilifying  and  misrepresenting  the  doe- 
trine  of  divine  foreordination  and  sovereignty  and  election." 

It  might,  perhaps,  be  shown  by  alignment  that  Mr.  Craighead  uses 
many  expressions  not  consistent  with  these  doctrines;  but  agreeably  to  the 
principle  laid  down  above,  he  must  not  be  charged  with  holding  these  con- 
sequences unless  he  has  avowed  them.  These  passages  of  his  discourse,  it 
is  true,  contain  erroneous  and  offensive  things,  but  they  do  not  establish 
the  charge  of  denying,  vilifying,  etc.  In  one  single  instance  he  seems  to 
deny  that  everything  should  be  referred  to  the  sovereignty  of  God's  will, 
but  the  words  in  their  connection  may  have  an  innocent  meaning.  Here 
again  it  must  be  observed  that  Mr.  Craighead  solemnly  declares  his  belief 
in  the  doctrine  of  decrees  and  election  as  expressed  in  our  standards. 

But  whilst  the  General  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  the  charges  against 
Mr.  Craighead  are  not  clearly  and  fully  supported  by  the  references,  they 
feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  say  that  the  impression  which  they  have  received 
from  hearing  extracts  from  this  discourse  are  very  unfavorable,  and  they 
do  believe  that  Mr.  Craighead  by  preaching  and  printing  this  sermon  did 
subject  himself  justly  to  censure. 

Moreover,  the  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  the  doctrines  of  this  ser- 
mon, in  the  most  favorable  construction,  are  different  from  those  of  the 
Reformed  Churches  and  of  our  Church,  and  are  erroneous,  although  the 
error  is  not  of  fundamental  importance.  They  have  observed,  also,  that 
this  discourse  contains  many  unjust  and  illiberal  reflections  on  the  doc- 
trines which  have  been  the  common  and  uniform  belief  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  preachers  and  writers  of  the  Reformed  Churches.  He 
mentions  the  names  of  a  few  persons  as  favoring  the  doctrine  which  he 
opposes ;  but  he  might  have  put  into  the  list  almost  every  standard  writer 
of  our  own  and  sister  Churches  since  the  Reformation. 

The  sermon  also  contains  much  declamation  which  confounds  flmati- 
cism  and  piety,  and  representations  of  opinions  which  are  true  and  import- 
ant, so  associated  with  error  and  absurdity,  as  to  exhibit  them  in  a  ridicu- 
lous and  odious  light. 

Finally,  the  General  Assembly  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  evidences 
of  an  improper  spirit  and  an  evil  tendency  in  this  sermon,  and  are  of 
opinion  that  Mr.  Craighead  ought  so  to  retract  or  explain  his  sentiments 
as  to  afford  reasonable  satisfaction  to  his  brethren. 

Whereupon,  Resolved,  That  as  the  proceedings  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Craig- 
head  have  been,  in  many  respects,  irregular,  and  he  has  suffered  much 
injury  from  the  delay  produced  by  these  irregularities,  and  whereas,  also, 
29 


226  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

the  charges  are  not  so  conclusively  established  as  to  remove  all  doubt,  the 
General  Assembly  cannot  see  their  way  clear  finally  to  confirm  the  sen- 
tence of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  although  they  are  of  opinion  that  j\Ir. 
Craighead  has  subjected  himself,  by  preaching  and  printing  this  sermon, 
to  just  censure.  But  as  Mr.  Craighead  has  had  no  fair  opportunity  of 
vindicating  himself,  or  of  making  satisfactory  explanations  or  retractions, 
therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  whole  cause  be  transmitted  to  the  Presbyterv  of 
West  Tennessee,  in  the  bounds  of  which  Mr.  Craighead  resides;  and  that 
they  be  directed  to  give  him  an  early  opportunity  of  offering  that  satis- 
faction which  the  church  expects,  for  the  offence  received  ;  and  that  upon 
receiving  such  explanation  or  retractions  as  to  them  shall  be  satisfactory, 
Mr.  Craighead  be  restored  to  the  gospel  ministry,  from  which  he  had  been 
suspended.— 1824,  pp.  122-124. 

[Mr.  Craighead  was  restored.] 

6.  Case  of  Rev.  Albert  Barnes. 

[For  a  full  statement  and  history  of  the  case,  see  Baird's  Revised 
Edition,  pp.  G94-700.  On  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  it  was] 

Reifolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  suspending 
Rev.  Albert  Barnes  from  all  the  functions  projjer  to  the  gospel  ministry, 
be  and  it  is  herebv  reversed.  [Yeas  145,  navs  78,  declined  voting  11.] — 
1836,  p.  269. 

[A  resolution  offered  by  Dr.  Samuel  Miller  was  rejected.  Yeas  109, 
nays  122.  Two  protests  which  may  be  found  in  full,  together  with  Dr. 
Miller's  Resolution,  in  Baird,  pp.  700-702,  were  entered.  In  reply  the 
Assembly  make  the  following  statements  as  to  the  dtx-trines  involved  :] 

The  correctness  of  the  preceding  positions  is  confirmed,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  Assembly,  by  a  careful  analysis  of  the  real  meaning  of  Mr.  Barnes 
under  each  charge,  as  ascertained  by  the  language  of  his  book  and  the 
revisions,  disclaimers,  explanations  and  declarations  which  he  has  matle. 

In  respect  to  the  first  charge,  that  Mr.  Barnes  teaches  that  all  sin  is 
voluntary,  the  context  and  his  own  declarations  show  that  he  refers  to 
all  actual  sin  merely,  in  which  he  affirms  the  sinner  acts  under  no  com- 
pulsion. 

The  second  charge  implies  neither  heresy  nor  errors,  but  relates  to  the 
expression  of  an  opinion  on  a  matter  concerning  which  no  defiiiifc  in- 
struction is  contained  either  in  the  Bible  or  in  the  Conlessiou  of  P^iitli. 

In  respect  to  the  third  charge,  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  taught  that  unregt  n- 
erate  men  are  able,  in  the  sense  alleged,  to  keep  the  commandments  and 
convert  themselves  to  God.  It  is  an  inference  of  the  prosecutor  from  tlie 
doctrine  of  natural  ability  as  taught  by  Edwards,  and  of  the  natural  lib- 
erty of  the  will  as  taught  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  i.  On 
the  contrary,  he  docs  teach,  in  accordance  with  our  standards,  that  nnui, 
by  the  fall,  hath  wholly  lost  all  ability  of  %vUl  to  any  spiritual  good  accoin- 
panying  salvation. 

In  respect  to  the  fourth  charge,  that  faith  is  an  act  oi'  the  mind,  'Mv. 
Barnes  does  teach  it,  in  accordance  with  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the 
Bible;  but  he  does  not  deny  that  faith  is  a  fruit  of  the  special  influence 
of  the  Spirit,  and  a  {)ermanent  holy  hal)it  of  mind,  in  opposition  to  a  cre- 
ated physical  essence.  That  faith  "is  counted  for  rigliteousness"  is  the 
language  of  the  Bible,  and  as  used  by  Mr.  Barnes  means,  not  that  faith 
is  the  meritorious  ground  of  justification,  but  only  the  instrument  by 
which  the  benefit  of  Christ's  righteousness  is  appropriated. 


OF   THE    GENEPwAL    ASSE:\rBT.Y.  227 

In  respect  to  the  fifth  charge,  Mi-.  Barnes  nowhere  denies,  much  less 
"sneers"  at,  the  idea  that  Adam  was  the  covenant  and  federal  head  of 
his  posterity:  on  the  contraiy,  though  he  employs  not  these  terras,  he 
does,  in  other  language,  teach  the  same  truths  which  are  taught  by  this 
phraseology. 

In  respect  to  the  sixth  and  seventh  charges,  that  the  sin  of  Adam  is  not 
imputed  to  his  posterity,  and  that  mankind  are  not  guilty  or  liable  to 
punishment  on  account  of  the  first  sin  of  Adam,  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
it  is  not  taught  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  that  the  sin  of  Adam  is  im- 
puted to  his  posterity.  The  imputation  of  the  guilt  of  Adam's  sin,  Mr. 
Barnes  affirms,  though  not  as  including  personal  identity  and  the  transfer 
of  moral  qualities,  both  of  which  are  disclaimed  by  our  standard  writers, 
and  by  the  General  Assembly. 

In  respect  to  the  eighth  charge,  that  Christ  did  not  suffer  the  penalty 
of  the  law,  as  the  vicarious  substitute  of  his  people,  ]Mr.  Barnes  only  de- 
nies the  literal  infliction  of  the  whole  curse,  as  including  remorse  of  con- 
science and  eternal  death,  but  admits  and  teaches  that  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  owing  to  the  union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the  person 
of  the  Mediator,  were  a  full  equivalent. 

In  respect  to  the  ninth  charge,  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  not 
imputed  to  his  people,  Mr.  Barnes  teaches  the  imputation  of  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  but  not  as  importing  a  transfer  of  Christ's  personal 
righteousness  to  believers,  which  is  not  the  doctrine  of  our  Church.  And 
when  he  says  that  there  is  no  sense  in  which  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
becomes  ours,  the  context  and  his  own  declarations  show  that  he  simply 
means  to  deny  a  literal  transfer  of  his  obedience ;  which,  on  the  contrary, 
he  teaches  is  so  imputed  or  set  to  our  account  as  to  become  the  only  mer- 
itorious cause  or  ground  of  our  justification. 

In  respect  to  the  tenth  charge,  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  taught  that  justifica- 
tion consists  in  pardon  only,  but  has  taught  clearly  that  it  includes  the 
reception  of  believers  into  favor,  and  their  treatment  as  if  they  had  not 
sinned.— 1836,  p.  287. 

7.  Testimony  against  Doctrinal  Errors. 

The  Assembly  adopted  that  part  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the 
memorial  which  relates  to  doctrinal  errors,  as  follows,  viz. : 

As  one  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  memorialists  is  to  point  out  cer- 
tain errors  more  or  less  prevalent  in  our  Church,  and  to  bear  testimony 
against  them,  your  Committee  are  of  oj)inion  that  as  one  great  object  of 
the  institution  of  the  Church  was  to  be  a  depository  and  guardian  of  the 
truth,  and  as  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  testify  against  error; 
therefore,  resolved,  that  the  testimony  of  the  memorialists  concerning  doc- 
trine be  adopted  as  the  testimony  of  this  General  Assembly  (with  a  few 
verbal  altei-atioiis),  which  is  as  follows: 

1.  That  God  would  have  prevented  the  existence  of  sin  in  our  world, 
but  was  not  able  without  destroying  the  moral  agency  of  man,  or  that,  for 
aught  that  appears  in  the  Bible  to  the  contrary,  sin  is  incidental  to  any 
wise  moral  system. 

2.  That  election  to  eternal  life  is  founded  on  a  foresight  of  faith  and 
obedience. 

3.  That  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam  than  with  the 
sins  of  any  other  parent. 

4.  That  infants  come  into  the  world  as  free  from  moi*al  defilement  as 
was  Adam  when  he  was  created. 


228  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

5.  That  infants  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  moral  government  of 
God  in  this  world  as  brute  animals,  and  that  their  sufferings  and  death 
are  to  be  accounted  for  on  the  same  principles  as  those  of  brutes,  and  not 
by  any  means  to  be  considered  as  penal. 

6.  That  there  is  no  other  original  sin  than  the  fact  that  all  the  posterity 
of  Adam,  though  by  nature  innocent  or  possessed  of  no  moral  character, 
will  always  begin  to  sin  when  they  begin  to  exercise  moral  agency ;  that 
original  sin  does  not  include  a  sinful  bias  of  the  human  mind  and  a  just 
exposure  to  penal  suffering;  and  that  there  is  no  evidence  in  Scripture 
that  infonts,  in  order  to  salvation,  do  need  redemption  by  the  blood  of 
Christ  and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

7.  That  the  doctrine  of  imputation,  whether  of  the  guilt  of  Adam's  sin 
or  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  has  no  foundation  in  the  word  of  God, 
and  is  both  unjust  and  absurd. 

8.  That  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  were  not  truly  vicarious  and 
penal,  but  symbolical,  governmental  and  instructive  only. 

9.  That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  independently  of  the 
renewing  influence  or  almighty  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  full  posses- 
sion of  all  the  abilitv  necessary  to  a  full  compliance  with  all  the  commands 
of  God. 

10.  That  Christ  does  not  intercede  for  the  elect  until  after  their  regene- 
ration. 

11.  That  saving  faith  is  not  an  effect  of  the  special  operation  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  but  a  mere  rational  belief  of  the  truth  or  assent  to  the  word 
of  God. 

12.  That  regeneration  is  the  act  of  the  sinner  himself,  and  that  it  con- 
sists in  a  change  of  his  governing  purpose  which  he  himself  must  pro- 
duce, and  which  is  the  result,  not  of  any  direct  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  on  the  heart,  but  chiefly  of  a  persuasive  exhibition  of  the  truth 
analogous  to  the  influence  which  one  man  exerts  over  the  mind  of  an- 
other, or  that  regeneration  is  not  an  instantaneous  act,  but  a  progressive 
work. 

13.  That  God  has  done  all  that  he  can  do  for  the  salvation  of  all  men, 
and  that  man  himself  must  do  the  rest. 

14.  That  God  cannot  exert  such  influence  on  the  minds  of  men  as  shall 
make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  and  act  in  a  particular  manner  with- 
out im]iairing  their  moral  agency. 

15.  That  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  not  the  sole  ground  of  the  sin- 
ner's acceptance  with  God,  and  that  in  no  sense  does  the  righteousness  of 
Christ  become  ours. 

16.  That  the  reason  why  some  differ  from  others  in  regard  to  their 
reception  of  the  gospel  is  that  they  make  themselves  to  differ. 

Against  all  tliese  errors,  whenever  and  wherever  and  by  whomsoever 
taught,  the  Assembly  would  solemnly  testify,  and  would  warn  all  in  con- 
nection with  the  Presbyterian  Church  against  them.  They  would  also 
enjoin  it  upon  all  the  inferior  judicatories  to  adopt  all  suitable  measures 
to  keep  their  members  i)ure  from  opinions  so  dangerous.  Especially 
does  the  Assembly  earnestly  enjoin  on  all  the  Presbyteries  to  guard  Avith 
great  cai-e  the  door  of  entrance  to  the  sacred  ofiice.  Nor  can  the  As- 
sembly regard  as  consistent  with  ministerial  ordination  vows  an  unwill- 
ingness to  discipline  according  to  the  rules  of  the  word  of  God  and  of 
our  standards  any  person  already  a  teacher  who  may  give  currency 
to  the  foregoing  errors.  Yeas  109;  nays  6;  nmi  liquet  11. — 1837,  pp. 
468-470. 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  229 

8.  An  Explication  of  Doctrines. 

[The  following  final  article  of  a  protest  on  the  general  action  of  the 
Assembly  in  reference  to  the  "  JMemorial"  was  ordered  to  be  placed  upon 
the  minutes,  viz. :] 

We  protest  finally,  because,  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  we  feel 
that  while  we  were  prevented  from  uniting  in  the  final  vote  with  the  majority  in  their 
testimony  against  error,  for  tlie  reasons  above  stated,  we  owe  it  to  ourselves,  to  our 
brethren,  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world  to  declare  and  protest  that  it  is  not  because 
we  do,  directly  or  indirectly,  hold  or  countenance  the  erroi's  stated.  We  are  willing 
to  bear  our  testimony  in  full  against  them,  and  now  do  so,  when,  without  misappre- 
hension and  liability  to  have  our  vote  misconstrued,  we  avow  our  real  sentiments,  and 
contrast  them  with  tiie  errors  condemned,  styling  them,  as  we  believe,  the  true  doc- 
trine, in  opposition  to  the  erroneous  doctrine  condemned,  as  follows,  viz. : 

First  Error.  "That  God  would  have  prevented  the  existence  of  sin  in  our  world, 
but  was  not  able  without  destroying  the  moral  agency  of  man ;  or  that,  for  aught  that 
appears  in  the  Bible  to  the  contrary,  sin  is  incidental  to  any  wise  moral  system." 

True  Doctrine.  God  permitted  the  introduction  of  sin,  not  because  he  was  unable  to 
prevent  it,  consistently  with  the  moral  freedom  of  his  creatures,  but  for  wise  and  be- 
nevolent reasons  which  he  has  not  revealed. 

Second  Error.  "  That  election  to  eternal  life  is  founded  on  a  foresight  of  faith  and 
obedience." 

True  Doctrine.  Election  to  eternal  life  Is  not  founded  on  a  foresight  of  faith  and 
obedience,  but  is  a  sovereign  act  of  God's  mercy,  whereby,  according  to  the  council 
of  his  own  will,  he  hath  chosen  some  to  salvation;  "yet  so  as  thereby  neither  is  vio- 
lence offered  to  the  will  of  the  creatures,  nor  is  the  liberty  or  contingency  of  second 
causes  taken  away,  but  rather  established  ;"  nor  does  this  gracious  purpose  ever  take 
effi?ct  independently  of  faith  and  a  holy  life. 

Third  Error.  "That  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam  than  with 
the  sins  of  any  other  parent." 

True  Doctrine.  By  a  divine  constitution,  Adam  was  .so  the  head  and  representative 
of  the  race  that,  as  a  consequence  of  his  transgression,  all  mankind  became  morally 
corrupt  and  liable  to  death,  temporal  and  eternal. 

Fourth  Error.  "  That  infants  come  into  the  world  as  free  from  moral  defilement  as 
was  Adam  when  he  was  created." 

True  Doctrine.  Adam  was  created  in  the  image  of  God,  endowed  with  knowledge, 
righteousness  and  true  holiness.  Inf:ints  come  into  the  world  not  only  destitute  of 
these,  but  with  a  nature  inclined  to  evil,  and  only  evil. 

Fifth  Error.  "That  Infants  sustain  the  same  relation  to  the  moral  government  of 
God  in  this  world  as  brute  animals,  and  that  their  sufferings  and  death  are  to  be 
accounted  for  on  the  same  principles  as  those  of  brutes,  and  not  by  any  means  to  be 
considered  as  penal." 

True  Doctrine.  Brute  animals  sustain  no  such  relation  to  the  moral  government  of 
God  as  does  the  luunan  family.  Infants  are  a  part  of  the  luiman  family;  and  their 
Bufferings  and  death  are  to  be  accounted  for  on  the  ground  of  their  being  involved  in 
the  general  moral  ruin  of  the  race  induced  by  the  a|)ostasy. 

Sixth  Error.  "That  there  Is  no  other  original  sin  than  tlie  fact  that  all  the  posterity 
of  Adam,  though  by  nature  innocent,  will  always  begin  to  sin  when  they  begin  to 
exercise  moral  agency;  that  original  sin  does  not  Include  a  sinful  bias  of  the  human 
mind  and  a  Just  exposure  to  penal  suffering;  and  that  there  is  no  evidence  In  Scrip- 
ture that  infants,  in  order  to  salvation,  do  need  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ 
and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

T/we  Doctrine.  Original  sin  Is  a  natural  bias  to  evil,  resulting  from  the  first  apos- 
tasy, leading  invariably  and  certainly  to  actual  transgression.  And  all  Infants,  as 
well  as  adults,  In  order  to  be  saved,  need  redem[)tIon  by  the  blood  of  Christ  and  re- 
generation by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Seventh  Error.  "That  the  doctrine  of  Imputation,  whether  of  the  guilt  of  Adam's 
sin  or  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  has  no  foundation  in  the  word  (jf  God,  and  is 
both  unjust  and  absurd." 

True  Doctrine.  The  sin  of  Adam  is  not  imputed  to  his  posterity  in  the  sense  of  a 
literal  transfer  of  personal  qualities,  acts  and  demerit;  but  by  reason  of  the  sin  of 
Adam,  in  his  peculiar  relation,  the  race  are  treated  as  If  they  bad  sinned.  Nor  Is 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  his  people  In  the  sense  of  a  literal  transfer  of 
];ersonal  qualities,  acts  and  merit;  but  by  reason  of  his  righteousness,  In  his  peculiar 
relation,  they  are  treated  as  if  they  were  righteous. 


230  FORM   OF   GOVEENMEXT. 

Eighth  Error.  "  Tliat  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  were  not  truly  vicarious 
and  penal,  but  symbolical,  governmental  and  instructive  only." 

True  Doctrine.  Tlie  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  were  not  symbolical,  govern- 
mental and  instructive  only,  but  were  truly  vicarious — i.  e.,  a  substitute  for  the  pun- 
ishment due  to  transgressors.  And  while  Christ  did  not  suffer  the  literal  penalty  of 
the  Jaw,  involving  remorse  of  conscience  and  the  pains  of  hell,  he  did  offer  a  sacrifice 
which  infinite  wisdom  saw  to  be  a  full  equivalent.  And  by  virtue  of  this  atonement 
overtures  of  mere)'  are  sincerely  made  to  the  race,  and  salvation  secured  to  all  who 
believe. 

I^lnth  Error.  "That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  independently  of  the 
renewing  influence  or  almighty  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  full  possession  of  all  the 
ability  necessary  to  a  full  compliance  with  all  the  commands  of  God." 

True  Doctrine.  While  sinners  have  all  the  faculties  necessary  to  a  perfect  moral 
agency  and  a  just  accountability,  such  is  their  love  of  sin  and  opposition  to  God  and 
his  law  that,  independently  of  the  renewing  influence  or  almighty  energy  of  the  Holy 
.Spirit,  they  never  will  comply  with  the  commands  of  God. 

TeiUli,  Error.  "  That  Christ  does  not  intercede  for  the  elect  until  after  their  regene- 
ration." 

True  Doctrine.  The  intercession  of  Christ  for  the  elect  is  previous  as  well  as  subse- 
quent to  tiieir  regeneration,  as  appears  from  the  following  Scripture,  viz.:  "I  pray  not 
for  the  world,  but  for  them  which  thou  hast  given  me,  for  they  are  thine.  Neither 
pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall  believe  on  lae  through  their 
word." 

Eleventh  Error.  "  That  saving  faith  is  not  an  efTect  of  the  operations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  a  mere  rational  belief  of  the  truth  or  assent  to  the  word  of  God." 

True  Doctrine.  Saving  faith  is  an  intelligent  and  cordial  assent  to  the  testimony  of 
God  concerning  his  Son,  im[)lying  reliance  on  Christ  alone  for  pardon  and  eternal 
life,  and  in  all  cases  it  is  an  effect  of  the  special  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Twelfth  Error.  "That  regeneration  is  the  act  of  the  sinner  liimself,  and  that  it  con- 
.sists  in  a  change  of  his  governing  purpose  which  he  himself  must  produce,  and  which 
is  the  result,  not  of  any  direct  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  heart,  but  chiefly 
of  a  persuasive  exhibition  of  the  truth,  analogous  to  the  influence  which  one  man 
exerts  over  the  mind  of  another,  or  that  regeneration  is  not  an  instantaneous  act,  but 
a  progressive  work." 

True  Doctrine.  Regeneration  is  a  radical  change  of  heart,. produced  by  the  special 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  "determining  the  sinner  to  that  which  is  good,"  and  is 
in  all  cases  instantaneous. 

Thirteenth  Error.  "  That  OJod  has  done  all  that  lie  can  do  for  the  salvation  of  all 
men,  and  that  man  himself  must  do  the  rest." 

True  Doctrine.  While  repentance  for  sin  and  faith  in  Christ  are  indispensable  to 
salvation,  all  who  are  saved  are  indebted  from  flrst  to  last  to  the  grace  and  Spirit 
of  (Jod.  And  the  reason  that  God  does  not  save  all  is  not  that  he  wants  the  power  to 
do  it,  but  that  in  his  wisdom  he  does  not  see  fit  to  exert  that  power  further  than  he 
actually  does. 

Eonrteenth  Error.  "That  God  cannot  exert  such  influence  on  the  minds  of  men  as 
shall  make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  and  act  in  a  particular  manner  without 
impairing  their  moral  agency." 

True  Doctrine.  While  the  liberty  of  the  will  is  not  impaired,  nor  the  established 
connection  betwixt  means  and  end  broken  by  any  action  of  God  on  the  mind,  he  can 
influence  it  according  to  his  pleasure,  and  does  effectually  determine  it  to  good  in  all 
cases  of  true  conversion. 

Fifteenth  Err m:  "That  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  not  the  sole  ground  of  the 
sinner's  acceptance  with  God,  and  that  in  no  sense  does  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
become  ours." 

True  Doctrine.  All  believers  are  justified,  not  on  the  ground  of  personal  merit,  but 
solely  on  the  ground  of  the  obedience  and  death,  or,  in  other  words,  the  righteous- 
ness," of  Christ.  And  while  that  righteousness  does  not  become  theirs  in  the  sense  of 
a  literal  transfer  of  personal  qualities  and  merit,  yet,  from  respect  to  it,  God  can  and 
does  treat  them  as  if  tliey  were  righteous. 

Sixteenth  Error.  "  That  the  reason  why  .some  differ  from  others  in  regard  to  their 
reception  of  the  gospel  is  that  they  make  themselves  to  differ." 

True  Doctrine.  Wliile  all  such  as  reject  the  gospel  of  Christ  do  it  not  by  coercion, 
but  freely,  and  all  who  eml)race  it  do  it  not  by  coercion,  but  freely,  the  reason  why 
some  differ  from  others  is  because  God  has  made  them  to  differ. 

George  Duffield,  E.  W.  Gilbert,  Thomas  Brown,  Bliss  Burnap,  N.  S.  S.  Beman,  E. 
Cheever,  E.  Seymour,  George  Paiutei-,  F,  W.  Graves,  Obadiah  Woodruff",  N.  C.  Clark, 


OF   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  231 

Robert  Stuart,  Nalium  Gould,   Absalom    Peters,  Alexander  Camiibell. — 1837,  pp. 
484-486. 

9.  Testimony  against  Certain  Disorders  and.  Irregularities. 

Whereas,  it  is  represented  to  the  Assembly  that  the  following  disorders 
and  irregularities  are  practiced  in  some  portions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  the  Assembly,  without  determining  the  extent  of  them,  would 
solemnly  warn  all  in  our  connection  against  them.  They  are  as  follows, 
viz.: 

1.  The  formation  of  Presbyteries  without  defined  and  reasonable  limits, 
or  Presbyteries  covering  the  same  territory,  and  especially  such  a  forma- 
tion founded  on  doctrinal  repulsions  or  affinities,  thus  introducing  schism 
into  the  very  vitals  of  the  body. 

2.  The  licensing  of  persons  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  the  ordaining  to 
the  office  of  the  ministry  such  as  not  only  accept  of  our  standards  merely 
for  substance  of  doctrine,  and  others  who  are  unfit  and  ought  to  be  ex- 
cluded for  want  of  qualification,  but  of  many  even  who  openly  deny  fun- 
damental principles  of  truth  and  preach  and  publish  radical  errors  as 
already  set  forth, 

3.  The  formation  of  a  great  multitude  and  variety  of  creeds  which  are 
often  incomplete,  false  and  contradictory  of  each  other  and  of  our  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  the  Bible,  but  Avhich,  even  if  true,  are  needless,  seeing 
that  the  public  and  authorized  standards  of  the  Church  are  fully  sufficient 
for  the  purposes  for  which  such  formularies  were  introduced — namely,  as 
public  testimonies  of  our  faith  and  practice,  as  aids  to  the  teaching  of  the 
people  truth  and  righteousness,  and  as  instruments  for  ascertaining  and 
preserving  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  it  being  under- 
stood that  we  do  not  object  to  the  use  of  a  brief  abstract  of  the  doctrines 
of  our  Confession  of  Faith  in  the  public  reception  of  private  members  of 
the  Church, 

4.  The  needless  ordination  of  a  multitude  of  men  to  the  office  of  evan- 
gelist, and  the  consequent  tendency  to  a  general  neglect  of  the  pastoral 
office,  frequent  and  hurtful  changes  of  pastoral  relations,  to  the  multipli- 
cation of  spurious  excitements  and  the  consequent  spread  of  heresy  and 
fanaticism,  thus  weakening  and  bringing  into  contempt  the  ordinary  and 
stated  agents  and  means  for  the  conversion  of  sinners  and  the  edification 
of  the  body  of  Christ, 

5.  The  disuse  of  the  office  of  ruling  elder  in  portions  of  the  Church,  and 
the  consequent  growth  of  practices  and  principles  entirely  foreign  to  our 
system,  thus  depriving  the  pastors  of  needful  assistants  in  discipline,  the 
people  of  proper  guides  in  Christ,  and  the  churches  of  suitable  representa- 
tives in  the  ecclesiastical  tribunals. 

6.  The  unlimited  and  irresponsible  power  assumed  by  several  associa- 
tions of  men  under  various  names  to  exercise  authority  and  influence,  direct 
and  indirect,  over  Presbyteries,  as  to  their  field  of  labor,  place  of  residence 
and  mode  of  action  in  the  difficult  circumstances  of  our  Church,  thus 
actually  throwing  the  control  of  affairs  in  large  portions  of  the  Church, 
and  sometimes  in  the  General  Assembly  itself,  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
Presbyteries  into  those  of  single  individuals  or  small  committees  located 
at  a  distance. 

The  Assembly  also  considered  that  part  of  the  repoi't  of  the  Committee 
on  the  Memorial  which  relates  to  church  order,  and  the  following  specifica- 
tion'of  inegularity  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures, 
who  were  instructed  to  bring  in  an  overture  on  the  subject  to  be  sent  down 
to  the  Presbyteries,  viz. : 


2'y2  FORM    OF   GOVERX.MEXT. 

8.  A  progressive  change  in  the  system  of  presbyterial  representation  in 
the  General  Assembly,  which  has  been  persisted  in  by  those  holding  the 
ordinary  majorities,  and  carried  out  into  detail  by  those  disposed  to  take 
undue  advantage  of  existing  opportunities,  until  the  actual  representation 
seldom  exliibits  the  true  state  of  the  Church,  and  numy  questions  of  the 
deepest  interest  have  been  decided  contrary  to  the  fairly-ascertained  Avishes 
of  the  majority  of  the  Church  and  people  in  our  communion,  thus  virtually 
subverting  the  essential  principles  of  freedom,  justice  and  equality  un 
which  our  whole  system  rests. — 1837,  p.  471. 

[For  testimonies  of  the  Assembly  against  slavery,  intemperance,  vice 
and  immorality,  see  under  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  i.,  sec.  iii.,  at  large.] 

10.  Power  of  the  Assembly  in  Discipline. — Definitions  and  Lim- 
itations. 

[The  following  paper  is  inserted  here  as  containing  a  very  clear  and 
probably  undisputed  statement  of  the  power  of  the  Assembly  in  dealing 
with  any  great  moral  evil  similar  in  character  or  circumstance  to  that 
which  called  it  forth.] 

Report  of  the   Committee  on   the    Constitutional  Foicer   of  the   General 
Assembly  over  the  Subject  of  Slave-holding  in  our  Churches. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows  : 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  last  General  Assembly  "  to  report  tc 
the  next  Assembly  on  the  constitutional  power  of  the  Assembly  over  the 
subject  of  slave-holding  in  our  churches,"  respectfully  submit  the  follow- 
ing report : 

It  should  be  observed  at  the  outset  that  the  Comn)ittee  are  instructed 
to  repoi't  on  but  a  single  point — that  of  "  power."  The  question  before 
them  is  not  what  it  may  be  wise  for  the  Assembly  to  do,  not  what  in  a 
particular  case  or  in  general  (authorky  being  presupposed)  would  be  for 
edification,  but  what  is  the  "  power  of  the  Assembly  in  the  matter  of 
slave-holding?"  This  is  a  question  which  can  l)e  determined  only  by  ref- 
erence to  our  form  of  government.  The  "power"  on  which  we  are  to 
report  is  fitly  designated  as  "  constitutional."  We  are  a  constitutional 
body.  No  judicatory  of  our  Church  has  any  logitiniate  functions  save 
those  which,  either  expressly  or  by  clear  implication,  the  Constitution  con- 
fers. Emphatically  should  this  be  said  of  our  highest  judicatory,  in  view 
of  the  tendency  of  human  nature  in  ecclesiastical  connections  to  a  grasping 
and  tyrannous  centralism.  The  one-man  power  at  Konie  is  hardiv  more 
abhoi'rent  to  the  genius  of  Presbyterianism  than  would  be  a  numyheadcd 
papacy  under  the  name  and  form  of  a  General  Assembly.  It  should  be 
remembered  also  that  as  a  visible  Chui'ch  or  particular  denomination  our 
Constitution  is  the  sole  bond  of  our  union.  We  are  united,  externally 
and  formally,  only  as  that  unites  us.  That,  of  course,  must  measure  and 
limit  the  responi^ibility  for  each  other  which  grows  out  of  our  union.  Ko 
one  part  of  our  body  can  be  held  answerable  for  the  evils  in  another 
which,  by  the  terms  of  our  onfedeiation,  it  has  no  power  to  reach.  Their 
sole  concern  is  with  the  relations  of  the  Assend.)ly  to  the  matter.  To  de- 
termine this  point,  we  have  only  to  ascertain  what  are  the  constitutional 
powers  of  that  body  in  resj)ect  to  disciplinable  offences  generally. 

Its  functions  in  this  regard,  we  judge,  are  of  two  kinds — advii<orij  and 
ardhoriiative ;  and  l)etweeu  these  there  shoidd  be  a  careful  discrimination. 
The  advisory  function  of  the  Assembly  is  of  very  wide  scope.  Accord- 
ing t)  the  Form  of  Government,  chapter  xii.,  section  v.,  they  have  the 


OF    THE   GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  233 

power  of  "  reproving,  warning  or  bearing  testimony  against  error  in  doc- 
trine or  immorality  in  practice  in  any  church,  Presbytery  or  Synod,"  and 
"  of  recommending  .  .  .  reformation  of  manners  .  .  .  through  all  the 
churches  under  their  care."  This  function  of  reproof  may  be  exercised 
in  reference  to  any  evil  grave  enough  to  call  for  it.  Nor  is  it  an  unim- 
portant function.  The  testimony  of  such  a  body  as  the  General  Assem- 
bly, especially  if  unanimously  given,  must  needs  have  great  weight.  It 
has  indeed  only  a  moral  influence.  It  is  not  authoritative.  It  binds  no 
other  body,  not  even  a  succeeding  Assembly.  It  binds  no  individual,  yet 
cases  are  not  unfrequent  iu  which  a  moral  influence  of  this  sort,  if  not 
the  only  one  that  could  be  employed,  is  the  most  ethcacious.  It  has 
greater  power  over  the  conscience  often  than  the  most  stringent  exercise 
of  bare  authority. 

As  respects  the  authoritative  function  of  the  Assembly,  or  its  power 
of  discipline,  that,  we  judge,  can  only  be  exercised  in  the  forms  and 
methods  marked  out  in  the  constitution.  It  is  by  no  means  coextensive 
with  its  testifying  power.  As  counsel  or  testimony  has  only  a  moral  force, 
the  manner  in  which  it  shall  be  put  forth  is  wisely  left  to  the  discretion 
of  the  Assembly.  Not  so  with  discipline.  Concerning,  as  it  does,  the 
dearest  rights  and  interests,  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  the  mode 
of  its  exercise  should  be  particularly  prescribed.  So  we  find  it  in  our 
Form  of  Government.  Every  step  is  distinctly  set  forth,  and  the  greatest 
care  taken  to  guard  all  concerned  against  mistake  and  abuse.  Nor  is  any 
exception  made  as  to  any  particular  class  of  offences.  If  slave-holding 
is  in  any  case  to  be  dealt  with  as  a  disciplinable  matter,  it  must  be  iusome 
one  of  the  ways  explicitly  authorized  in  the  Constitution. 

The  methods  in  which  the  authoritative  action  of  the  Assembly  may  be 
invoked,  as  appears  from  the  seventh  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Discipline, 
are  four:  By  reference,  by  appeal,  by  comjilaint,  and — to  state  the  last, 
which,  in  the  Book  of  Discipline,  comes  first — by  general  review  and  con- 
trol. The  three  processes  first  named  do  not,  of  course,  originate  in  the 
Assembly.  Their  inception  is  in  a  lower  judicatory.  In  one  or  another 
of  them,  it  is  presumed,  most  of  the  matters  which  call  for  disciplinaiy 
action  on  the  part  of  the  highest  judicatory  will  in  due  time  come  before 
it.  There  is,  however,  a  possibility  of  neglect  in  this  regard,  and  for  such 
a  contingency  our  Constitution — framed  with  a  wisdom  best  appreciated 
by  those  who  have  most  thoroughly  studied  it — has  made  a  specific  pro- 
vision. This  provision  is  found  in  the  section  on  "  General  Keview  and 
Control."     See  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i. 

Under  this  section  there  are  two  methods  in  which  any  disciplinable 
offence — and  slaveholding,  of  course,  when  it  assumes  that  character — 
may  be  reached  authoritatively  by  the  Assembly.  (1.)  It  may  appear 
from  the  records  of  a  Synod,  as  .'■ubmitted  for  inspection,  that  there  has 
been  some  wrong-doing  or  culpable  omission  in  the  matter.  A  case  may 
have  been  incorrectly  decided  or  refused  a  hearing.  Or  it  may  be  obvi- 
ous that  the  records  of  some  Presbytery  have  not,  according  to  articles  ii. 
and  iii.  of  this  section,  been  properly  disposed  of  Or  it  may  appear  that 
the  duty  enjoined  in  article  vi.,  that  of  citing  a  lower  judicatory  iu  a 
given  contingency,  has  been  ejitirely  neglected.  In  cases  of  this  sort 
there  may  be  "  animadversion  or  censure,"  or,  according  to  article  iii.,  the 
Synod  "  may  be  required  to  review  and  correct  its  proceedings."  (2.)  "Any 
important  delinquency  or  grossly  unconstitutional  proceedings,"  not  ap- 
parent from  the  records,  may  yet  be  charged  against  a  Synod  "by  com- 
mon fame."  It  may  be  reported,  for  example,  that,  through  some  neglect 
of  the  Synod,  "heretical  opinions  or  corrupt  practices"  are  "allowed  to 
30 


234  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

gain  ground,"  or  that  "offenders  of  a  very  gross  character"  are  "suffered 
to  escape."  See  articles  v.  and  vi.,  of  this  same  section.  In  such  case, 
provided  the  rumor  is  of  the  character  specified  in  the  Book  of  Discipline, 
chap,  iii.,  sec.  v. — for  a  process  against  a  Synod  should  certainly  not  be 
commenced  on  slighter  grounds  than  against  an  individual — the  Assembly 
"is  to  cite  the  judicatory  alleged  to  have  offended  to  appear  at  a  specified 
time  and  place,  and  to  show  what  it  has  done,  or  failed  to  do,  in  the  case 
in  ciuestion  ;  after  which  the  judicatory  thus  issuing  the  citation  shall  re- 
mit* the  whole  matter  to  the  delinquent  judicatory,  with  a  direction  to 
"take  it  up  and  dispose  of  it  in  a  constitutional  manner,  or  stay  all  fur- 
ther proceedings  in  the  case,  as  circumstances  may  require."  See  Book  of 
Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  art.  vi. 

In  view  of  the  aforenamed  and  other  provisions  of  our  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment touching  the  authority  of  the  Assembly,  two  things  are  to  be 
carefully  noted : 

1.  It  has  no  power  to  commence  a  process  of  discipline  with  an  individ- 
ual offender.  That,  by  a  just  and  wise  arrangement,  belongs  to  the  Ses- 
sion in  the  case  of  a  layman,  to  the  Presbytery  in  the  case  of  a  minister. 
The  disciplinary  function  of  the  Assembly  as  to  individuals  is  simply  ap- 
pellate and  revisionary.     It  is  not  the  court  of  first,  but  of  last,  resort. 

2.  In  the  way  of  "general  review  and  control,"  it  can  reach  directly 
only  the  judicatory  next  below — that  is,  the  Synod.  (See  Book  of  Dis- 
cipline, chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  art.  vi.)  Indirectly,  indeed,  the  doings  of  other 
bodies  may  be  involved.  A  session  may  grossly  neglect  discipline,  for  ex- 
ample, and  the  recorded  indication  or  the  common  fame  thereof  may  not 
be  properly  heeded  by  the  Presbytery.  The  fruit  of  this  heedlessness,  or 
the  evidence  of  it  in  the  Presbyterial  records,  may  call  forth  no  appropri- 
ate action  on  the  part  of  the  Synod ;  and  this  may  be  brought  by  the 
Synodical  records  or  by  general  rumor  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Assembly. 
On  the  ground  of  either  the  record  or  the  rumor,  the  Assembly  may  cite 
the  Synod  before  them.  Thus  mediately  may  even  a  Session  be  reached, 
but  not  directly. 

Such  are  the  metes  and  bounds  which  our  Form  of  Government  has 
prescribed,  and  which  the  Assembly  may  not  overpass.  It  is  quite  possi- 
ble that  in  connection  with  them  offenders  of  various  sorts  may  sometimes 
escape.  To  a  human  administration,  of  however  divine  a  system,  imper- 
fection always  pertains.  Our  Book  of  Discipline,  indeed  (chap,  iii.,  sec.  iii.), 
distinctly  recognizes  a  class  of  cases  in  which,  "  however  grievous  it  may 
be  to  the  pious  to  see  an  unworthy  member  in  the  church,  it  is  proper  to 
wait  until  God  in  his  righteous  providence  shall  give  further  light." 
Waiting  may  be  rendered  necessary  by  a  lack  of  fidelity  on  the  part  of 
the  lower  judicatories,  as  well  as  by  a  lack  of  evidence.  We  speak  of  it, 
of  course,  not  as  an  actual,  but  only  as  a  supposablc,  case.  And  it  may 
seem  to  some  a  great  evil  that  the  General  Assembly  is  not  invested  with 
larger  powers.  Yet  it  would  be  a  greater  evil  to  allow  any  deiiarturefrom 
the  carefully  devised  process  of  discipline  set  forth  in  the  Constitution. 
To  permit  the  Assembly  to  adopt  at  its  pleasure  new  processes,  to  suit  its 
own  powers  to  real  or  fanciful  exigencies,  would  not  only  invest  it  with 
legislative  functions,  but  would  virtuallv  annul  the  Constitution,  and 
transform  the  highest  judicatory  of  the  thurch  into  an  overshadowing 
ecclesiastical  despotism. 

It  has  indeed  been  urged,  though  we  see  not  with  what  reason,  that  the 
advisory  function  of  the  Assembly,  or  its  poAver  of  bearing  testimony,  im- 
plies the  authority  necessary  to  enforce  that  testimony.  Is  there,  then,  no 
just  and  salutary  distinction  between  persuasion  and  compulsion  ?     Must 


OF    THE   GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  235 

the  two  be  ever  conjoined  ?  Are  there  no  cases  in  which  a  simple  moral 
power  may,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  most  potent  ?  Must  the  Assembly 
utter  no  counsels  which  are  not  to  be  interpreted  as  mandatory  and  co- 
ercive ?  If  they  may  enforce  all  their  counsels,  how  are  they  to  do  it  ? 
By  processes  which  they  themselves  devise — extra  constitutional  processes? 
Or  are  they  to  be  held  to  the  provisions  of  the  Book  of  Discipline  ?  They 
have,  it  is  true,  the  right  according  to  the  Form  of  Government,  cliap. 
xii,,  sec  v.,  of  "attempting"  as  well  as  "recommending  reformation  of 
manners."  But  the  attempt  must  be  made,  if  discipline  is  to  be  involved, 
only  in  the  method  prescribed  in  the  (Constitution.  To  all  desirable  ends 
the  Committee  believe  that  method  will  be  found  adequate,  especially  as 
connected  with  that  testifying  and  reproving  function  so  often  exercised 
in  time  past,  and  which,  by  a  body  like  the  Assembly,  can  never  be  wisely 
exercised  but  with  salutary  results. — 1856,  j^p.  197-201,  N.  S. 

11.  On  the  Outbreak  of   the  Civil  "War— Testimony  of  the 

Assembly. 

The  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Special 
Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Country.  The  report  was  amended,  adopted, 
and  is  as  follows: 

WhereaSy  A  portion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  of  America  have 
risen  up  against  the  rightful  authority  of  the  government,  have  instituted 
what  they  call  the  "  Confederate  States  of  America,"  in  the  name  and  de- 
fence of  which  they  have  made  war  against  the  United  States,  have  seized 
the  property  of  the  Federal  Government,  have  assailed  and  overpowered 
its  troops  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty,  and  are  now  in  armed 
rebellion  against  it,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
the  United  States  of  America  cannot  forbear  to  express  their  amazement 
at  the  wickedness  of  such  proceedings,  and  at  the  bold  advocacy  and  de- 
fence thereof  not  only  in  those  States  in  which  ordinances  of  "secession" 
have  been  passed,  but  in  several  others ;  and 

Whereas,  The  General  Assembly,  in  the  language  of  the  Synod  of  'New 
York  and  Philadelphia  on  the  occasion  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  "being 
met  at  a  time  when  public  affairs  wear  so  threatening  an  aspect,  and  when 
(unless  God  in  his  sovereign  providence  speedily  prevent  it)  all  the  hor- 
rors of  civil  war  are  to  be  apprehended,  are  of  opinion  that  they  cannot 
discharge  their  duty  to  the  numerous  congregations  under  their  care  with- 
out addressing  them  at  this  important  crisis;  and  as  a  firm  belief  and 
habitual  recollection  of  the  power  and  presence  of  the  living  God  ought 
at  all  times  to  possess  the  minds  of  real  Christians,  so  in  seasons  of  public 
calamity,  when  the  Lord  is  known  by  the  judgments  which  he  executeth, 
it  would  be  an  ignorance  or  indifference  highly  criminal  not  to  look  up  to 
him  with  reverence,  to  implore  his  mercy  by  humble  and  fervent  prayer, 
and  if  possible,  to  prevent  his  vengeance  by  unfeigned  repentance ;"  there- 
fore. 

Resolved,  1.  That  inasmuch  as  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  her  past  his- 
tory has  frequently  lifted  up  her  voice  against  oppression,  and  has  shown 
herself  a  champion  of  constitutional  liberty,  as  against  both  despotism  and 
anarchy  throughout  the  civilized  world,  we  should  be  recreant  to  our  high 
trust  were  we  to  withhold  our  earnest  protest  against  all  such  unlawful 
and  treasonable  acts. 

Resolved,  2.  That  this  Assambly  and  the  churclies  which  it  represents 
cherish  an  undiminished  attachment  to  the  great  principles  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom  on  which  our  National  Government  is  based,  under  the 


236  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

influence  of  whieli  our  fathers  prayefl  and  fought  and  bled,  which  issued 
in  the  establishment  of  our  independence,  and  by  the  preservation  of 
which  we  believe  that  the  common  interests  of  evangx'lical  religion  and 
civil  liberty  will  be  most  eftectively  sustained. 

Resolved,  3.  That  inasmuch  as  we  believe,  according  to  our  Form  of 
Government,  that  "  God,  the  supreme  Lord  and  King  of  all  the  world, 
hath  ordained  civil  magistrates  to  be,  under  him,  over  the  people  for  his 
own  glory  and  the  public  good,  and  to  this  end  hath  armed  them  with  the 
power  of  the  sword  for  the  defence  and  encouragement  of  them  that  are 
good  and  for  the  punishment  of  evil-doers,"  there  is,  in  the  judgment  of 
this  Assembly,  no  blood  or  treasure  too  precious  to  be  devoted  to  the  de- 
fence and  perpetuity  of  the  government  in  all  its  constitutional  authority. 

Resolved,  4.  That  all  those  who  are  endeavoring  to  uphold  the  Constitu- 
tion and  maintain  the  government  of  these  United  States  in  the  exercise 
of  its  lawful  prerogatives,  are  entitled  to  the  symjDathy  and  support  of  all 
Christian  and  law-abiding  citizens. 

Resolved,  5.  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  our  pastors  and  churches  to 
be  instant  and  fervent  in  prayer  for  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  all  in  authority  under  him,  that  wisdom  and  strength  may  be  given 
them  in  the  discharge  of  their  arduous  duties ;  for  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States ;  for  the  Lieutenant-General  commanding  the  Army-in- 
Chief,  and  all  our  soldiers,  that  God  may  shield  them  from  danger  in  the 
hour  of  peril,  and  by  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  army 
and  navy  renew  and  sanctify  them,  so  that  whether  living  or  dying  they 
may  be  the  servants  of  the  Most  High. 

Resolved,  6.  That  in  the  countenance  which  many  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel and  other  professing  Christians  are  now  giving  to  treason  and  rebel- 
lion against  the  government,  we  have  great  occasion  to  mourn  for  the  in- 
jury thus  done  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer,  and  that,  though  we 
have  nothing  to  add  to  our  former  significant  and  explicit  testimonials  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  we  yet  recommend  our  people  to  pray  more  fer- 
vently than  ever  for  the  removal  of  this  evil  and  all  others,  both  social  and 
political,  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  our  present  national  difl[iculties. 

Resolved,  7.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  signed  by  the  officers  of 
the  General  Assembly,  be  forwarded  to  his  Excellency,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Immediately  upon  the  adoption  of  this  report  the  Assembly  united  iu 
fervent  prayer  for  the  country  and  its  rulers. — 1861,  p.  446,  N.  S. 

12.   Resolutions  on  the  State  of  the  Country,  and  Letter  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Special  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Country  presented  their 
report,  wdiich  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

a.  The  Special  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Country  submit  the  fol- 
lowing preamble  and  resolutions : 

Whereas,  This  General  Assembly  is  called,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
to  hold  its  deliberations  at  a  time  when  a  wicked  and  fearful  rebellion  is 
threatening  to  destroy  the  fair  fabric  of  our  government,  to  lay  waste  our 
beloved  country,  and  to  blight  and  ruin,  so  far  as  the  present  life  is  con- 
cerned, all  that  is  most  dear  to  us  as  Christians  ;  and 

Whereas,  As  a  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  Presbyterians  have  ever 
been  found  loyal  and  the  friends  of  good  order,  believing  as  they  do  that 
civil  government  is  "  ordained  of  God,"  that  "  the  magistrate  is  the  minis- 
ter of  God  for  good,"  that  "  he  beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain,"  and  they 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  237 

are  therefore  "subject"  to  this  ordinance  of  God,  "not  only  for  ^Yratll," 
or  under  the  influence  of  fear,  "  but  also  for  conscience'  sake,"  or  under 
the  influence  of  moral  and  Christian  principle ;  and 

Whereas,  The  particular  Church  whose  representatives  we  are,  and  in 
whose  behalf  we  are  now  and  here  called  to  act,  have  inscribed  upon  our 
banner  "  The  Constitutional  Presbyterian  Church,"  having  never 
favored  secession  or  nullification,  either  iu  Church  or  State,  deem  it  quite 
becoming  and  proper  in  us  to  express  ourselves,  with  great  Christian  sin- 
cerity and  frankness,  on  those  matters  which  now  agitate  our  country. 
Therefore, 

Resolved,  1.  That  we  deem  the  government  of  these  United  States  the 
most  benign  that  has  ever  blessed  our  imperfect  world  ;  and  should  it  be 
destroyed  after  its  brief  career  of  good,  another  such  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  human  events  can  hardly  be  anticipated  for  a  long  time  to 
come,  and  for  these  reasons  we  revere  and  love  it  as  one  of  the  great 
sources  of  hope,  under  God,  for  a  lost  world ;  and  it  is  doubly  dear  to 
our  hearts,  because  it  was  procured  and  established  by  the  toil  and  sacri- 
fices and  blood  of  our  fathers. 

Resolved,  2.  That  rebellion  against  such  a  government  as  ours,  and  espe- 
cially by  those  who  have  ever  enjoyed  their  full  share  of  its  protection, 
honors  and  rich  blessings  of  every  name,  can  have  no  excuse  or  pallia- 
tion, and  can  be  inspired  by  no  other  motives  than  those  of  ambition 
and  avarice,  and  can  find  no  parallel,  except  in  the  first  two  great 
rebellions — that  which  assailed  the  throne  of  heaven  directly,  and  that 
which  })eopled  our  world  with  miserable  apostates. 

Resolved,  3.  That  whatever  diversity  of  sentiment  may  exist  among  us 
respecting  international  wars  or  an  appeal  to  the  sword  for  the  settlement 
of  points  of  honor  or  interest  between  independent  nations,  we  are  all  of 
one  mind  on  the  subject  of  rebellion,  and  especially  against  the  best  gov- 
ernment which  God  lias  yet  given  to  the  world ;  that  our  vast  army  now 
in  the  field  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  one  great  police  force,  organized  to 
carry  into  eflect  the  constitution  and  laws  which  the  insurgents,  in  com- 
mon with  other  citizens,  have  ordained  by  their  own  voluntary  acts,  and 
which  they  are  bound  by  honor  and  oath  and  conscience  to  respect  and 
obey,  so  that  the  strictest  advocates  of  peace  may  bear  an  active  part  in 
this  deadly  struggle  for  the  life  of  the  government. 

Resolved,  4.  That  while  we  have  been  utterly  shocked  at  the  deep 
depravity  of  the  men  who  have  planned  and  matured  this  rebellion,  and 
who  are  now  clad  iu  arms,  manifested  iu  words  and  deeds,  there  is  another 
class  found  in  the  loyal  States  who  have  excited  a  still  deeper  loathing — 
some  in  Congress,  some  high  in  civil  life,  and  some  in  the  ordinary  walks 
of  business,  who  never  utter  a  manly  thought  or  opinion  in  favor  of  the 
government,  but  they  follow  it,  by  way  of  comment,  with  two  or  three 
smooth  apologies  for  Southern  insurrectionists,  presenting  the  difference 
between  an  open  and  avowed  enemy  iu  the  field  and  a  secret  and  insidious 
foe  in  the  bosom  of  our  own  family. 

Resolved,  5.  That,  in  our  opinion,  this  whole  insurrectionary  movement 
can  be  traced  to  one  primordial  root,  and  to  one  only,  African  slavery 
and  the  love  of  it  and  a  determination  to  make  it  perpetual,  and  w'hile 
we  look  upon  this  war  as  having  one  grand  end  in  view,  the  restoration 
of  the  Union  by  crushing  out  the  last  living  and  manifested  fibre  of 
rebellion,  we  hold  that  everything,  the  institution  of  slavery,  if  need  be, 
must  be  made  to  bend  to  this  one  great  purpose,  and  while  under  the  influ- 
ence of  humanity  and  Christian  benevolence  we  may  commiserate  the  con- 
dition of  the  ruined  rebels,  once  iu  fraternity  with  ourselves,  but  now, 


238  for:m  of  government. 

should  the  case  occur,  despoiled  of  all  that  makes  the  world  dear  to  them 
we  must  be  at  the  same  time  constrained  to  feel  that  the  retribution  has 
been  self-inflicted,  and  must  add,  "  Fiat  j iistitia  mat  ccelum." 

Resolved,  6.  That  we  have  great  confidence  in  Abraham  Lincoln,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  in  his  Cabinet,  aud  in  the  commanders 
of  our  armies  and  our  navy,  and  the  valiant  men  of  this  Republic,  prose- 
cuting a  holy  warfare  under  their  banners ;  aud  while  we  bless  God  that 
he  has  stood  by  them  and  cheered  them  on  in  what  we  trust  will  ever 
stand  as  the  darkest  days  of  our  country's  humiliation,  and  crowned  them 
with  many  signal  victories,  and  knowing  that  ultimate  success  is  with 
God  alone,  we  will  ever  pray  that  the  last  sad  note  of  anarchy  and  mis- 
rule may  soon  die  away,  and  the  old  flag  of  our  country,  radiant  with 
stripes  and  brilliant  with  stars,  may  again  wave  over  a  great  and  undi- 
vided and  happy  people. 

Resolved,  7.  That  we  here,  in  deep  humiliation  for  our  sins  and  the  sins 
of  the  nation,  and  in  heartfelt  devotion,  lay  ourselves,  with  all  that  we  are 
and  have,  on  the  altar  of  God  and  our  country ;  and  we  hesitate  not  to 
pledge  the  churches  and  Christian  people  under  our  care  as  ready  to  join 
with  us  in  the  same  fervent  sympathies  and  united  prayers  that  our  rulers 
in  the  Cabinet,  and  our  commanders  in  the  field  and  on  the  waters,  aud  the 
brave  men  under  their  leadershi]!,  may  take  courage  under  the  assurance 
that  "  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America"  are 
with  them,  in  heart  and  hand,  in  life  aud  effort,  in  this  fearfuL  existing 
conflict. 

Resolved,  finally.  That  a  copy  of  these  Resolutions,  signed  by  the  officers 
of  the  General  Assembly,  be  forwarded  to  his  Excellency,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  accompanied  by  the  following 
respectful  letter : 

To  THE  President  of  the  United  States  : 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  holding  its  annual 
sessions  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  transmitting  the  accompanying 
resolutions,  beg  leave  most  respectfully  to  express  to  your  Excellency,  in 
a  more  personal  manner,  the  sentiments  of  our  Church,  in  reference  to 
yourself  and  the  great  issues  with  which  you  are  called  to  deal. 

It  is  with  no  desire  to  bring  a  tribute  of  flattery  when  we  assure  you, 
honored  sir,  of  the  affection  and  the  confidence  of  our  Church.  Since  the 
day  of  your  inauguration,  the  thousands  of  our  membership  have  followed 
you  with  unceasing  prayer,  besieging  the  Throne  of  heaven  in  your  behalf. 
In  our  great  church  courts,  in  our  lesser  judicatories,  in  our  weekly  assem- 
blages in  the  house  of  God,  at  our  fiimily  altars,  in  the  inner  place  of 
prayer,  you  have  been  tlie  burden  of  our  hourly  petitioning. 

VVhen  we  look  at  the  history  of  your  administration  hitherto,  and  at  the 
wonderful  way  in  which  this  people  have  been  led  under  your  guidance, 
we  glorify  God  in  you.  Wo  give  praise,  not  to  man,  but  to  God.  In  your 
firmness,  your  integrity,  challenging  tlie  admii'ation  of  even  our  enemies, 
your  moderation,  your  wisdom,  the  timeliness  of  your  acts,  exhibited  at 
critical  junctures,  your  paternal  words,  so  eminently  fitting  the  chosen 
head  of  a  great  peofjle,  we  recognize  the  hand  and  the  power  of  God  ;  we 
devoutly  and  humbly  accept  it  as  from  him,  an  answer  to  the  innumerable 
prayers  which  have  gone  up  from  our  hearts. 

We  desire,  as  a  Church,  to  express  to  you  our  reverence,  our  love,  our 
deep  sympathy  with  you  in  the  greatness  of  yourtrust,  and  in  thode])th  of 
your  personal  bereavements ;  and  to  pledge  you,  as  in  the  past,  so  in  all 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  ,  239 

the  future,  our  perpetual  remembrance  of  you  before  God,  and  all  tlie 
support  that  loyal  hearts  can  offer. 

We  have  given  our  sons  to  the  army  and  navy;  some  of  our  ministers 
and  many  of  our  church-members  have  died  in  hospital  and  field;  we  are 
glad  that  we  gave  them,  and  we  exult  in  that  they  were  true  even  to 
death.  We  gladly  pledge  as  many  more  as  the  cause  of  our  counti'y  may 
demand. 

We  believe  that  there  is  but  one  path  before  this  people :  this  gigantic 
and  inexpressibly  wicked  rebellion  must  be  destroyed;  the  interests  of  hu- 
manity, the  cause  of  God  and  his  Church,  demand  it  at  our  hands.  May 
God  give  to  you  his  great  support,  preserve  you,  impart  to  you  more  than 
human  wisdom,  and  permit  you  ere  long  to  rejoice  in  the  deliverance  of 
our  beloved  country  in  its  peace  and  unity. 

Immediately  upon  the  adoption  of  this  report  the  Assembly  united  in 
fervent  prayer  for  the  country,  the  President  and  all  the  officers  of  the 
government,  and  for  the  success  of  our  arms  in  suppressing  the  rebellion 
and  restoring  the  blessings  of  peace. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted: 

In  view  of  the  great  demand  that  is  laid  upon  the  practical  beneficence 
of  the  country,  in  behalf  especially  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  of 
our  array,  by  the  present  rebellion,  it  is  thought  to  be  not  inappropriate — 
nay,  peculiarly  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  and  example  of  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church — that  such  action  should  be  taken  by  this  Assembly  as 
shall  awaken  an  increased  interest  in  this  good  cause  throughout  all  the 
churches  and  communities  which  we  represent. 

Much,  doubtless,  has  been  done  for  the  soldier  in  every  loyal  portion  of 
the  country,  but  facts  here  brought  immediately  before  our  eyes  show  that 
those  sections  farther  removed  from  the  seats  of  war  do  not  yet  appreciate 
the  importance  and  the  vastness  of  this  work,  as  it  is  felt  and  nobly  borne 
by  this  and  other  cities  of  the  West.  And  yet  even  here,  where  the  terri- 
ble fruits  of  Fort  Donelson  and  Pittsburg  Landing  have  been  so  abun- 
dantly seen,  it  is  believed  that  only  a  mere  beginning  has  been  made,  in 
comparison  with  the  sanitary  relief  that  will  be  demanded  during  the 
months  to  come.  The  warm  weather  of  summer  is  now  approaching,  and 
the  thousands  of  brave  men  who  will  be  prostrated  by  sickness  will  doubt- 
less lay  a  claim  upon  the  sympathy  and  effort  of  the  churches  and  the 
country  such  as  we  have  never  known  before. 

In  consideration  of  these  facts,  and  the  whole  subject  before  us, 

Be  it  resolved  by  this  Assembly,  1,  That  the  present  struggle  for  the 
preservation  of  our  common  country  is  one  in  which  it  is  the  privilege,  as 
well  as  the  duty,  of  all  patriotic  men  of  whatever  section  to  bear  as  nearly 
as  may  be  an  equal  part ;  and  that,  especially  in  the  work  of  caring  f  )r 
the  sick  and  wounded,  the  vast  degrees  of  local  interest  should  be  extended 
and  made  universal ;  and  that  the  efforts  which  are  put  forth  at  points 
nearer  the  actual  scenes  of  suffering  should  be  fully  emulated  by  every 
community  over  which  the  flag  of  our  Union  is  permitted  to  float. 

2.  That  no  form  of  beneficence  in  this  eventful  time  can  be  more  needed, 
and  more  fruitful  of  sure  and  perceptible  relief,  than  that  which  provides 
for  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  soldiers  who  crowd  our  hospitals,  and 
still  more  those  whom  it  is  impossible  to  remove  from  the  distant  battle- 
fields. 

3.  That  the  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  all  our  Presbyteries  and 
churches  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  an  efficient  branch  of 
which  exists  in  this  city,  as  the  very  best  channel  through  which  to  reach 
the  sick  and  wounded  of  the  army.     It  is  thoroughly  organized,  possessed 


240  FOEM   OF    GOYERXMENT. 

of  all  needful  facts,  and  now  acting  with  that  system  and  economy  which 
only  an  enlarged  experience  can  secure. — 1862,  pp.  23-27,  X.  S. 

h.  [The  following  was  adopted  by  yeas  206,  nays  20  :]  The  paper  is  as 
follows : 

The  General  Assembly  of  tlie  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  now  in  session  at  Columbus,  in  the  State  of  Ohio : 

Considering  the  unhappy  condition  of  the  country  in  the  midst  of  a 
bloody  civil  war,  and  of  the  Church  agitated  everywhere,  divided  in  sen- 
timent in  many  places  and  openly  assailed  by  schism  in  a  large  section  of 
it;  considering,  also,  the  duty  which  this  chief  tribunal,  met  in  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  glorified  Saviour  of  sinners,  who  is  also  the 
sovereign  Ruler  of  all  things,  owes  to  him,  our  Head  and  Lord,  and  to  his 
flock  committed  to  our  charge,  and  to  the  people  whom  we  are  commis- 
sioned to  evangelize,  and  to  the  civil  authorities  who  exist  by  his  appoint- 
ment, do  hereby  in  this  deliverance  give  utterance  to  our  solemn  convic- 
tions and  our  deliberate  judgment  touching  the  matters  herein  set  forth, 
that  they  may  serve  for  the  guidance  of  all  over  whom  the  Lord  Christ 
has  given  us  any  office  of  instruction  or  any  power  of  government. 

I.  Peace  is  amongst  the  very  higliest  temporal  blessings  of  the  Church, 
as  well  as  of  all  mankind,  and  public  order  is  one  of  the  first  necessities 
of  the  spiritual  as  well  as  the  civil  commonwealth.  Peace  has  been  wick- 
edly superseded  by  war  in  its  worst  form  throughout  the  whole  land,  and 
public  order  has  been  wickedly  superseded  by  rebellion,  anarchy  and  vio- 
lence in  the  whole  Southern  portion  of  the  Union.  All  this  has  been 
brought  to  pass  in  a  disloyal  and  traitorous  attempt  to  overthrow  the 
national  government  by  military  force,  and  to  divide  the  nation  contrary 
to  the  wishes  of  the  immense  majority  of  the  people  of  the  nation,  and 
without  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  majoi-ity  of  the  people  in  whom  the 
local  sovereignty  resided,  even  in  the  States  which  revolted,  ever  author- 
ized any  such  proceeding,  or  ever  approved  the  fraud  and  violence  by 
which  this  horrible  treason  has  achieved  whatever  success  it  has  hacl. 
This  whole  ti'eason,  rebellion,  anarchy,  fraud  and  violence  is  utterly  con- 
trary to  the  dictates  of  natural  religion  and  morality,  and  is  jilaiuly  con- 
demned by  the  revealed  will  of  God.  It  is  the  clear  and  solemn  duty  of 
the  national  government  to  preserve,  at  whatever  cost,  the  national  Union 
and  Constitution,  to  maintain  the  laws  in  their  supremacy,  to  crush  force 
by  force,  and  to  restore  the  reign  of  public  order  and  peace  to  the  entire 
nation,  by  whatever  lawful  means  that  are  necessary  thereunto.  And  it  is 
the  bouuden  duty  of  the  people  who  compose  this  great  nation,  each  one 
in  his  several  i:)lace  and  degree,  to  uphold  the  Federal  government,  and 
every  State  government,  and  all  persons  in  authority,  whether  civil  or 
military,  in  all  their  lawful  and  proper  acts,  unto  the  end  hereinbefore  set 
forth. 

II.  The  Church  of  Christ  has  no  authority  from  him  to  make  rebellion, 
or  to  couubel  treason,  or  to  favor  anarchy,  in  any  case  whatever.  On  the 
contrary,  every  follower  of  Chrit-t  has  the  personal  liberty  bestowed  on 
him  by  Christ  to  submit  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  according  to  his  own  con- 
scientious sense  of  duty,  to  whatever  government,  however  bad,  under 
which  his  lot  may  be  cast.  But  while  patient  suffering  for  Christ's  sake 
can  never  be  sinful,  treason,  rebellion  aiul  anarchy  may  be  sinful — most 
generally,  perhaps,  are  sinful — and  probably  are  always  and  necessarily 
sinful  in  all  free  countries  where  the  power  to  change  the  government  by 
voting  in  the  place  of  force,  which  exists  as  a  common  right,  constitution- 
ally secured  to  the  people  who  are  sovereign.  If  in  any  case  treason, 
rebellion  and  anarchy  can  possibly  be  sinful,  they  are  so  in  the  case  now 


OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  241 

desolating  large  portions  of  this  nation,  and  laying  waste  great  numbers  of 
Christian  congregations,  and  fatally  obstructing  every  good  word  and  work 
in  those  regions.  To  the  Christian  people  scattered  throughout  those 
unfortunate  regions,  and  who  have  been  left  of  God  to  have  any  hand  in 
bringing  on  these  terrible  calamities,  we  earnestly  address  words  of  exhor- 
tation and  rebuke,  as  unto  brethren  who  have  sinned  exceedingly,  and 
whom  God  calls  to  repentance  by  fearful  judgments.  To  those  in  like 
circumstances  who  are  not  chargeable  with  the  sins  which  have  brought 
such  calamities  upon  the  land,  but  who  have  chosen,  in  the  exercise  of 
their  Christian  liljerty,  to  stand  in  their  lot  and  suffer,  we  address  Avords 
of  afiectionate  sympathy,  praying  God  to  bring  them  off  conquerors.  To 
those  in  like  circumstances  who  have  taken  their  lives 'in  their  hands  and 
risked  all  for  their  country  and  for  conscience'  sake,  we  say  we  love  such 
with  all  our  heart,  and  bless  God  such  witnesses  were  found  in  the  time 
of  thick  darkness.  We  fear,  and  we  record  it  with  great  grief,  that  the 
Chui'ch  of  God  and  the  Christian  people,  to  a  great  extent,  and  through- 
out all  the  revolted  States,  have  done  many  things  that  ought  not  to  have 
been  done  and  have  left  undone  much  that  ought  to  have  been  done  in 
this  time  of  trial,  rebuke  and  blasphemy  ;  but  concerning  the  wide  schism 
which  is  reported  to  have  occurred  in  many  Southern  Synods  this  Assem- 
bly will  take  no  action  at  this  time.  It  declares,  however,  its  fixed  pur- 
pose, under  all  possible  circumstances,  to  labor  for  the  extension  and  the 
permanent  maintenance  of  the  Church  under  its  care  in  every  part  of  the 
United  States.  Schism,  so  far  as  it  may  exist,  we  hope  to  see  healed.  If 
that  cannot  be,  it  will  be  disregarded. 

III.  We  record  our  gratitude  to  God  for  the  prevailing  unity  of  senti- 
ment and  general  internal  peace  which  have  characterized  the  Church  in 
the  States  that  have  not  revolted,  embracing  a  great  majority  of  the  minis- 
ters, congregations  and  people  under  our  care.  It  may  still  be  called  with 
emphasis  a  loyal,  orthodox  and  pious  Church,  and  all  its  acts  and  works 
indicate  its  right  to  a  title  so  noble.  Let  it  strive  for  divine  grace  to 
maintain  that  good  report.  In  some  respects  the  interests  of  the  Church 
of  God  are  very  different  from  those  of  all  civil  institutions.  Whatever 
may  befall  this  or  any  other  nation,  the  Church  of  Christ  must  abide  on 
earth,  triumphant  even  over  the  gates  of  hell.  It  is,  therefoi'e,  of  supreme 
importance  that  the  Church  should  guard  itself  from  internal  alienations 
and  divisions  founded  upon  questions  and  interests  that  are  external  as  to 
her,  and  which  ought  not  by  their  necessary  workings  to  cause  her  fate  to 
depend  on  the  fate  of  things  less  important  and  less  enduring  than  herself 
Disturbers  of  the  Church  ought  not  to  be  allowed,  especially  disturbers  of 
the  Church  in  States  that  never  revolted  or  that  have  been  cleared  of  armed 
rebels — disturbers  who,  under  many  false  pretexts,  may  promote  discontent, 
disloyalty  and  general  alienation,  tending  to  the  unsettling  of  jninisters, 
to  local  schisms  and  to  manifold  trouble.  Let  a  spirit  of  quietness,  of 
mutual  forbearance  and  of  ready  obedience  to  authority,  both  civil  and 
ecclesiastical,  illustrate  the  loyalty,  the  orthodoxy  and  the  piety  of  the 
Church.  It  is  more  especially  to  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  amongst 
them,  particularly  to  any  whose  first  impressions  had  been  on  any  account 
favorable  to  the  terrible  military  revolution  which  has  been  attempted, 
and  which  God's  providence  has  hitherto  so  singularly  rebuked,  that  these 
decisive  considerations  ought  to  be  addressed.  And  in  the  name  and  by 
the  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus  we  earnestly  exhort  all  who  love  God  or 
fear  his  wrath  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  all  counsels  and  suggestions  that  tend 
toward  a  reaction  favorable  to  disloyalty,  schism  or  disturbance  either  in 
the  Church  or  in  the  country.     There  is  hardly  anything  more  inexcusable 

31 


242  FOEM    OF    GOVEEXMENT. 

connected  witli  the  frightful  conspiracy  against  which  we  testify  than  the 
conduct  of  those  office-bearers  and  members  of  the  Churcli  who,  although 
citizens  of  loyal  States  and  subject  to  the  control  of  loyal  Presbyteries  and 
Synods,  have  been  faitliless  to  all  authority,  human  and  divine,  to  whicli 
they  owed  subjection.  Nor  should  any  to  whom  this  deliverance  may  come 
fail  to  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  not  only  their  outward  conduct  concerning 
which  they  ought  to  take  heed,  but 'it  is  also  and  especially  their  heart. 
their  temper  and  their  motives  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  toward  the  free 
and  beneficent  civil  government  which  he  has  blessed  us  withal,  and  to- 
ward the  spiritual  commonwealth  to  which  they  are  subject  in  the  Lord. 
In  all  these  respects  we  must  all  give  account  to  God  in  the  great  dav. 
And  it  is  in  view  of  our  own  dread  responsiI)ility  to  the  Judge  of  quick 
and  dead  that  we  now  make  this  deliverance. — 1862,  pp.  624,  625.  O.  S. 

c.  The  General  Assembly  of  1861  adopted  a  minute  on  the  state  of  the 
Church  and  the  country.  The  Assembly  of  1862  uttered  a  more  formal 
and  comprehensive  deliverance.  In  the  mean  time,  a  certain  number,  per- 
haps the  larger  portion,  of  the  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  have  expressed 
their  judgment  on  the  same  subject.  This  General  Assembly  is  per- 
suaded that  the  office-bearers  and  members  of  this  Church  within  the 
Presbyteries  represented  here  are  in  a  remarkable  degree  united  in  a 
strict  and  true  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  they  are,  as  a  body,  loyal  both  to  the  Church  and 
the  civil  government  as  ordinances  of  God. 

This  General  Assembly  contents  itself  on  that  part  of  the  subject  by 
enjoining  upon  all  the  people  of  God  who  acknowledge  this  Church  as 
their  Church  to  uphold,  according  as  God  shall  give  them  strength,  the 
authority  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  land  in  this  time  of  supreme 
national  peril.  But  this  Assembly  would  most  distinctly  and  solenmlv 
inculcate  upon  all  its  people  the  duty  of  humbly  confessing  before  God 
the  great  unworthiness  and  the  many  sins  of  the  people  of  this  land,  and 
of  acknowledging  the  holiness  and  justice  of  the  Almighty  in  the  present 
visitation.  He  is  righteous  in  all  his  ways  and  holy  in  all  his  works.  We 
exhort  our  brethren  to  seek  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  by  prayer  and 
confession  and  repentance,  so  that  the  anger  of  the  Lord  may  be  turned 
away  from  us,  and  that  the  spirit  of  piety  may  become  not  less  predomi- 
nant and  vital  in  the  churches  than  the  spirit  of  an  awakened  patriotism. 

And  this  Assembly,  connecting  the  experience  of  our  present  trials 
with  the  remembrance  of  those  through  which  the  Church  has  ]-)assed, 
does  now  recall  and  adopt  the  sentiments  of  our  fathers  in  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  as  these  are  expressed  in  substance  in  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant  of  1648:  "And  because  the  people  of  this  land  are  guilty  of 
many  sins  and  provocations  against  God  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  as  is 
manifest  by  our  present  distresses  and  dangers,  the  fruits  thereof,  we  pro- 
fess and  declare  before  God  and  the  world  our  unfeigned  desire  to  bo 
humbled  for  our  own  sins  and  the  sins  of  the  people,  especially  that  we  liave 
not  as  we  ought  valued  the  inestimable  benefit  of  the  gospel,  nor  labored 
for  the  purity  and  power  thereof;  and  that  we  have  not  as  we  ought  en- 
deavored to  receive  Christ  in  our  hearts,  nor  to  walk  worthy  of  him  in 
our  lives,  which  are  the  cause  of  other  sins  and  transgressions  so  much 
abounding  among  us ;  and  our  true  and  unfeigned  purpose,  desire  and 
endeavor  for  our-selves,  and  all  others  under  our  charge,  both  in  public  and 
private,  in  all  duties  we  owe  to  God  and  man,  to  amend  our  lives,  and 
each  one  to  go  before  anotlicr  in  the  example  of  a  real  reformation,  that 
the  Lord  may  turn  away  his  wrath  and  heavy  indignation,  and  establish 
the  Church  and  the  land  in  truth  and  peace." — 1863,  p.  60,  O.  S. 


OF   THE    GEXERAT.   ASSEMBLY.  243 

13.  Duty  of  Citizens  to  Support  "the  Federal  Administration,"  as 
being  quoad  hoc  "  the  Government." 

[Referring  to  its  previous  action  the  Assembly  affirms  its  continuance 
in  the  views  there  expressed,  and  inter  alia  decUires :] 

First,  That  civil  goverinnent  is  ordained  of  God,  and  that  submission 
to  a  lawful  government  and  to  its  acts  in  its  proper  sphere  is  a  duty  bind- 
ing on  the  conscience,  and  required  by  all  the  principles  of  our  religion 
as  a  part  of  our  allegiance  to  God. 

Second,  That  while  there  is  in  certain  respects  a  ground  of  distinction 
between  a  government,  considered  as  referring  to  the  constitution  of  a  coun- 
try, and  an  administration,  considered  as  referring  to  the  existing  agencies, 
through  which  the  principles  and  provisions  of  the  Constitution  are  ad- 
ministered, yet  the  government  of  a  country,  to  which  direct  allegiance 
and  loyalty  are  due  at  any  time,  is  the  administration  duly  placed  in 
power.  Such  an  administration  is  the  government  of  a  nation,  having  a 
right  to  execute  the  laws  and  to  demand  the  entire,  unqualified  and  prompt 
obedience  of  all  who  are  under  its  authority,  and  resistance  to  such  a  gov- 
ernment is  rebellion  and  treason. 

Third,  That  the  present  administration  of  the  United  States,  duly 
elected  under  the  Constitution,  is  the  government  in  the  land,  to  which 
alone,  under  God,  all  the  citizens  of  this  nation  owe  allegiance ;  who,  as 
such,  are  to  be  honored  and  obeyed,  whose  efforts  to  defend  the  govern- 
ment against  rebellion  are  to  be  sustained,  and  tliat  all  attempts  to  resist 
or  set  aside  the  action  of  the  lawfully-constituted  authorities  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  any  way,  by  speech  or  action,  to  oppose  or  embarrass  the 
measures  which  it  may  adopt  to  assert  its  lawful  autliority,  except  in 
accordance  with  the  forms  prescribed  by  the  Constitution,  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  treason  against  the  nation,  as  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  its 
enemies  and  as  rebellion  against  God. 

Fourth,  That  in  the  execution  of  the  laws  it  is  the  religious  duty  of  all 
good  citizens  promptly  and  cheerfully  to  sustain  the  government  by  every 
means  in  their  power,  to  stand  by  it  in  its  peril,  and  to  afford  all  needful 
aid  in  suppressing  insurrection  and  rebellion,  and  restoring  obedience  to 
lawful  authority  in  every  part  of  the  land. — See  in  full,  1863,  pp.  242- 
245,  N.  S. 

14.  Resokitions  Upholding  the  Civil  Authority. 

Whereas,  The  iniquitous  rebellion,  prompted  by  reckless  ambition,  in  the 
defence  and  furtherance  of  human  slavery,  continues  to  lift  itself  against 
the  liberal  and  legitimate  government  of  the  United  States;  and, 

Whereas,  Such  rebellion  not  only  violates  the  sacred  principle  of  obe- 
dience to  the  authorities  ordained  of  God,  but  also  directly  advocates 
the  hindrance  of  the  free  progress  of  God's  holy  word,  and  thus,  as  anti- 
Christ,  opposes  itself  to  the  truth  ;  and, 

Whereas,  Its  aiders  and  abettors  are  responsible  for  the  sea  of  blood 
that  has  been  shed  through  their  resistance  to  the  righteous  efforts  of  the 
government  to  save  the  life  and  integrity  of  the  nation  ;  and, 

Whereas,  It  becomes  the  Church  of  Christ  to  utter  no  uncertain  voice 
in  regard  to  a  grand  public  fact  so  intimately  and  essentially  associated 
with  its  interests  ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  General  Assembly  heartily  reaffirms  the  princi- 
ples and  renews  the  declarations  of  previous  General  Assemblies,  so  far  as 
applicable  to  the  present  aspect  of  public  affairs. 

Resolved,  2.  That  we  recognize  clearly  the  good  hand  of  our  God  in  all 


244  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

the  victories  of  the  national  arras  whereby  the  limits  of  the  rebellion  have 
been  contracted  and  its  vitality  impaired,  and  we  look  humbly  and  confi- 
dently to  the  same  divine  source  for  further  success,  until  the  cause  of  the 
nation  shall  be  vindicated  and  peace  established  on  the  grave  of  treason. 

Resolved,  3.  That  we  also  recognize  the  same  good  hand  of  our  God  in 
the  disappointments  and  delays  of  the  war,  by  which  he  has  made  more 
sure  the  complete  destruction  of  the  vile  system  of  human  bondage,  and 
rendered  less  self-confident  and  more  religious  the  heart  of  the  nation. 

Resolved,  4.  That  in  such  recognition  and  hope  we  do  by  no  means  lose 
sight  of  our  national  and  individual  sins  which  render  us  so  utterly 
unworthy  of  the  divine  favor,  but  confess  them  with  penitent  hearts,  and 
trust  to  a  covenant  God  in  Christ  Jesus  that  this  uuworthiness  will  not 
hinder  the  might  of  God's  grace  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  right  and  order. 

Resolved,  5.  That  w-e  exhort  all  our  churches  to  renewed  zeal  and  faith- 
fulness in  supplication  to  God  for  the  deliverance  of  the  land,  and  the 
prosperity  of  Christ's  kingdom,  through  the  blessings  of  national  peace 
and  fraternity. 

Resolved,  6.  That  we  cordially  uphold  the  government  with  our  sym- 
pathies and  prayers  in  its  energetic  efforts  for  the  suppression  of  this  most 
causeless  and  cruel  rebellion,  and  urge  all  Christians  to  refrain  from  weak- 
ening the  authority  of  the  administration  by  ill-timed  complaints  and 
unnecessary  criticisms,  fully  believing  that  in  such  a  crisis  all  speech  and 
action  which  tend  to  difference  should  be  studiously  avoided  for  the  sake 
of  the  common  weal. 

Resolved,  7.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  duly  authenticated,  be 
transmitted  to  the  President  of  the  United  States. — 1864,  p.  466,  N.  S. 

15.  Upon  the  Assassination  of  President  Lincoln. 

The  following  report  was  adopted  unanimously: 

a.  This  General  Assembly,  recognizing  the  special  providence  of  Al- 
mighty God,  the  Ruler  of  nations  and  Redeemer  of  men,  in  all  the  events 
connected  with  the  terrible  civil  war  which  for  four  years  has  desolated 
our  land,  would  here  record  our  devout  thanksgiving  and  gratitude  to 
Him  by  W'hom  "  kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice  "  for  his  divine 
favor  to  us  as  a  nation,  in  filling  the  hearts  of  the  loyal  people  of  these 
United  States  with  an  inextinguishable  love  for  our  national  Union  and 
an  unconquerable  resolution  to  preserve  it ;  in  raising  ujd  a  mighty  host 
of  valiant  men,  ready  to  give  their  lives  in  defence  of  our  national  gov- 
ernment; in  blessing  the  various  departments  of  that  government  in  their 
work  of  organizing,  equipj)ing  and  maintaining,  throughout  the  entire 
conflict,  our  vast  army  and  navy;  in  providing  leaders  of  wisdom,  cour- 
age and  skill  suited  for  every  emergency;  in  calling  forth  such  unwonted 
benevolence  in  promoting  the  physical  comfort  and  spiritual  welfare  of 
our  soldiers  and  sailors  and  in  bringing  so  many  of  them  to  a  saving 
knowledge,  as  we  trust,  of  the  plan  of  salvation  through  a  crucified  Re- 
deemer;  in  bringing  to  confusion  the  counsels  and  overwhelming  the 
power  of  our  enemies  ;  and  in  crowning  our  arms  with  triumphant  success. 

We  would  also  render  hearty  thanks  to  almighty  God  that  in  this 
crisis  of  our  nation's  history  he  gave  us,  in  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  Chief 
]\Iagistrate  who  acknowledged  his  dependence  on  him  for  wisdom  and 
strength,  and  who  eminently  illustrated,  in  his  life  and  character,  the 
virtues  of  fidelity  to  official  duty,  integrity  and  uprightness,  firmness  of 
purpose,  patient  endurance,  courage  and  hope  in,  disaster,  moderation  in 
victory,  sympathy  with  the  suffering,  and  kindness  to  foes;  one  who  ex- 
hibited that  wisdom,  sagacity  and  mercy  in  administering  the  affairs  of 


OF   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  ,  245 

the  nation,  which  secured  for  him  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  friends, 
silenced  the  calumnies  of  enemies,  and  constrained  from  malignant  op- 
posers  and  rebels  expressions  of  respect  and  admiration,  and  which  will 
cause  his  name  and  memory  to  be  honored  and  revered  by  the  pure  and 
good  in  all  time  to  come. 

While  we  deeply  deplore  the  loss  of  such  a  Chief  Magistrate,  and  bow 
in  humble  submission  to  that  mysterious  providence  which  permitted  trea- 
son, as  its  culminating  act  of  atrocity  and  wickedness,  to  terminate  his 
life  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  we  would  render  devout  thanksgiving  to 
God  that  he  was  protected  from  all  the  machinations  of  his  relentless 
enemies  until  he  was  permitted  to  see  the  power  of  the  rebellion  crushed, 
its  strongholds  repossessed,  its  conquered  armies  forced  to  surrender,  the 
national  honor,  untarnished  by  acts  of  barbarism  or  cruelty,  vindicated, 
the  integrity  of  the  Union  preserved,  that  scheme  of  emancipation, 
which  he  had  the  wisdom  to  devise,  and  the  courage  to  execute,  made 
effective  to  the  deliverance  from  bondage  of  four  millions  of  slaves,  for 
whose  perpetual  enslavement  the  rebellion  was  inaugurated,  and  peace, 
upon  principles  of  righteousness  and  universal  freedom,  ah-eady  dawning 
upon  the  land. 

In  closing  this  record,  we  would  invoke  the  divine  blessing  upon  our 
present  Chief  Magistrate,  and  would  ask  for  him  the  prayers  of  all  Chris- 
tian people,  that  he  may  be  endowed  with  the  fear  of  God,  and  with  the 
spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  a  sound  mind,  and  be  enabled,  tlirough  wise  coun- 
sels and  by  just  and  prudent  measures,  to  secure  to  this  nation  the  full 
enjoyment  of  that  peace  which  has  been  obtained  at  the  price  of  so  much 
blood ;  and  we  commend  all  our  rulers  and  all  the  people  to  the  gracious 
favor  of  Him  who,  by  his  recent  providences,  has  given  renewed  assurance 
that,  though  "clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him,  righteousness  and 
judgment  are  the  habitation  of  his  throne." — 1865,  p.  566,  0.  S. 

h.  In  the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  the  following  was  adopted  : 

In  the  sad  event  which  has  clothed  the  nation  in  mourning,  which  has 
stricken  down  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers  and  the  height  of  his 
usefulness  one  of  the  noblest  of  men,  to  whom  it  was  given  of  God  to  ac- 
complish a  work  for  this  nation  and  the  cause  of  humanity  unsurpassed 
in  the  grandeur  of  its  character  and  the  magnitude  of  its  issues  by  that 
of  any  of  his  most  illustrious  predecessors,  we  recognize  the  same  wise 
providence  which,  looking  far  above  our  feeble  vision,  permitted  the  ex- 
istence of  slavery  and  the  rise  of  this  rebellion,  and  wiiich,  in  this  last 
act  of  baffled  and  defeated  despot.,  m,  has  illustrated  its  debased  and  ma- 
lignant spirit  so  as  to  excite  the  loathing,  horror  and  abhorrence  of  the 
world.  In  his  life  he  struck  the  chains  from  the  trembling  limbs  of 
millions,  vindicated  the  rights  of  humanity,  and  illustrated  the  glory  of 
a  patriotism  made  strong  and  pure  by  devout  confidence  in  God.  In  his 
death  he  touched  the  chords  of  sympathy  deep  in  the  heart  of  universal 
man,  and  won  over  to  our  holy  cause  every  true  lover  of  his  race,  every 
scul  in  which  dwells  the  hope  of  freedom. 

To  his  bereaved  widow  and  family  this  body  would  express  our  sympa- 
thy in  this  great  affliction  common  to  us  all,  but  resting  most  heavily  upon 
tliose  so  nearly  allied  to  him,  assuring  them  of  our  prayers  that  to  them 
may  be  granted  the  consolations  of  the  Comforter,  and  in  them  these 
trials  may  bring  forth  "  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness." — 1865,  p 
37,  N.  S.     [See  the  deliverance  in  full,  pp.  36-41.] 


246  FOPvM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 


16.  Powers  of  the  Assembly  in  Defining-  and  Determining  which  are 
True  and  Lawful  Judicatories. 

The  report  thus  adopted  is  as  follows  : 

The  Committee  to  whom  were  referi-ed  sundry  papers  relating  to  the 
divisions  of  the  Synods  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  and  of  the  Presbyter- 
ies under  their  care,  which  has  resulted  in  two  sets  of  commissioners 
clain)ing  seats  in  this  General  Assembly  from  several  of  these  Presbyter- 
ies, and  also  sundry  papers  concerning  the  signers  of  a  paper  entitled  a 
''  Declaration  and  Testimony,"  etc.,  together  with  the  citation  of  the  said 
signers,  who  were  summoned  by  the  last  General  Assembly  to  appear  be- 
fore this  present  Assembly,  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  they  have  had  the  matters  committed  to  them  under  consideration, 
and  have  had  full  personal  conference  with  the  several  claimants  for  seats, 
and  recommend  to  the  General  Assembly  for  adoption  the  following  pro- 
positions : 

I.  The  ecclesiastical  judicatories  hereinafter  named  are  the  true  and 
lawful  judicatories  in  connection  with  and  under  the  care  and  authority 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  namely  : 

The  Synod  of  Kentucky,  Avhich  met  at  Henderson,  Kentucky,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1866,  and  adjourned  to  meet,  and  did  meet,  in  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
in  November,  1866,  of  which  Synod  the  Rev.  J.  T.  Lapsley  is  now  the 
moderator  and  the  Rev.  S.  S.  McRoberts  is  the  stated  clerk,  this  Synod 
having  under  its  care  and  authority,  and  within  its  ecclesiastical  boundaries, 
the  following  Presbyteries — viz.,  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  of  which 
the  Rev.  J.  P.  McMillan  is  now  the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  R.  Valentine 
is  the  stated  clerk  ;  the  Presbytery  of  Ebenezer,  of  which  the  Rev.  J.  F. 
Hendy  is  now  the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  R.  F.  Caldwell  is  the  stated 
clerk ;  the  Presbytery  of  West  Lexington,  of  which  the  Rev.  Stephen 
Yerkes,  D.  D.,  is  now  the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  J.  K.  Lyle  is  the 
stated  clerk ;  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  of  which  the  Rev.  G.  J. 
Read  is  now  the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  S.  S.  ISIcRoberts  is  the  stated 
clerk  ;  the  Presbytery  of  Muhlenburg,  of  which  the  Rev.  A.  D.  Metcalf 
is  now  the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  S.  Y.  Garrison  is  the  stated  clerk  ; 
and  the  Presbytery  of  Paducah,  of  which  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Riddle  is  now 
the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  James  Hawthorn  is  the  stated  clerk  ;  and 
these  several  Presbyteries  having  in  their  connection  and  under  their  care 
and  authority  and  within  their  ecclesiastical  boundaries  respectively  the 
ministers,  churches,  licentiates  and  candidates  belonging  to,  and  claiming 
to  belong  to,  tlie  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
The  foregoing  described  judicatories — namely,  the  Synod,  Presbyteries 
and  church  sessions  within  their  respective  jurisdictions,  are  to  be  respected 
and  obeyed  as  the  true  and  only  lawful  judicatories  possessing  the  names 
above  recited  within  the  State  of  Kentucky,  which  are  in  connection  with 
and  under  the  care  and  authority  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America;  and  the  commissioners 
sent  to  and  enrolled  in  this  General  Assembly  from  the  above  described 
Presbyteries  are  true  and  lawful  commissioners. 

The  Synod  of  Missouri,  which  met  at  Boonville,  Missouri,  October  10, 
1866,  of  which  Synod  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Finley  was  elected  moderator  and 
the  Rev.  J.  A.  Paige  was  elected  the  stated  clerk,  and  which  adjourned  to 
meet  in  Kansas  City  on  the  second  AVednesday  in  October,  1867,  this 
Synod  having  under  its  care  and  authority,  and  within  its  ecclesiastical 
boundaries,  the  following  Presbyteries,  viz. — the  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis, 


OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  247 

of  which  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Fenton  is  now  the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  H.  C. 
McCook  is  the  stated  clerk  ;  the  Presbytery  of  Palmyra,  of  which  tlie 
Rev.  A.  Steed  is  now  the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Finley  is  the  stated 
clerk  ;  the  Presbytery  of  Potosi,  of  winch  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Harland  is  now 
the  moderator  and  the  Rev.  A.  Munsen  is  the  stated  clerk  ;  the  Presby- 
tery of  Lafayette,  of  which  the  Rev.  Charles  Sturdevant  is  now  the  modera- 
tor and  the  Rev.  George  Fraser  is  the  stated  clerk  ;  the  Pi-esbytery  of  South- 
west Missouri,  of  which  the  Rev.  Wm.  R.  Fulton  is  now  the  moderator 
and  the  Rev.  James  A.  Paige  is  the  stated  clerk ;  and  the  Presbytery  of 
Upper  Missouri,  of  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pinkerton  is  now  the  moderator 
and  the  Rev.  W.  C.  McPheeters  is  the  stated  clerk ;  and  these  several 
Presbyteries,  having  in  their  connection  and  under  their  care  and  author- 
ity and  within  their  ecclesiastical  boundaries  respectively  the  ministers, 
churches,  licentiates  and  candidates  belonging  to,  and  claiming  to  belong 
to,  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  The  above 
described  judicatories — namely,  the  Synod,  Presbyteries  and  church  ses- 
sions within  their  respective  jurisdictions — are  to  be  respected  and  obeyed 
as  the  true  and  only  lawful  judicatories  possessing  the  names  above 
recited  within  the  State  of  Missouri,  which  are  in  connection  with  and 
under  the  care  and  authority  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyter- 
ian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  ;  and  the  commissioners  sent 
to  and  enrolled  in  this  General  Assembly  from  the  above  described  Pres- 
byteries are  true  and  lawful  commissioners. — 1867,  p.  335,  The  re- 
mainder of  the  deliverance  is  omitted,  in  conformity  with  the  action  of 
the  Assembly  of  1873. 

17.  Case  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  Louisville,  Ky.— The  Assem- 
bly Passes  upon  the  Validity  of  the  Election  of  Ruling-  Elders. 

«.  The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures,  to  whom  were  referred  the 
petition  and  memorial  of  Benjamin  F.  Avery,  D.  McNaughton,  James  A. 
Linch  and  Thomas  J.  Hackney,  ruling  elders  in  the  Walnut  Street  Church 
in  Louisville,  praying  for  such  redress  as  in  the  wisdom  of  the  General 
Assembly  may  seem  just  and  necessary  to  redress  the  grievances  of  said 
church,  as  set  forth  in  said  memorial  and  petition,  report  that  they  have 
considered  the  matter  referred,  and  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Whereas,  On  the  second  day  of  January  last,  D.  McNaughton,  Benja- 
min F.  Avery  and  James  A.  Leech  were  elected  ruling  elders  by  the  con- 
gregation of  said  church,  and  on  the  ninth  day  of  January  the  said  D. 
McNaughton  was  installed  and  Benjamin  F.  Avery  and  James  A.  Linch 
were  duly  ordained  and  installed  ruling  elders  in  said  church  ; 

And  ivhereas,  The  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  after  the  election  of  said 
ruling  elders,  with  the  apparent  design  of  discrediting  said  election,  de- 
nied to  one  of  their  number  a  seat  in  said  Presbytery,  notwithstanding  he 
had  been  duly  elected  to  represent  said  church  at  a  meeting  of  said  Pres- 
bytery; 

And  whereas,  It  is  evident  that  the  peace  of  said  church  and  their  con- 
gregational rights  are  in  great  danger  unless  this  Assembly  shall  interpose 
its  authority,  therefore  this  General  Assembly,  by  virtue  of  its  authority 
and  obligation  to  give  advice  and  instruction  in  all  cases  submitted  to 
them,  does  truly  declare  that  the  said  D.  McNaughton,  Benjamin  F. 
Avery  and  James  A.  Leech  are  to  be  recognized  and  acknowledged  as 
ruling  elders  in  the  said  church,  and  all  church  courts  and  sessions,  sub- 
ject to  or  under  tlie  care  of  this  Assembly,  are  solemnly  enjoined  to  res^Dect 
and  sustain  their  authority  as  such. 


248  FORM   OF    GOVERXMEXT. 

The  report  on  this  overture  was  adopted. — 1866,  p.  54,  0.  S. 

A  protest  was  entered  against  this,  to  which  the  Assembly  reply : 

In  answer  to  tlie  protest  of  Mr.  Bracken  and  others,  in  the  case  of  the 
Walnut  Street  Church  of  Louisville,  the  Assendjly  declare  that  the  election 
of  new  ruling  elders  in  that  church  was  ordered  by  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, on  a  review  of  the  whole  case,  upon  memorial  from  the  congrega- 
tion, and  was  conducted  and  consummated  by  the  Committee  appointed 
by  the  Synod  with  plenary  powers,  all  of  which  is  established  by  tlie 
attested  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  and  of  the  Committee  ap- 
pointed by  that  Synod,  the  premises  meeting  all  the  circumstances  and 
requirements  of  the  case. — 1866,  p.  68,  0.  S. 

b.  The  General  Assembly  of  1866  adjudged  that  B.  F.  Avery,  D. 
McNaughton  and  J.  A.  Leech  had  been  duly  elected  and  ordained  as 
ruling  elders  in  the  Walnut  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  Louisville,  Ky. 
It  has  now  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Assembly  that  the  court  of 
appeals  of  Kentucky  has  uttered  a  judicial  opinion  in  these  words: 
"  That  the  said  order  of  the  Synod  directing  said  election  of  additional 
ruling  elders  in  said  church  was  contrary  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  not  obligatory  upon  the  session  and  congregation 
of  said  Walnut  Street  Churcli,  and  said  Avery,  McNaughton  and  Leech, 
not  having  been  elected  as  ruling  elders  according  to  the  laws  and  regu- 
lations of  the  Church,  were  not  thereby  constituted  ruling  elders,  nor 
wei'c  they  so  constituted  by  said  declaration  of  the  General  Assembly." 

Whereupon  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  adopted  and  published  a  pro- 
test against  this  decision  of  the  judges.  The  Presbytery  denies  that  it  is 
competent  for  the  secular  tribunals  to  look  into  or  to  set  aside  the  election 
of  office-bearers  in  the  Church ;  or  to  revise  the  decisions  of  the  spiritual 
courts  in  regard  to  such  elections;  or  to  define  the  jurisdiction  of  our 
church  courts  in  matters  purely  spiritual ;  or  to  go  behind  the  judgments 
of  the  General  Assembly  upon  questions  of  church  government  or  disci- 
pline. The  Presbytery,  still  further,  in  its  said  protest,  declares  this  par- 
ticular decision  of  the  secular  tribunal  to  be  an  encroachment  on  religious 
liberty,  and  a  violation  of  the  principle  which  determines  the  independ- 
ence of  the  Church  upon  the  State.  Finally,  the  Presbytery  declares  that 
the  ruling  elders  so  attempted  to  be  deprived  of  f)ffice  are,  before  the  law 
of  this  Church,  still  ruling  elders  therein,  by  a  perfect  ecclesiastical  tenure. 

And  now  the  General  Assembly  declares  its  full  approval  of  the  fidelity 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  in  this  whole  matter.  We  unite  with  the 
Presbytery  in  protesting  against  this  encroachment  on  the  liherties  of  a 
free  Church.  We  approve  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  declai-ing  their 
brethren  to  be  ruling  elders  of  the  Walnut  street  congregation,  the  de- 
cision of  the  secular  court  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding ;  and  we  ex- 
press our  satisfaction  in  recognizing  among  the  commissioners  now  sitting 
in  this  Assembly  the  person  of  one  of  these  ruling  elders. 

The  Assembly  of  18(57  carefully  described  and  identified  the  Synod  and 
the  six  Presbyteries  in  Kentucky  which  are  in  connection  with  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica. The  present  General  Assembly  deems  it  proper  to  reaffirm  and 
declare  anew  at  this  time  that  the  ecclesiastical  position  of  this  Synod 
and  its  Presbyteries  remains  as  it  was  defined  and  settled  by  the  last  As- 
sembly (see  Minutes  of  1867,  etc.),  and  thus  are  declared  to  be  the  true 
and  only  Synod  and  Presbyteries  in  connection  with  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  this  Church  in  the  State  of  Kentucky. 

Still  further,  this  Assembly  expresses  its  sympathy  \Yith  the  clun'chcs  in 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  tlie  difficulties  and  trials  into  which  they  have 


or  THE  GENEEAL   ASSEMBLY.  249 

been  brought  by  their  adherence  to  the  Presbyterian  Church.  We  will 
aid  them  to  the  full  extent  of  our  ability  in  defending  and  protecting  their 
church  property.  And  we  will  encourage  the  people  of  God  everywhere, 
under  our  charge,  to  contribute  liberally  to  repair  the  pecuniary  losses 
which  may  be  sustained  by  their  churches  and  schools  of  learning. 

We  counsel  these  brethren  also,  on  the  one  hand,  to  yield  a  cheerful 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  even  to  the  extent  of  taking  "joyfully 
the  spoiling  of  their  goods."  But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  counsel  the 
courts  of  the  Church  to  continue  to  administer  the  spiritual  government 
of  Christ's  house  which  is  in  their  hands,  always  disregarding  the  judg- 
ments of  the  secular  tribunals  on  questions  which  belong  to  the  spiritual 
jurisdiction  alone.  It  is  the  constant  faith  of  this  Church  that  civil 
magistrates  may  not  assume  to  themselves  "  the  powers  of  the  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  or  in  the  least  interfere  in  matters  of  faith  ;"  "  and 
as  Jesus  Christ  hath  appointed  a  regular  government  and  discipline  in  his 
Church,  no  law  of  any  commonwealth  should  interfere  with,  let  or  hinder 
the  due  exercise  thereof,  among  the  voluntary  members  of  any  denomina- 
tion of  Christians,  according  to  their  own  profession  and  belief."  (Con- 
fession of  Faith,  chap,  xxiii.) 

The  report  was  unanimously  adopted. — 1868,  p.  652,  O.  S. 

c.  The  repoi't  of  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  was  amended 
and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

The  various  Presbyteries  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  respectfully  call 
the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  judicial  decisions  accom- 
panying this  memorial,  as  follows  : 

The  first  is  a  decision  of  the  court  of  appeals  in  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky, in  which  the  right  of  the  civil  courts  to  review  and  reverse  the  pro- 
ceedings and  decisions  of  ecclesiastical  courts  on  purely  ecclesiastical  mat- 
ters is  directly  maintained,  and  in  piirsuance  of  which  it  is  adjudged  that 
three  ruling  elders,  whose  election  and  ordination  was  ordered  by  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  and  confirmed  by  the  General  Assembly,  were  not 
ruling  elders  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  second  is  a  decision  of  the  same  court,  in  which  the  same  superior- 
ity of  the  civil  tribunals  over  the  ecclesiastical  is  maintained,  and  in  pur- 
suance of  which  the  deliverances  of  the  General  Assembly  during  the 
late  war  on  loyalty,  freedom,  etc.,  are  adjudged  to  be  unconstitutional,  in 
which  its  condemnation  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  is  adjudged  to 
be  erroneous,  and  its  dealings  with  the  signers  of  that  paper  to  be  null 
and  void. 

The  third  is  a  decision  of  the  circuit  court  of  the  United  States,  in 
which,  in  opposition  to  the  decisions  mentioned,  it  is  decided  that  the  civil 
courts  are  bound  to  respect  and  enforce  the  decisions  of  all  ecclesiastical 
courts,  particularly  the  General  Assembly,  on  all  purely  ecclesiastical 
matters  whatsoever. 

From  this  last  decision  an  api)eal  has  been  taken  to  the  supreme  court 
of  the  United  States,  and  thus  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  General 
Assembly  are  placed  in  a  posture  where  they  must  be  determined  by  that 
court  of  last  resort. 

A  case  so  directly  involving  the  rights  of  the  General  Assembly,  and 
so  essentially  determining  the  extent  to  which  we  shall  be  permitted  to 
enjoy  our  religious  liberties,  ought  not,  in  our  judgment,  to  be  left  to  the 
management  of,  nor  should  the  expense  fall  solely  upon,  a  single  church. 

We,  therefore,  respectfully  request  the  General  Assembly  to  take  such 
action  and  to  make  such  provision  as  will  be  necessary  in  order  to  a 
thorough  vindication  of  its  rights  and  prerogatives  before  that  tribunal. 

32 


250  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

As  an  answer  to  this  memorial  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures 
recommends  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  1.  This  General  Assembly  expresses  its  deepest  sympathy  for 
those  churches  in  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  which  have 
become  involved  in  expensive  and  harassing  litigation  while  faithfully 
complying  with  the  orders  of  the  superior  judicatories  of  the  Church,  and 
directs  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  and  the  Board  of  Church  Exten- 
sion to  aiford  them  all  such  assistance  as  it  may  be  in  their  power  to  give. 

Beaolved,  2.  While  the  General  Assembly  fully  recognizes  its  obliga- 
tion to  be  in  subjection  to  the  powers  that  be,  yet,  so  long  as  anything  can 
legally  be  done,  it  must  not  and  will  not  remain  silent  and  inactive  when 
its  own  rights  and  liberties  and  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  whole  Church 
are  put  in  peril  by  injurious  decisions  in  the  civil  courts;  it  expresses 
gratification  at  the  decision  that  has  been  rendered  by  the  circuit  court 
of  the  United  States  in  the  case  referred  to  in  the  memorial,  and  it  hereby 
appoints  E.  P.  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  Edgar  Needham  and  General  John  M. 
Harlan,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  a  Committee  to  counsel  and  co-operate 
with  the  proper  parties  in  the  appeal  which  has  been  taken  in  this  case  to 
the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  and  for  the  necessary  expenses 
of  said  case  in  the  court  from  which  and  in  the  court  to  which  it  has  been 
appealed,  said  Committee  is  authorized  to  draw  on  the  Board  of  Publica- 
tion for  a  sum  not  exceeding  five  thousand  dollars. — 1869,  p.  942,  O.  S. 

d.  The  report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Your  Committee,  therefore,  ask  the  General  Assembly  to  alloAV  us  to  use 
the  unexpended  balance  of  the  85000  appropriation,  that  balance  being 
§3000,  for  the  purpose  of  amicably  adjusting  the  Walnut  street  case ; 
provided, 

1.  That  the  sum  of  62000  shall  be  contributed  by  our  brethren  for  this 
purpose ;  and, 

2.  That  all  the  cases  pending  in  any  of  the  courts,  involving  the  title 
to  houses  of  worship  or  parsonages  in  Kentucky,  shall  be  also  amicably 
adjusted  and  settled.  Such  an  adjustment  would,  we  trust,  exert  a  most 
salutary  influence  upon  the  cause  of  Christ  and  the  welfare  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.— 1870,  p.  127. 

e.  Final  Rejm't — The  Position  of  the   General  Assembly  Smtained  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

The  Ptev.  George  W.  Musgrave,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  in  behalf  of  a  Commit- 
tee api)oiuted  by  the  General  Assembly  (O.  S.)  of  1868,  on  the  case  of 
the  Walnut  Street  Church,  Louisville,  Ky.,  presented  the  following  re- 
port, which  was  adopted,  as  follows: 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  O.  S.  branch  of  this  Church,  met  in  1869, 
appropriated  the  sum  of' 65000  to  aid  the  Walnut  Street  Church  of  Louis- 
ville, Kv.,  in  asserting  its  property  rights  in  the  courts  of  the  United 
States.  "One  of  the  questions  involved  in  that  litigation  was  the  question 
whether  it  is  competent  for  the  courts  of  law  in  this  country  to  set  ai^ide  or 
to  revise  the  decisions  of  our  church  courts  in  matters  that  are  purely 
ecclesiastical. 

This  grave  issue  led  the  General  Assembly  to  take  part  in  the  case  of 
the  Walnut  Street  Church.  A  Committee  was  appointed  to  superintend 
the  litigation.  The  Committee  employed  the  Hon.  John  M.  Harlan  and 
the  Hon.  B.  H.  Bristow,  both  distinguished  lawyers,  to  conduct  the  cause 
in  our  behalf.  They  have  discharged  their  duty  with  great  ability  and 
fidelity. 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  251 

The  supreme  court  at  Washington  has,  in  a  judgment  lately  rendered, 
upheld  all  the  rights  of  property  asserted  by  the  Walnut  Street  Church ; 
and  what  is  of  far  more  importance,  that  high  court  has  fully  sustained 
the  doctrine  for  which  the  General  Assembly  has  contended.  In  an  elab- 
orate written  opinion  the  judges  have  held,  for  substance,  that  the  courts 
of  law  must  accept  as  final  and  conclusive  the  decisions  of  the  General 
Assembly  on  questions  purely  ecclesiastical,  and  must  give  full  effect  to 
these  decisions  in  settling  the  property  rights  of  parties  litigant. 

Tlie  General  Assembly  will  not  be  slow  to  appreciate  the  value  of  this 
opinion,  in  the  protection  which  it  affords  to  the  liberties  of  a  free  church, 
and  to  the  funds  which  may  be  entrusted  to  the  Assembly  and  to  its  con- 
gregations for  pious  uses. 

For  this  reason  the  Assembly  is  respectfully  overtured  to  publish  the 
opinion  of  the  court  at  length,  in  the  apj)endix  to  its  minutes,  and  to  order 
a  faithful  abstract  thereof  to  be  prepared  and  inserted  in  the  forthcoming 
Digest. 

The  Board  of  Publication  have  promptly  honored  the  drafts  of  the 
Committee  to  the  full  amount  appropriated  by  the  Assembly  of  1869.  A 
large  part  of  this  money  has  been  expended  in  the  payment  of  expenses 
incident  to  the  litigation,  leaving  a  moderate  compensation  for  the  labors 
of  our  legal  counsel. 

The  Assembly  are  respectfully  asked  to  accept  this  as  our  final  report, 
and  to  discharge  the  Committee. 

George  Junkin,  Esq.,  and  W.  J.  McElroy,  Esq.,  were  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee to  prej)are  for  publication  in  the  new  Digest  an  abstract  of  the  de- 
cision of  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  referred  to  in  the  above 
report.— 1872,  p.  52. 

[In  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  (see  1873, 
p.  480),  the  entire  report  is  given  here  as  follows,  viz. :] 

DECISION   OF  THE  UXITED   STATES   SUPKEJIE   COURT  IN  TPIE   CASE  OF  THE 
WALNUT   STREET  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,  LOUISVILLE,  KY. 

[printed  by  order  op  the  AssE>rBLY,  1873,  p.  480.] 

John  Watson  et  al.  v.  William  A.  Jones  et  al. 

[I.  Where  the  pendency  of  prior  suit  is  set  up  to  defeat  another,  the  case  must  be  the 
same;  there  must  be  the  same  parties,  or  at  least  such  as  represent  the  same  inte- 
rest ;  there  must  be  the  same  rights  asserted  and  the  same  relief  prayed  for. 

2.  Where  the  subject-matter  of  dispute  is  sti'ictly  and  purely  ecclesiastical  in  its  cha- 
racter, a  matter  which  concerns  theological  controversy,  church  discijiline,  ecclesi- 
astical government,  or  the  conformity  of  the  members  of  the  church  to  the  standard 
of  morals  required  of  them,  and  the  ecclesiastical  courts  claim  jurisdiction,  the  civil 
courts  will  not  assume  jurisdiction  ;  they  will  not  even  inquire  into  the  right  of  juris- 
diction of  the  ecclesiastical  court. 

3.  A  spiritual  court  is  the  exclusive  judge  of  its  own  jurisdiction  ;  its  decision  of  that 
question  is  binding  on  the  secular  courts.] 

Appeal  from  tlie  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  District  of  Kentucky. 

Opinion  by  Miller,  J. 

This  case  belongs  to  a  class,  happily  rare  in  our  courts,  in  which  one  of  the  parties 
to  a  controversy,  essentially  ecclesiastical,  resorts  to  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  State 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  rights  which  the  Cliurch  has  refused  to  acknowledge,  or 
found  itself  unable  to  protect.  Much  as  such  dissensions  among  the  members  of  a 
religious  society  should  be  regretted — a  regret  which  is  increased  when,  passing  from 
the  control  of  the  judicial  and  legislative  bodies  of  the  entire  organization  to  which 
the  society  belongs,  an  appeal  is  made  to  the  secular  authority — the  courts  when  so 
called  on  must  perform  their  functions  as  in  other  cases. 


252  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

Religious  organizations  come  before  us  in  tlie  same  attitude  as  other  voluntary 
associations  for  benevolent  or  charitable  purposes,  and  their  rights  of  property,  or 
of  contract,  are  equally  under  the  protection  of  the  law,  and  the  actions  of  their 
members  subject  to  its  restraints.  Conscious  as  we  may  be  of  the  excited  feeling 
engendered  by  this  controversy,  and  of  the  extent  to  whicli  it  has  agitated  the  intel- 
ligent and  pious  body  of  Christians  in  wliose  bosom  it  originated,  we  enter  upon  its 
consideration  with  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  principles  on  which  we  are  to 
decide  so  much  of  it  as  is  proper  for  our  decision  are  those  applicable  alike  to  all  of 
its  class,  and  that  our  duty  is  the  simple  one  of  applying  those  principles  to  the  facts 
before  us. 

It  is  a  bill  in  chancery  in  the  circuit  court  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of 
Kentucky,  brought  by  William  A.  Jones,  Mary  J.  Jones  and  EUenor  Lee,  citizens  of 
Indiana,  against  John  Watson  and  others  named,  citizens  of  Kentucky,  and  against  the 
trustees  of  the  Third  or  Walnut  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Louisville,  a  corpo- 
ration created  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  that  State.  The  trustees,  McDougall, 
McPhcrson  and  Ashcraft,  are  also  sued  as  citizens  of  Kentucky.  Plaintiffs  allege  in 
their  bill  that  they  are  members  in  good  and  regular  standing  of  said  church,  attend- 
ing its  religious  exercises  under  the  pastorship  of  the  Rev.  John  S.  Hays,  and  that  the 
defendants,  George  Fulton  and  Henry  Farley,  who  claim  without  right  to  be  trustees 
of  the  church,  supported  and  recognized-  as  such  by  the  defendants,  John  Watson 
and  Joseph  Gault,  who  also  without  right  claim  to  be  ruling  elders,  are  threatening, 
preparing  and  about  to  take  unlawful  possession  of  the  house  of  worship  and  grounds 
belonging  to  the  church,  and  to  prevent  Hays,  who  is  the  rightful  pastor,  from  min- 
istering therein,  refusing  to  recognize  him  as  pastor,  and  to  recognize  as  ruling  elder 
Thomas  J.  Hackney,  who  is  the  sole  lawful  ruling  elder ;  and  that,  when  they  obtain 
such  possession,  they  will  oust  Hays  and  Hackney  and  those  who  attend  their  min- 
istrations, among  whom  are  complainants. 

And  they  further  allege  that  Hackney,  whose  duty  it  is  as  elder,  and  McDougall, 
McPherson  and  Ashcraft,  whose  duty  as  trustees  it  is  to  protect  the  rights  thus  threat- 
ened, by  such  proceeding  in  the  courts  as  will  prevent  the  execution  of  the  threats 
and  designs  of  the  other  defendants,  refuse  to  take  any  steps  to  that  end. 

They  further  allege  that  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  of  which  they  are  members, 
now  forms,  and  has,  ever  since  its  organization  in  the  year  1842,  formed,  a  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  known  as  the  Old  School,  which 
is  governed  by  a  written  constitution  that  includes  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Form  of 
Government,  Book  of  Discipline  and  Directory  for  Worship,  and  that  the  governing 
bodies  of  the  general  Church,  above  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  are,  in  successive  order, 
the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  and  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States.  That  while  plaintifis  and  about  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  members  who  worship  with  them,  and  Mr.  Hays,  the  pastor, 
Hackney,  the  ruling  elder,  and  the  trustees,  McDougall,  McPherson  and  Ashcraft,  are 
now  in  full  membership  and  relation  with  the  lawful  general  Presbyterian  Church 
aforesaid,  the  defendants  named,  with  about  thirty  persons  formerly  members  of  said 
church,  worshijaing  under  one  Dr.  Yandell  as  pastor,  have  seceded  and  withdrawn 
themselves  from  said  Walnut  Street  Church  and  from  the  general  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States,  and  have  voluntarily  connected  themselves  with,  and  are 
now  members  of,  another  religious  society,  and  that  they  have  rejiudiated,  and  do  now 
repudiate  and  renounce,  the  authority  and  jurisdiction  of  the  various  judicatories  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  and  acknowledge  and  recognize  the 
authf)rity  of  other  church  judicatories  which  are  disconnected  from  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  Slates  and  from  the  Walnut  Street  Church.  And  they  allege 
that  Watson  and  Gault  have  been,  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly  of  said  church, 
dropped  from  the  roll  of  elders  of  said  church  for  having  so  withdrawn  and  renounced 
its  jurisdiction,  and  the  Assembly  has  declared  the  organization  to  whii'h  idaintiU's 
adhere  to  be  the  true  and  only  Walnut  Street  Presbyterian  Church  of  Louisville. 

They  pray  for  an  injunction  and  for  general  relief. 

The  defendants.  Hackney,  McDougall,  McPherson  and  Ashcraft,  answer,  admitting 
the  allegations  of  the  bill,  and  that,  though  requested,  they  had  refused  to  prosecute 
legal  proceedings  in  the  matter. 

The  other  defendants  answer  and  deny  almost  every  allegation  in  the  bill.  They 
claim  to  be  lawful  oflicers  of  the  Walnut  Street  Presbyterian  Churcli,  and  that  they 
and  those  whom  they  represent  are  the  true  members  of  liie  church.  They  deny  having 
W'itlidrawn  from  the  local  or  tiie  general  church,  and  deny  that  the  action  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  cutting  them  otl'  was  within  its  constitutional  authority.  They  say  the 
plaintifis  are  not,  and  never  have  been,  lawfully  admitted  to  membership  in  the  Wal- 
imt  Street  Church,  and  have  no  such  interest  in  it  as  will  sustain  this  suit,  and  they 


OF   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  •  253 

set  up  and  rely  upon  a  suit  ptilKpending  in  the  cliancery  court  of  Louisville,  which 
they  say  involves  the  same  subject-matter,  and  is  between  the  same  parties  in  interest 
as  the  present  suit.  They  allege  that  in  that  suit  they  haye  been  decreed  to  be  the 
only  true  and  lawful  trustees  and  elders  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  and  an  order  has 
been  made  to  place  them  in  possession  of  the  church  property,  which  order  remains 
unexecuted,  and  the  proj^erty  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  marshal  of  that  court  as 
its  receiver.     These  facts  are  relied  on  in  bar  to  the  present  suit. 

This  statement  of  the  pleadings  is  indispensable  to  an  understanding  of  the  points 
arising  in  the  case.  So  far  as  an  examination  of  the  evidence  may  be  necessary,  it 
will  be  made  as  it  is  required  in  the  consideration  of  these  points. 

The  first  of  these  concerns  the  jurisdiction  of  the  circuit  court,  which  is  denied; 
first,  on  the  ground  tliat  the  plaintiffs  have  no  such  interest  in  the  subject  of  litigation 
,  as  will  enable  them  to  maintain  the  suit,  and,  secondly,  on  matters,  arising  out  of  the 
alleged  proceedings  in  the  suit  in  the  chancery  court  of  Louisville. 

The  allegation  that  plaintiffs  are  not  lawful  members  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church 
is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  their  admission  as  members  was  by  a  pastor  and 
elders  who  had  no  lawful  authority  to  act  as  such.  As  the  claim  of  those  elders  to  be 
such  is  one  of  the  matters  which  this  bill  is  brought  to  establish,  and  the  denial  of 
which  makes  an  issue  to  be  tried,  it  is  obvious  that  the  objection  to  the  interest  of  plain- 
tifl's  must  stand  or  fall  with  the  decision  on  the  merits,  and  cannot  be  decided  as  a 
preliminary  question.  Their  right  to  have  this  question  decided,  if  there  is  no  other 
objection  to  the  jurisdiction,  cannot  be  doubted.  Some  attempt  is  made,  in  the  answei-, 
to  question  the  good  faith  of  their  citizenship,  but  this  seems  to  have  been  abandoned 
in  the  argument. 

In  regard  to  the  suit  in  the  chancery  court  of  Louisville  which  the  defendants 
allege  to  be  pending,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  court  is  one  competent  to  enter- 
tain jurisdiction  of  all  the  matters  set  up  in  the  present  suit.  As  to  those  matters, 
and  to  the  parties,  it  is  a  court  of  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  circuit  court  of 
the  United  States,  and  as  between  those  courts  the  rule  is  applicable  that  the  one 
which  has  first  obtained  jurisdiction  in  a  given  case  must  retain  it  exclusively  until 
it  disposes  of  it  by  a  final  judgment  or  decree. 

But  when  the  pendency  of  such  a  suit  is  set  up  to  defeat  another,  the  case  must  be 
the  same.  There  must  be  the  same  parties,  or  at  least  such  as  represent  the  same  in- 
terest, there  must  be  the  same  rights  asserted  and  the  same  relief  prayed  for.  This 
relief  must  be  founded  on  the  same  facts,  and  the  title  or  essential  basis  of  the  relief 
sougiit  must  be  the  same. 

The  identity  in  these  particulars  should  be  such  tliat,  if  the  pending  case  had 
already  been  disposed  of,  it  could  be  pleaded  in  bar  as  a  former  adjudication  of  the 
same  matter  between  the  same  parties. 

In  the  case  of  Barrow  v.  Kindred,  4  Wallace,  397,  which  was  an  action  of  eject- 
ment, tiie  plaintiff  showed  a  good  title  to  the  land,  and  defendant  relied  on  a  former 
judgment  in  his  favor,  between  the  same  parties  for  the  same  land,  the  statute  of  Illi- 
nois making  a  judgment  in  such  an  action  as  conclusive  as  in  other  personal  actions, 
except  by  way  of  new  trial.  But  this  court  held  that,  as  in  the  second  suit,  plaintifl[" 
introduced  and  relied  upon  a  new  and  different  title,  acquired  since  the  first  trial,  that 
jndgincnt  could  be  no  bar,  because  that  title  had  not  been  passed  upon  by  the  court  in 
the  first  suit. 

But  the  principles  which  should  govern  in  regard  to  the  identity  of  the  matters  in 
issue  in  the  two  suits,  to  make  the  pendency  of  the  one  to  defeat  the  othei-,  are  as  fully 
discussed  in  the  case  of  Buck  v.  Colbath,  3  Wallace,  334,  where  that  was  the  main 
question,  as  in  any  case  we  have  been  able  to  find.  It  was  an  action  of  trespass, 
bi  ought  in  a  State  court,  against  the  marshal  of  the  circuit  court  of  the  United 
S;:ites  for  seizing  property  of  plaintiff,  under  a  writ  of  attachment  from  the  circuit 
court.  And  it  was  brought  while  the  suit  in  the  Federal  court  was  still  pending,  and 
while  the  marshal  held  the  property  subject  to  its  judgment.  So  far  as  the  lis  pen- 
r/ci.s  and  possession  of  the  property  in  one  court,  and  a  suit  brought  for  the  taking  by 
its  officer  in  another,  the  analogy  to  the  present  case  is  very  strong.  In  that  case  the 
coiu-t  said :  "  It  is  not  true  that  a  court,  having  obtained  jurisdiction  of  a  subject- 
matter  of  suit,  and  of  parties  before  it,  thereby  excludes  all  other  courts  from  the 
right  to  adjudicate  upon  other  matters  having  a  very  close  connection  with  those 
before  the  first  court,  and  in  some  instances  requiring  the  decision  of  the  same  ques- 
tion exactly.  In  examining  into  the  exclusive  character  of  the  jurisdiction  in  such 
cases,  we  nuist  have  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  remedies,  the  character  of  the  relief 
sought,  and  the  identity  of  the  parties  in  the  different  suits."  And  it  might  have 
been  added,  to  the  facts  on  whicii  the  claim  for  relief  is  founded. 

"A  party,"  says  the  court  by  way  of  example,  ''having  notes  secured  by  a  mort- 


254  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

gage  on  real  estate,  may,  unless  restrained  by  statute,  sue  in  a  court  of  chancery  to 
foreclcfe  his  mortgage,  and  in  a  court  of  law  to  recover  a  judgment  on  his  note,  "and 
in  another  court  of  law  in  an  action  of  ejectment  for  possession  of  the  land.  Here, 
in  all  the  suits,  the  only  question  at  issue  may  be  the  existence  of  the  debt  secured 
by  the  mortgage.  But  as  tlie  relief  sought  is  different,  and  the  mode  of  proceeding 
different,  the  jurisdiction  of  neither  court  is  affected  by  the  proceedings  in  the  other." 
This  opinion  contains  a  critical  review  of  the  cases  in  this  court  of  Hagan  v.  Lucas, 
10  Peters,  402;  Peck  v.  Jenness,  7  How.,  624;  Taylor  v.  Carry,  20  How.,  594;  and 
Freeman  v.  Howe,  24  How.,  450,  cited  and  relied  on  by  counsel  for  appellants;  and 
we  are  satisfied  it  states  the  doctrine  correctly. 

The  limits  which  necessity  assigns  to  this  opinion  forbid  our  giving  at  length  the 
pleadings  in  the  case  in  the  Louisville  chancery  court.  But  we  cannot  better  state 
what  is  and  what  is  not  the  subject-matter  of  that  suit  or  controversy,  as  thus  pre- 
sented and  as  shown  throughout  its  course,  than  by  adopting  the  language  of  the 
court  of  appeals  of  Kentucky,  in  its  opinion  delivered  at  the  decision  of  that  suit  in 
favor  of  the  present  appellants.  "As  suggested  in  argument,"  says  the  court,  "and 
apparently  conceded  on  both  sides,  this  is  not  a  case  of  division  or  schism  in  a 
church,  nor  is  there  any  question  as  to  which  of  two  bodies  should  be  recognized  as 
the  Third  or  Walnut  Street  Presbyterian  Church.  Neither  is  there  any  controversy 
as  to  the  authority  of  Watson  and  Gault  to  act  as  ruling  elders,  but  the  sole  inquiry 
to  which  we  are  restricted  in  our  opinion  is  whether  Avery,  McXaugliton  and  Leech 
are  also  ruling  elders,  and  therefore  members  of  the  session  of  the  church." 

The  summary  which  we  have  already  given  of  the  pleadings  in  tlie  present  suit 
shows  conclusively  a  different  state  of  facts,  different  issues  and  a  different  relief 
sought.  This  is  a  case  of  division  or  schism  in  the  church.  It  is  a  question  as  to 
which  of  two  bodies  shall  be  recognized  as  the  Tliird  or  Walnut  Street  Presbyterian 
Church.  There  is  a  controversy  as  to  the  authority  of  Watson  and  Gault  to  act  as 
ruling  elders,  that  authority  being  denied  in  the  bill  of  complainants,  and  so  far  from 
the  claim  of  Avery,  McNaughton  and  Leech  to  be  ruling  elders  being  the  sole  inquiry 
in  this  case,  it  is  a  very  subordinate  matter,  and  it  depends  upon  facts  and  circum- 
stances altogether  different  from  those  set  up  and  relied  on  in  the  other  suit,  and 
which  did  not  exist  when  it  was  brought.  The  issue  here  is  no  longer  a  mere  question 
of  eldership,  but  it  is  a  separation  of  the  original  church  members  and  officers  into  two 
distinct  bodies,  with  distinct  members  aiid  officers,  each  claiming  to  be  the  true  Wal- 
nut Street  Presbyterian  Church,  and  denying  the  right  of  the  other  to  any  such  claim. 

This  brief  statement  of  the  issues  in  the  two  suits  leaves  no  room  for  argument  to 
show  that  the  pendency  of  the  first  cannot  be  pleaded  either  in  bar  or  in  abatement 
of  the  second. 

The  supplementary  petition  filed  by  plaintiffs  in  that  case,  after  the  decree  of  the 
chancery  court  had  been  reversed  on  appeal,  and  which  did  contain  very  much  the 
same  matter  found  in  the  present  bill,  was,  on  motion  of  plaintiff's  counsel,  and  by 
order  of  the  court,  dismissed,  without  prejudice,  before  this  suit  was  brought,  and  of 
course  was  not  a  lis  pendens  at  that  time. 

It  is  contended,  however,  that  tlie  delivery,  to  the  trustees  and  elders  of  the  body 
of  which  plaintiffs  are  members,  of  the  possession  of  the  church  building,  cannot  be 
granted  in  this  suit,  nor  can  the  defendants  be  enjoined  from  taking  possession  as 
prayed  in  the  bill,  because  the  property  is  in  the  actual  possession  of  the  marshal  of 
the  Louisville  chancery  court  as  its  receiver,  and  because  there  is  an  unexecuted 
decree  of  that  court  ordering  the  marshal  to  deliver  the  possession  to  defendants. 

In  this  the  counsel  for  appellants  are,  in  our  opinion,  sustained,  both  by  the  law 
and  the  state  of  the  recoi'd  of  the  suit  in  that  court. 

The  court,  in  the  progress  of  that  suit,  made  several  orders  concerning  the  use  of 
the  church,  and  finally  placed  it  in  the  jiossession  of  the  marshal  as  a  receiver,  and 
there  is  no  order  discharging  his  receivership;  nor  does  it  seem  to  us  tliat  there  is  any 
valid  order  finally  disposing  of  the  case  so  that  it  can  be  said  to  be  no  longer  in  that 
court.  For  though  the  chancery  court  did,  on  tlie  20th  of  March,  18t)7,  after  the  re- 
versal of  the  case  in  the  court  of  appeals,  enter  an  order  reversing  its  former  decree 
and  dismissing  the  bill,  with  costs,  in  favor  of  tlie  defendants,  the  latter,  on  application 
to  the  appellate  court,  obtained  another  order  dated  June  26th.  By  this  order  or  man- 
date to  the  chancery  court  it  was  directed  to  render  a  judgment  in  conformity  to  the 
opinion  and  mandate  of  the  court,  restoring  possession,  use  and  control  of  the  church 
property  to  the  parties  entitled  tiiereto  according  to  said  opinion,  and  so  far  as  they 
were  deprived  thereof  by  the  marshal  of  the  chancery  court  luider  its  order. 

In  obedience  to  this  mandate  tlie  chancery  court,  on  the  18th  of  September,  three 
months  after  the  commencement  of  this  suit,  made  an  order  that  tlie  marsiial  restore 
the  possession,  use  and  control  of  the  church  building  to  Henry  Farley,  George  Ful- 


OF  THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  255 

ton,  B.  F.  Avery,  or  a  majority  of  them,  as  trustees,  and  to  John  Watson,  Joseph 
Ganlt  and  Thomas  J.  Hackiiey,  or  a  majority  of  them,  as  ruling  elders,  and  to  rejoort 
how  he  had  executed  the  order,  and  reserving  tlie  case  for  such  further  order  as  might 
be  necessary  to  enforce  full  obedience. 

It  is  argued  here  by  counsel  for  appellees  that  the  case  was,  in  eifect,  disposed  of 
by  the  order  of  the  chancery  court,  and  nothing  remained  to  be  done  which  could 
have  any  practical  operation  on  the  rights  of  the  parties. 

But  if  the  court  of  appeals,  in  reversing  the  decree  of  the  chancellor  in  favor  of 
plaintitls,  was  of  opinion  that  the  defendants  should  be  restored  to  the  position  they 
occupied  in  regard  to  the  possession  and  control  of  the  property  before  that  suit  began, 
we  have  no  doubt  of  their  right  to  make  such  order  as  was  necessary  to  effect  that 
object;  and  as  the  proper  mode  of  doing  this  was  by  directing  the  chancellor  to  make 
the  necessary  order  and  have  it  enforced  as  chancery  decrees  are  enforced  in  his  court, 
we  are  of  opinion  that  the  order  of  the  court  of  appeals  above  recited  was,  in  essence 
and  effect,  a  decree  in  that  cause  for  such  restoration,  and  that  the  last  order  of  the 
chancery  court,  made  in  accordance  with  it,  is  a  valid  subsisting  decree,  which,  though 
final,  is  imexecuted. 

Tiie  decisions  of  this  court  in  the  cases  of  Taylor  v.  Carryl,  20  How.,  594,  and  Free- 
man V.  Howe,  24  How.,  450,  and  Burk  v.  Colbath,  5  Wallace,  are  conclusive  that  the 
marshal  of  the  chancery  court  cannot  be  displaced  as  to  the  mere  actual  possession  of 
the  property,  because  that  might  lead  to  a  personal  conflict  between  the  oificers  of  the 
two  courts  for  that  possession.  And  the  act  of  Congress  of  March  2d,  1793,  1  U.  S. 
Statute,  334,  §  5,  as  construed  in  the  cases  of  Diggs  v.  Walcott,  4  Cranch,  129,  and 
Peck  V.  Jenness,  7  How.,  625,  are  equally  conclusive  against  any  injunction  from  the 
circuit  court  forbidding  the  defendants  to  take  the  possession  wiiicli  the  unexecuted 
decree  of  the  chancery  court  requires  the  marshal  to  deliver  to  them. 

But  though  the.  prayer  of  the  bill  in  this  suit  does  ask  for  an  injunction  to  restrain 
Watson,  Gault,  Fulton  and  Farley  from  taking  possession,  it  also  prays  such  other 
and  further  relief  as  the  nature  of  the  case  requires,  and  especially  that  said  defend- 
ants be  resti'ained  from  interfering  with  Hays,  as  pastor,  and  plaintiffs  in  worshiping 
in  said  church.  Under  this  prayer  for  general  relief,  if  there  was  any  decree  which 
the  circuit  court  could  render  for  the  protection  of  the  right  of  plaintifl\s,  and  which 
did  not  enjoin  tiie  defendants  from  taking  possession  of  the  church  property,  and 
which  did  not  disturb  tiie  possession  of  the  marshal  of  the  Louisville  chancery,  that 
court  had  a  right  to  hear  tiie  case  and  grant  that  relief  This  leads  us  to  inquire 
what  is  the  nature  and  character  of  the  possession  to  which  those  parties  are  to  be 
restored. 

One  or  two  propositions,  whicli  seem  to  admit  of  no  controversy,  are  proper  to  be 
noticed  in  this  connection.  1.  Both  by  the  act  of  the  Kentucky  Legislature  creating 
the  trustees  of  the  ciiurch  a  body  corporate,  and  by  the  acknowledged  rules  of  the 
Presl)yterian  Church,  the  trustees  were  the  mere  nominal  title-holders  and  custodians 
of  tlie  church  property,  and  other  trustees  were  or  could  be  elected  by  the  congrega- 
tion to  supply  their  places  once  in  every  two  years.  2.  That  in  the  use  of  the  prop- 
erty for  all  religious  services  or  ecclesiastical  purposes,  the  trustees  were  under  the 
control  of  tlie  church  session.  3.  That  by  the  constitution  of  all  Presbyterian  ciiurches, 
tlie  session,  which  is  the  governing  body  in  each,  is  composed  of  the  rtiling  elders  and 
pastor,  and  in  all  business  of  the  session  a  majority  of  its  members  govern,  the  number 
of  elders  for  each  congregation  being  variable. 

The  trustees  obviously  hold  possession  for  the  use  of  the  persons  who,  by  the  consti- 
tution, usages  and  laws  of  the  Presbyterian  body,  are  entitled  to  that  use.  They  are 
lial)le  to  removal  by  tiie  congregation  for  whom  they  hold  this  trust,  and  others  may 
be  substituted  in  their  places.  They  have  no  personal  ownership  or  right  beyond 
tills,  and  are  subject,  in  their  official  relations  to  the  property,  to  the  control  of  tlie 
session  of  the  churcii. 

The  possession  of  the  elders,  tliough  accompanied  with  larger  and  more  efficient 
powers  of  control,  is  still  a  fiduciary  possession.  It  is  as  a  session  of  the  church  alone 
that  they  could  exercise  power.  Except  by  an  order  of  the  session  in  regular  meet- 
ing, tiiey  have  no  right  to  make  any  order  concerning  the  use  of  the  building,  and  any 
action  of  the  session  is  necessarily  in  the  character  of  representatives  of  the  church 
body  by  whose  members  it  was  elected. 

If,  then,  this  true  body  of  the  churcli — the  members  of  that  congregation — having 
rights  of  user  in  the  building,  have,  in  a  mode  which  is  authorized  by  the  canons  of 
the  general  Church  in  tiiis  country,  elected  and  installed  other  elders,  it  does  not  seem 
to  us  inconsistent  or  at  variance  witli  the  nature  of  the  possession  which  we  have  de- 
scribed, and  which  tlie  chancery  court  orders  to  be  restored  to  the  defendants,  that  they 
phould  be  compelled  to  recognize  these  rights,  and  permit  those  who  are  the  real  beu- 


256  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

eficiaries  of  the  trust  lield  by  them,  to  enjoy  the  uses,  to  protect  which  tliat  trust  was 
created.  Undoubtedly,  if  tlie  order  of  the  chancery  court  had  been  executed,  and  the 
marshal  liad  delivered  the  key  of  the  church  to  defendants,  and  placed  them  in  the 
same  position  they  were  before  that  suit  was  commenced,  they  could  in  any  court 
having  jurisdiction,  and  in  a  case  properly  made  out,  be  compelled  to  respect  the  rights 
■we  have  stated,  and  be  controlled  in  their  use  of  the  possession  by  the  court,  so  far  as 
to  secure  those  rights. 

All  that  we  have  said,  in  regard  to  the  possession  which  the  marshal  is  directed  to 
deliver  to  defendants,  is  equally  applicable  to  the  possession  held  by  him  pending  the 
execution  of  that  order.  His  possession  is  a  substitute  for  theirs,  and  the  order  under 
which  he  receives  that  possession,  which  we  have  recited,  shows  this  very  clearly. 

The  decree  which  we  are  now  reviewing  seems  to  us  to  be  careftilly  framed  on  this 
view  of  the  matter.  While  the  rights  of  plaintiffs  and  those  whom  they  sue  for  are 
admitted  and  established,  the  defendants  are  still  recognized  as  entitled  to  the  posses- 
sion which  we  have  described  ;  and  while  they  are  not  enjoined  from  receiving  that 
possession  from  the  marshal,  and  he  is  not  restrained  from  obeying  tlie  chancery  court 
by  delivering  it,  and  wliile  diere  is  no  order  made  on  the  marshal  at  all  to  interfere 
with  his  possession,  the  defendants  are  required  by  the  decree  to  respect  the  rights  of 
plaintifls,  and  to  so  use  the  possession  and  control  to  which  they  may  be  restored  as 
not  to  hinder  or  obstruct  the  true  uses  of  the  trust  which  that  possession  is  intended  to 
protect. 

We  are  next  to  inquire  wjiether  the  decree  thus  rendered  is  based  upon  an  equally 
just  view  of  the  law  as  a]>plied  to  the  facts  of  this  controversy.  These,  though  making 
up  a  copious  record  of  matter  by  no  means  pleasant  reading  to  the  sincere  and  thought- 
ful Christian  pliilanthropist,  may  be  stated  with  a  reasonable  brevity,  so  far  as  they 
bear  upon  the  principles  which  must  decide  the  case. 

From  the  couimencement  of  the  late  war  of  the  insurrection  to  its  close  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  its  annual  meetings  expressed,  in  declaratory 
statements  or  resolutions,  its  sense  of  the  obligation  of  all  good  citizens  to  support  the 
Federal  government  in  that  struggle ;  and  when,  by  the  proclamation  of  President 
Lincoln,  emancipation  of  the  slaves  of  the  States  in  insurrection  was  announced,  that 
body  also  expressed  views  favorable  to  emancipation  and  adverse  to  the  institution  of 
slavery.  And  at  its  meeting  in  Pittsburg  in  May,  18G5,  instructions  were  given  to 
the  Presbyteries,  the  Board  of  Missions,  and  to  the  sessions  of  the  churches,  that  when 
any  persons  from  the  Southern  States  should  make  application  for  employment  as 
missionaries,  or  for  admission  as  members  or  ministers  of  churches,  inquiry  should  be 
made  as  to  their  sentiments  in  regard  to  loyalty  to  the  government  and  on  the  subject 
of  slavery ;  and  if  it  was  found  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  voluntarily  aiding  the 
war  of  the  rebellion,  or  held  the  doctrine  announced  by  the  large  body  of  the  churches 
in  the  insurrectionary  States  which  had  organized  a  new  General  Assembly  that  "the 
system  of  negro  slavery  in  the  South  is  a  divine  institution,  and  that  it  is  the  peculiar 
mission  of  the  Southern  Church  to  conserve  that  institution,"  they  should  be  required 
to  repent  and  forsake  these  sins  before  they  could  be  received. 

In  the  month  of  September  thereafter,  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville,  under  whose 
immediate  jurisdiction  was  the  Walnut  Street  Church,  adopted  and  published  in 
pamphlet  form  what  it  called  a  "Declaration  and  Testimony  against  the  erroneous 
and  lieretical  doctrines  and  practices  which  have  obtained  and  been  prop;igated  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  during  the  last  five  years."  This  decla- 
ration denounced,  in  the  severest  terms,  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the 
matters  we  have  just  mentioned,  declared  tlieir  intention  to  refuse  to  be  governed  by 
that  action,  and  invited  the  co-operation  of  all  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
who  shared  the  sentiments  of  the  declaration  in  a  concerted  resistance  to  what  they 
called  the  usurpation  of  authority  by  the  Assembly. 

It  is  use.cns  to  pursue  the  history  of  this  controversy  further  with  minuteness. 
The  General  Assembly  of  1866  denounced  the  Declaration  and  Testimony,  and 
declared  that  every  Presbytery  which  refused  to  obey  its  order  should  be  ipso  facto  dis- 
solved, and  called  to  answer  before  the  next  General  Assend.>ly,  giving  the  Louisville 
Presbytery  an  opi)ortunity  for  repentance  and  conforniity.  The  Louisville  Presby- 
tery divided,  and  the  adherents  of  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  sought  and  obtained 
admission,  in  1868,  into  "  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Conlcderate  States,"  of  which 
we  have  already  spoken  as  having  several  years  previously  withdrawn  from  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  the  United  States  and  set  up  a  new  organization. 

We  cannot  better  state  the  results  of  these  proceedings  upon  the  relations  of  the 
church  organizations  and  members,  to  each  other  and  to  this  controversy,  than  in  the 
language  of  tlie  brief  of  apj)ellants'  counsel  in  this  court. 

In  January,  1866,  the  congregation  of  the  Walnut  Street  Church  became  divided 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  257 

in  the  manner  stated  above,  each  claiming  to  constitute  the  church,  although  the  issue 
as  to  membersliip  was  not  distinctly  made  in  the  chancery  suit  of  Avery  v.  Watson. 
Both  parties  at  this  time  recognized  the  same  superior  church  judicatories. 

On  the  19th  of  Jime,  1866,  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  became  divided,  the  opposing  par- 
ties in  each  claiming  to  constitute  respectively  the  true  Presbytery  and  the  true  Synod, 
each  meanwhile  recognizing  and  claiming  to  adliere  to  the  same  General  Assembly. 
Of  these  contesting  bodies  the  appellants  adhered  to  one,  the  appellees  to  the  other. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1867,  the  Presbytery  and  Synod  recognized  b}'  the  appellants 
were  declared  by  the  General  Assembly  to  be  "in  no  sense  a  true  and  lawfid  Synod 
and  Presbytery  in  connection  with  and  under  the  care  and  authority  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,"  and  were 
permanently  excluded  from  connection  with  or  representation  in  the  Assembly.  By 
the  same  resolution  the  Synod  and  Presbytery  adhered  to  by  appellees  were  declared 
to  be  the  true  and  lawful  Presbytery  of  Louisville  and  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

The  Synod  of  Kentucky,  thus  excluded,  by  a  resolution  adopted  the  28"th  of  June, 
1867,  declared  "that  in  its  future  action  it  will  be  governed  by  this  recognized  sun- 
dering of  all  its  relations  to  the  aforesaid  revolutionary  body  (the  General  Assembly) 
by  the  acts  of  that  body  itself."     The  Presbytery  took  substantially  the  .same  action. 

In  this  final  severance  of  Presoytery  and  Synod  from  the  General  Assembly,  the 
appellants  and  ajjpellees  continued  to  adhere  to  those  bodies  at  first  recognized  by 
them  respectively. 

In  the  earliest  stages  of  this  controversy  it  was  found  that  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Walnut  Street  Church  concurred  with  the  action  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, while  Watson  and  Gault  as  ruling  elders,  and  Fulton  and  Farley  as  trustees, 
constituting,  in  each  case,  a  majority  of  the  session  and  of  the  trustees,  with  Mr. 
McEIroy,  the  pastor,  sympathized  with  the  party  of  the  declaration  and  testi- 
mony of  the  LouLsville  Presbytery.  This  led  to  etibrts  by  each  party  to  exclude  the 
other  from  participation  in  the  session  of  the  church  and  the  use  of  the  property. 
This  condition  of  affairs  being  brought  before  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  before  any 
separation,  that  body  appointed  a  commission  to  hold  an  election,  by  the  members  of 
the  Walnut  Street  Church,  of  ihree  additional  ruling  elders.  Watson  and  Gault 
refused  to  open  the  church  for  the  meeting  to  hold  its  election,  but  the  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  congregation,  meeting  on  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the  church, 
organized  and  elected  Avery,  Leech  and  McNaughton  additional  ruling  elders,  who, 
if  lawful  elders,  constituted,  with  Mr.  Hackney,  a  majority  of  the  session.  Gault  and 
Watson,  Farley  and  Fulton  refused  to  recognize  them  as  such,  and  hence  the  suit  in 
the  chancery  court  of  Louisville,  which  turned  exclusively  on  that  question. 

The  newly-elected  elders  and  tl.e  majority  of  the  congregation  have  adhered  to,  and 
been  recognizeil  by,  the  General  Assembly  as  the  regular  and  lawful  Walnut  Street 
Church  and  officers,  and  Gault  and  XVatson,  Fulton,  Farley  and  a  minority  of  the 
members,  have  cast  their  fortunes  with  those  who  adhered  to  the  declaration  and 
testimony  party. 

The  division  and  separation  finaily  extended  to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisville  and 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky.  It  is  now  complete  and  apparently  irreconcilable,  and  we 
are  called  upon  to  declare  tlie  beneficial  uses  of  the  church  property,  in  this  condition 
of  total  separation  between  the  members  of  what  was  once  a  united  and  harmonioHS 
congregation  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  questions  which  have  come  before  the  civil  courts  concerning  the  rights  to 
property  held  by  ecclesiastical  bodies  may,  so  far  as  we  iiave  been  able  to  examine 
them,  be  profitably  classified  under  three  general  heads,  which,  of  course,  do  not 
include  cases  governed  liy  considerations  applicable  to  a  Church  established  and  sup- 
ported by  law  as  the  religiou  of  the  State: 

1.  The  first  of  these  is  when  the  property  which  is  the  subject  of  controversy  has 
been,  by  the  deed  or  will  of  the  donor,  or  other  instrument  by  which  the  property  is  held 
by  the  express  terms  of  the  instrument,  devoted  to  the  teaching,  support  or  spread  of 
some  specific  form  of  religious  doctrine  or  belief. 

2.  The  second  is  when  the  property  is  held  by  a  religious  congregation  which,  by 
the  nature  of  its  organization,  is  strictly  independent  of  other  ecclesiastical  associa- 
tions, and  so  far  as  church  government  is  concerned  owes  no  fealty  or  obligation  to 
any  higher  authority. 

3.  The  third  is  where  the  religious  congregation  or  ecclesiastical  body  holding 
the  property  is  but  a  subordinate  member  of  some  general  Church  organization,  in 
which  there  are  superior  ecclesiastical  tribunals,  with  a  general  and  ultimate  power 
of  control,  more  or  less  complete,  in  some  supreme  judicatory,  over  the  whole  mem- 
bership of  that  general  organization. 

In  regard  to  the  first  of  these  classes,  it  seems  hardly  to  admit  of  a  rational  doubt 
33 


258  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

that  an  individual  or  an  association  of  individuals  may  dedicate  property  by  way  of 
trust  to  the  purpose  of  sustaining,  supporting  and  propagating  definite  religions  doc- 
trines or  principles,  provided  that  in  doing  so  they  violate  no  law  of  morality,  and 
give  to  tiie  instrument  by  which  their  purpose  is  evidenced  the  formalities  which  the 
laws  require.  And  it  would  seem  also  to  be  the  obvious  duty  of  the  court,  in  a  case 
properly  made,  to  see  that  the  property  so  dedicated  is  not  diverted  from  the  trust 
>s-hich  is  thus  attached  to  its  use.  So  long  as  there  are  persons  qualified  within  the 
meaning  of  the  original  dedication,  and  who  are  also  willing  to  teach  the  doctrines 
or  principles  prescribed  in  the  act  of  dedication,  and  so  long  as  there  is  any  one  so 
interested  in  the  execution  of  the  trust  as  to  have  a  standing  in  court,  it  must  be  that 
they  can  prevent  tiie  diversion  of  tiie  property  or  fund  to  other  and  different  uses.  This 
is  the  general  doctrine  of  courts  of  equity  as  to  charities,  and  it  seems  equally  appli- 
cable to  ecclesiastical  matters. 

In  such  case,  if  the  trust  is  confided  to  a  religions  congregation  of  the  Independent 
or  Congregational  form  of  church  government,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  majority 
of  that  congregation,  however  preponderant,  by  reason  of  a  change  of  views  on  relig- 
ious subjects,  to  carry  the  property  so  confided  to  them  to  the  support  of  new  and  con- 
flicting doctrine.  A  pious  man,  building  and  dedicating  a  Iiouse  of  worship  to  the 
sole  and  exclusive  use  of  those  who  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and 
placing  it  under  the  control  of  a  congregation  which  at  the  time  holds  the  same  be- 
lief, has  a  right  to  expect  that  the  law  will  prevent  that  property  from  being  used  as 
a  means  of  support  and  dissemination  of  the  Unitarian  doctrine  and  as  a  place  of 
Unitarian  worship.  Nor  is  the  principle  varied  when  the  organization  to  which 
the  trnst  is  confided  is  of  the  second  or  associated  form  of  church  government.  The 
protection  which  the  law  throws  around  the  trust  is  the  same. 

And  though  the  task  may  be  a  delicate  one  and  a  diflicult  one,  it  will  be  the  duty 
of  the  court  in  such  cases,  wiien  the  doctrine  to  be  tauglit  or  the  form  of  worship  to 
be  used  is  definitely  and  clearly  laid  down,  to  inipiire  whether  the  party  accused  of 
violating  the  trust  is  holding  or  teaching  a  different  doctrine  or  using  a  form  of  wor- 
ship which  is  so  far  variant  as  to  defeat  the  declared  objects  of  the  trust.  In  the  lead- 
ing case  on  ibis  subject  in  the  English  courts,  of  the  Attorney  General  v.  Pearson,  3 
Merrivale,  353,  Lord  Eldon  said,  "  I  agree  with  the  defendants  that  the  religious  be- 
lief of  the  parties  is  irrelevant  to  the  matters  in  dispute,  except  so  far  as  the  king's 
court  is  called  upon  to  execute  the  trust."  This  was  a  case  in  which  the  trust  deed 
declared  the  house  which  was  erected  under  it  was  for  the  worship  and  service  of 
God.  And  though  we  may  not  be  satisfied  with  the  very  artificial  and  elaborate 
argument  by  which  the  chancellor  arrives  at  the  conclusion — that  because  any  other 
view  of  the  nature  of  tlie  Godhead  than  the  Trinitarian  view  was  heresy  by  the  laws 
of  England,  and  any  one  giving  expression  to  the  Unitarian  view  was  liable  to  be 
severely  punished  for  heresy  by  the  secular  .courts,  at  tlie  time  the  deed  was  made, 
that  the  trust  was,  therefore,  for  Trinitarian  worship — we  may  still  accept  the  statement 
that  the  court  has  the  right  to  enforce  a  trust  clearly  defined  on  such  a  subject. 

The  case  of  Miller  r.  Gable,  2  Denio,  492,  appears  to  have  been  decided  in  the 
court  of  errors  of  New  York  on  this  principle,  sfi  far  as  any  ground  of  decision  can 
be  gathered  from  the  opinions  of  the  majority  of  the  court  as  reported. 

The  second  class  of  cases  which  we  have  described  has  reference  to  the  case  of  a 
church  of  a  strictly  congregational  or  independent  organization,  governed  solely 
■within  itself,  either  by  a  majority  of  its  members  or  by  such  other  local  organism  as 
it  may  have  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  ecclesiastical  government ;  and  to  projierty 
held  by  such  a  cbiu'ch,  either  by  way  of  purchase  or  donation,  with  no  other  specific 
trust  attached  to  it  in  the  hands  of  the  church,  than  that  it  is  for  the  use  of  that  con- 
gregation as  a  religious  society. 

In  such  cases,  where  there  is  a  schism  which  leads  to  a  separation  into  distinct  and 
conflicting  bodies,  the  rights  of  such  bodies  to  the  use  of  the  i)roperty  must  be  deter- 
mined by  the  ordinary  principles  which  govern  voluntary  associations.  If  the  prin- 
ciple of  government  in  such  cases  is  that  the  majority  rules,  then  the  numerical  ma- 
jority of  members  must  control  the  right  to  the  use  of  the  property.  If  there  be 
■within  the  congregation  ofiicers  in  whom  are  vested  tiie  powers  of  such  control,  then 
those  who  adhere  to  the  acknowledged  organism  by  which  the  body  is  governed  are 
entitled  to  the  use  of  the  property. 

The  minority,  in  choosing  to  separate  themselves  into  a  distinct  body,  and  refusing 
to  recognize  the  authority  of  the  governing  body,  can  claim  no  rights  in  the  property 
from  the  fact  that  they  had  once  been  members  of  the  churcli  or  congregation. 

This  ruling  admits  of  no  inquiry  into  the  existing  religious  opinions  of  those  who 
comprise  the  legal  or  regular  organization  ;  for  if  such  was  permitted,  a  very  small 
minority,  without  any  oflicers  of  the  chui-ch  among  tliem,  might  be  found  to  be  the 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  259 

only  faithful  supporters  of  the  religiouf?  dogmas  of  the  founders  of  the  church. 
There  being  no  sucli  trust  imposed  upon  the  property  when  purchased  or  given,  the 
court  will  not  imply  one  for  the  purpose  of  expelling  from  its  use  those  who,  by  reg- 
ular succession  and  order,  constitute  tlie  church,  because  they  may  have  clianged  in 
some  respect  their  views  of  religious  truth. 

Of  the  cases  in  whicii  this  doctrine  is  applied,  no  better  representative  can  be 
found  than  that  of  Shannon  v.  Frost,  3  B.  Monro,  253,  where  the  principle  is  ably 
supported  by  the  learned  chief  justice  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Kentucky. 

The  case  of  Smith  v.  Nelson,  18  Verm.,  oil,  asserts  this  doctrine  in  a  case  where  a 
legacy  was  left  to  the  associate  congregation  of  Ryegate,  the  interest  whereof  was  to 
be  annually  paid  to  their  minister  for  ever.  In  tliat  case,  tliougli  the  Ryegate  congre- 
gation was  one  of  a  number  of  Presbyterian  churches  connected  with  the  general 
Presbyterian  body  at  large,  the  court  held  tliat  the  only  inquiry  was  whether  the 
society  still  exists,  and  whether  they  have  a  minister  chosen  and  appointed  by  the 
majority  and  regularly  ordained  over  the  society,  agreeably  to  the  usage  of  that  de- 
nomination. 

And  though  we  may  be  of  opinion  that  the  doctrine  of  tliat  case  needs  modifica- 
tion so  far  as  it  discusses  the  relation  of  tiie  Ryegate  congregation  to  the  other  judica- 
tories of  the  body  to  which  it  belongs,  it  certainly  lays  down  the  principle  correctly 
if  that  congregation  was  to  be  treated  as  an  independent  one. 

But  the  third  of  these  classes  of  cases  is  tlie  one  which  is  oftenest  found  in  the  courts, 
and  which,  with  reference  to  the  number  and  difficulty  of  the  questions  involved  and 
to  other  considerations,  is  every  way  the  most  important. 

It  is  the  case  of  property  acquired  in  any  of  llie  usual  modes  for  the  general  use 
of  a  religious  congregation  whicli  is  itself  part  of  a  large  and  general  organization 
of  some  religious  denomination,  with  which  it  is  more  or  less  intimately  connected  by 
religious  views  and  ecclesiastical  government. 

The  case  before  us  is  one  of  this  class,  growing  out  of  a  schism  which  has  divided 
the  congregation  and  its  officers  and  tiie  Presbytery  and  Synod,  and  which  appeals  to 
the  courts  to  determine  the  right  to  the  use  of  the  property  so  acquired.  Here  is  no 
case  of  property  devoted  for  ever  by  the  instrument  which  conveyed  it,  or  by  any 
specific  declaration  of  its  owner,  to  the  support  of  any  special  religious  dogmas  or 
an}'  peculiar  form  of  worship,  but  of  property  purchased  for  the  use  of  a  religious 
congregation  ;  and  so  long  as  any  existing  religious  congregation  can  be  ascertained  to 
be  that  congregation  or  its  regular  and  legitimate  successor,  it  is  entitled  to  the  use 
of  the  pi'operty.  In  the  case  of  an  independent  congregation,  we  have  pointed  out 
how  this  identity  or  succession  is  to  be  ascertained,  but  in  cases  of  this  character  we 
are  bound  to  look  at  the  fact  that  the  local  congregation  is  itself  but  a  member  of  a 
much  larger  and  more  important  religious  organization,  and  is  imder  its  government 
and  control,  and  is  bound  by  its  orders  and  judgments.  There  are  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian system  of  ecclesiastical  government,  in  regular  succession,  the  Presbytery  over 
the  session  or  local  churcii,  the  Synod  over  the  Presbytery,  and  the  General  Assembly 
over  all.  These  are  called,  in  the  language  of  the  Churcli  organs,  judicatories,  and 
they  entertain  appeals  from  the  decisions  of  those  below,  and  prescribe  corrective 
measures  in  other  cases. 

In  this  class  of  cases  we  think  the  rule  of  action  which  sliould  govern  the  civil 
courts,  founded  in  a  broad  and  sound  view  of  the  relations  of  Church  and  State  under 
our  system  of  laws,  and  supported  by  a  preponderating  weight  of  judicial  authority, 
is  that,  whenever  the  questions  of  discii)line  or  of  fiiith  or  ecclesiastical  rule,  custom 
or  law,  have  been  decided  by  the  highest  of  these  church  judicatories  to  which  the 
matter  has  been  carried,  the  legal  tribunals  must  accept  such  decisions  as  final,  and 
as  binding  on  them  in  their  application  to  the  case  before  them. 

We  concede  at  the  outset  that  the  doctrine  of  the  English  courts  is  otherwise.  In 
the  case  of  the  attorney  general  against  Pearson,  cited  before,  the  proposition  is  laid 
down  by  Lord  Eldon  and  sustained  by  the  peers  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  court  in 
sucli  cases  to  inquire  and  decide  for  itself  not  only  what  was  tlie  nature  and  power  of 
these  churcli  judicatories,  but  what  is  the  true  standard  of  faith  in  tlie  church  organ- 
ization, and  which  of  the  contending  parties  befoie  the  court  holds  to  this  standard. 
And  in  the  subsequent  case  of  Craigdallie  v.  Aikraan,  2  Bligh,  529,  the  same  learned 
judge  expresses  in  strong  terms  his  chagrin  that  the  court  of  sessions  of  Scotland, 
from  which  the  case  had  been  appealed,  had  failed  to  find  on  this  latter  subject,  so 
that  he  could  rest  the  case  on  religious  belief,  but  had  declared  that  in  this  matter 
there  was  no  difference  between  the  parties. 

And  we  can  very  well  understand  how  the  lord  chancellor  of  England,  who  is,  in 
his  office,  in  a  large  sense,  the  head  and  representative  of  the  Established  Church,  who 
controls  very  largely  the  Churcli  patronage,  and  whose  judicial  decision  may  be,  and 


260  FORM  OF   GOVERXMENT. 

not  infrequently  is,  invoked  in  cases  of  heresy  and  ecclesiastical  contumacy,  should 
feel,  even  in  dealing  with  a  dissenting  church,  but  little  delicacy  in  grappling  with  the 
most  abstruse  problems  of  theological  controversy,  or  in  construing  the  instruments 
which  those  churches  have  adopted  as  their  rules  of  government,  or  inquiring  into 
their  customs  and  usages.  The  dissenting  church  in  England  is  not  a  free  church,  in 
tlie  sense  in  which  we  apply  the  term  in  this  country ;  and  it  was  much  less  free  in 
Lord  Eldon's  time  than  now.  Laws  then  existed  upon  the  statute-book  hampering 
the  free  exercise  of  religious  belief  and  worship  in  many  most  oppressive  forms ;  and 
though  Protestant  dissenters  were  less  burdened  than  Catholics  and  Jews,  there  did 
not  exist  that  full,  entire  and  practical  freedom  for  all  forms  of  religious  belief  and 
practice  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  our  political  principles.  And  it  is  quite  ob- 
vious, from  an  examination  of  the  series  of  cases  growing  out  of  the  organization  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  found  in  Shaw's  reports  of  cases  in  the  court  of  sessions, 
that  it  was  only  under  the  pressure  of  Lord  Eldon's  ruling,  established  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  to  which  final  appeal  lay  in  such  cases,  that  the  doctrine  was  established  in 
the  court  of  sessions  after  no  little  struggle  and  resistance. 

The  full  history  of  the  case  of  Craigdallie  v.  Aikman  in  the  Scottish  court,  which 
we  cannot  further  pursue,  and  the  able  ojtinion  of  Lord  Meadowbank  in  Galbraith  v. 
Smith,  15  Shaw,  808,  show  this  conclusively. 

In  this  country  the  full  and  free  right  to  entertain  any  religious  belief,  to  practice 
any  religious  principle,  and  to  teach  any  religious  doctrine  which  does  not  violate  the 
laws  of  morality  and  property,  and  which  does  not  infringe  personal  rights,  is  con- 
ceded to  all.  The  law  knows  no  heresy,  and  is  committed  to  the  support  of  no  dogma, 
the  establishment  of  no  sect.  The  right  to  organize  voluntary  religious  associations, 
to  assist  in  the  expression  and  dissemination  of  any  religious  doctrine,  and  to  create 
tribunals  for  the  decision  of  controverted  questions  of  faith  within  the  association,  and 
for  the  ecclesiastical  government  of  all  the  individual  members,  congregations  and 
ofiicers  within  the  general  association,  is  unquestioned.  All  who  unite  themselves  to 
such  a  body  do  so  with  an  implied  consent  to  this  government,  and  are  bound  to  sub- 
mit to  it.  But  it  would  be  a  vain  consent,  and  would  lead  to  the  total  subversion  of 
such  religious  bodies,  if  any  one  aggrieved  by  one  of  their  decisions  could  appeal  to 
the  secular  courts  and  have  them  reversed.  It  is  of  the  essence  of  these  religious 
unions,  and  of  their  right  to  establish  tribunals  for  the  decision  of  questions  arising 
among  themselves,  that  those  decisions  should  be  binding  in  all  cases  of  ecclesiastical 
cognizance,  subject  only  to  such  appeals  as  the  organism  itself  provides  for. 

Kor  do  we  see  that  justice  would  be  likely  to  be  promoted  by  submitting  those  de- 
cisions to  review  in  the  ordinary  judicial  tribunal.  Each  of  these  large  and  influen- 
tial bodies  (to  mention  no  others,  let  reference  be  had  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  and  the  Presbyterian  Churches)  has  a  body  of  constitutional  and 
ecclesiastical  law  of  its  own,  to  be  found  in  their  written  organic  laws,  their  books  of 
discipline,  in  their  collections  of  precedents,  in  their  usage  and  customs,  which  as  to 
each  constitute  a  system  of  ecclesiastical  law  and  religious  faith  that  tasks  thf  ablest 
minds  to  become  familiar  with.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  judges  of  the  civil 
courts  can  be  as  competent  in  the  ecclesiastical  law  and  religious  faith  of  all  these 
bodies  as  the  ablest  men  in  each  are  in  reference  to  their  own.  It  would,  therefore, 
be  an  appeal  from  the  more  learned  tribunal  in  the  law  which  should  decide  the  case 
to  one  which  is  less  so. 

"We  have  said  that  these  views  are  supported  by  the  preponderant  weiglit  of  author- 
ity in  this  country;  and  for  the  reasons  which  we  have  given,  we  do  not  think  the 
doctrines  of  the  English  chancery  court  on  this  subject  should  have  with  us  the  inllu- 
ence  which  we  would  cheerfully  accord  to  it  on  others. 

We  have  already  cited  the  case  of  Shannon  v.  Frost,  3  Ben.  Monro,  in  which  the 
appellate  court  of  the  State,  where  this  controversy  originated,  sustains  the  propo- 
sition clearly  and  fully.  "This  court,"  says  the  chief  justice,  "having  no  ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction,  cannot  revise  or  question  ordinary  acts  of  church  discipline.  Our 
only  judicial  power  in  the  case  arises  from  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  pai'ties  to  the 
church  property  and  tiie  use  of  it.  We  cannot  decide  who  ought  to  be  members  of 
the  church,  nor  whether  the  excommunicated  have  been  justly  or  unjustly,  regularly 
or  irregularly,  cut  ofi'  from  the  body  of  the  church." 

In  the  subsequent  case  of  Ciibson  v.  Armstrong,  7  B.  Monro,  481,  which  arose  out 
of  the  general  division  of  the  ^Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  we  understand  the  same 
principles  to  be  laid  down  as  governing  that  case;  and  in  the  case  of  Watson  r.  Avery, 
2  Bush.,  332,  the  case  relied  on  by  ajipellants  as  a  bar,  and  considered  in  the  former 
part  of  this  opinion,  the  doctrine  of  Shannon  v.  Frost  is  in  general  terms  conceded, 
while  a  distinction  is  attempted  which  we  sjiall  consider  hereafter. 

One  of  the  most  careful  and  well-considered  judgments  on  the  subject  is  that  of  the 


OF   THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  261 

court  of  appeals  of  South  Carolina,  delivered  by  Chancellor  Johnson,  in  the  case  cf 
Harmon  v.  Dreher,  2  Speer's  Eq.,  87.  The  case  turned  upon  certain  rights  in  the  use 
of  the  church  property  claimed  by  the  minister,  notwithstanding  his  expulsion  from 
the  synod  as  one  of  its  members. 

"  He  stands,"  says  the  chancellor,  "  convicted  of  the  offences  alleged  against  him, 
bv  the  sentence  of  the  spiritual  body  of  which  he  was  a  voluntary  member,  and  by 
whose  proceedings  he  had  bound  himself  to  abide.  It  belongs  not  to  the  civil  power 
to  enter  into  or  review  the  proceedings  of  a  spiritual  court.  The  structure  of  our  gov- 
ernment has,  for  the  preservation  of  civil  liberty,  rescued  the  temporal  institutions 
from  religious  interference.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  secured  religious  liberty  from 
the  invasion  of  the  civil  authority.  The  judgments,  therefore,  of  religious  associa- 
tions bearing  on  their  own  members  are  not  examinable  here,  and  1  am  not  to  inquire 
whether  the  doctrines  attributed  to  Mr.  Dreher  were  held  by  him,  or  whether  if  held 
were  anti-Lutheran,  or  whether  his  conduct  was  or  was  not  in  accordance  with  the 
duty  he  owed  to  the  Synod  or  to  his  denomination.  .  .  .  When  a  civil  right- depends 
upon  an  ecclesiastical  matter,  it  is  the  civil  court,  and  not  the  ecclesiastical,  which  is  to 
decide.  But  the  civil  tribunal  tries  the  civil  right  and  no  more,  taking  the  ecclesias- 
tical decisions  out  of  which  the  civil  right  arises  as  it  finds  them."  The  principle  is 
reaffirmed  by  the  same  court  in  the  John's  Island  Church  case,  2  Richardson  Eq.,  215. 

In  Den  v.  Bolton,  7  Halstead,  206,  the  supreme  court  of  New  Jersey_  asserts  the 
same  principles;  and  though  founding  its  decision  mainly  on  a  statute,  it  is  said  to 
be  true  on  general  principles. 

Tiie  supreme  court  of  Illinois  in  the  case  of  Ferraria  v.  Vaucancelles,  25  111.,  456, 
refers  to  the  case  of  Shannon  v.  Frost,  3  B.  Monro,  with  approval,  and  adopts  the 
language  of  the  court,  that  "the  judicial  eye  cannot  penetrate  the  veil  of  the  Church 
for  the  forbidden  purpose  of  vindicating  the  alleged  wrongs  of  excised  members; 
when  they  became  members,  they  did  so  upon  the  condition  of  continuing  or  not  as 
they  and  their  churches  might  determine,  and  they  thereby  submit^  to  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal power,  and  cannot  now  invoke  the  supervisory  power  of  the  civil  tribunals." 

In  the  very  important  case  of  Chase  v.  Cheny,  recently  decided  inthe  same  court, 
Judge  Lawrence,  who  dissented,  says,  we  understand  the  opinion  as  implying  that  in 
the  administration  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  where  no  other  right  of  propertyis 
involved  than  loss  of  the  clerical  office  or  salary  incident  to  such  discipline,  a  spirit- 
ual court  is  the  exclusive  judge  of  its  own  jurisdiction,  and  that  its  decision  of  that 
question  is  binding  on  the  secular  courts.  And  he  dissents  with  Judge  Sheldon  from 
the  opinion  because  it  so  holds. 

In  the  case  of  Watson  v.  Farris,  45  Missouri,  183,  which  was  a  case  growing  out  of 
the  schism  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Missouri  in  regard  to  this  same  declaration 
and  testimony  and  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly,  that  court  held  that  whether 
a  case  was  regularly  or  irregularly  before  the  Assembly  was  a  question  which  the 
Assembly  had  the  right  to  determine  for  itself,  and  no  civil  court  could  reverse,  mod- 
ify or  impair  its  action  in  a  matter  of  merely  ecclesiastical  concern. 

"We  cannot  better  close  this  review  of  the  authorities  than  in  the  language  pf  the 
supreme  court  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  case  of  the  German  Reformed  Church  v.  Siebert, 
5  Barr,  291 :  "The  decisions  of  ecclesiastical  courts,  like  every  other  judicial  tribunal, 
are  final,  as  tliey  are  the  best  judges  of  what  constitutes  an  offence  against  the  word  of 
God  and  the  discipline  of  the  Church.  Any  other  than  those  courts  must  be  incompe- 
tent judges  of  matters  of  faith,  discipline  and  doctrine ;  and  civil  courts,  if  they  should 
be  so  unwise  as  to  attempt  to  supervise  their  judgments  on  matters  which  come  within 
their  jurisdiction,  would  only  involve  themselves  in  a  sea  of  uncertainty  and  doubt 
which  would  do  anything  but  improve  either  religion  or  good  morals." 

In  the  subsequent  case  of  McGinnis  v.  Watson,  41  Pemi.  Stat.,  21,  this  principle  is 
again  applied  and  supported  by  a  more  elaborate  argument. 

The  court  of  appeals  of  Kentucky,  in  the  case  of  Watson  v.  Avery,  before  referred 
to,  while  admitting  the  general  principle  here  laid  down,  maintains  that  when  a  de- 
cision of  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal  is  set  up  in  the  civil  courts  it  is  always  open  to  in- 
quiry whether  the  tribunal  acted  within  its  jurisdiction;  and  if  it  did  not,  its  decisions 
could  not  be  conclusive. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  word  in  legal  terminology  so  frequently  used  as  the  word 
jurisdiction,  so  capable  of  use  in  a  general  and  vague  sense,  and  which  is  used  so 
often  by  men  learned  in  the  law  without  a  due  regard  to  precision  in  its  application. 
As  regards  its  use  in  the  matters  we  have  been  discussing,  it  may  very  well  be  con- 
cededthatif  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  should  undertake  to 
try  one  of  its  members  for  murder,  and  punish  him  with  death  or  imprisonment,  its 
sentence  would  be  of  no  validity  in  a  civil  court  or  anywhere  else.  Or  if  it  should, 
at  the  instance  of  one  of  its  members,  entertain  jurisdiction  as  between  him  and  another 


262  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

member  as  to  their  individual  right  to  property,  real  or  per:*onal,  the  right  in  no  sense 
depending  on  ecclesiastical  questions,  its  decisions  would  be  utterly  disregarded  by 
any  civil  court  where  it  might  be  set  up,  and  it  might  be  said,  in  a  ceitain  general 
sense  very  justly,  that  it  was  because  the  General  Assembly  had  no  jurisdiction  in  the 
case.  Illustrations  of  this  character  could  be  multiplied  in  which  the  proposition  of 
the  Kentucky  court  would  be  strictly  applicable. 

But  it  is  a  very  different  thing  where  a  subject-matter  of  dispute  strictly  and  purely 
ecclesiastical  in  its  character — a  matter  over  which  the  civil  courts  exercise  no  juris- 
diction— a  matter  which  concerns  theological  controversy,  church  discipline,  ecclesi- 
astical government  or  the  conformity  of  the  members  of  tlie  church  to  the  standard 
of  morals  required  of  them — becomes  the  subject  of  its  action.  It  may  be  said  here, 
also,  that  no  jurisdiction  has  been  conferred  on  the  tribunal  to  try  the  particular  case 
before  it,  or  that  in  its  judgment  it  exceeds  the  powers  conferred  upon  it,  or  that  the 
laws  of  the  Church  do  not  authorize  tlie  particular  form  of  proceeding  adopted  ;  and 
in  a  sense  often  used  in  the  courts,  all  of  those  may  be  said  to  be  questions  of  juris- 
diction. But  it  is  easy  to  see  that  if  the  civil  courts  are  to  inquire  into  all  these  mat- 
ters, the  whole  subject  of  the  doctrinal  theology,  the  usages  and  customs,  the  written 
laws  and  fundamental  organization  of  every  religious  denomination,  may  and  must  be 
examined  into  with  minuteness  and  care,  for  they  would  become  in  almost  every  case 
tiie  criteria  by  which  the  validity  of  the  ecclesiastical  decree  would  be  determined  in 
the  civil  court.  This  principle  would  deprive  these  bodies  of  the  right  of  construing 
their  own  church  laws,  would  open  the  way  to  all  the  evils  which  we  have  depicted 
as  attendant  upon  the  doctrine  of  Lord  Eldon,  and  would,  in  effect,  transfer  to  the 
civil  courts,  where  property  rights  were  concerned,  the  decision  of  all  ecclesiastical 
questions. 

And  this  is  precisely  what  the  court  of  appeals  of  Kentucky  did  in  the  case  of  Wat- 
son i\  Avery.  Under  cover  of  inquiries  into  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Synod  and  Pres- 
bytery over  the  congregation,  and  of  the  General  Assembly  over  all,  it  went  into  an 
elaborate  examination  of  the  principles  of  Presbyterian  Church  government,  and 
ended  by  overruling  the  decision  of  the  highest  judicatory  of  that  Church  in  the 
United  States  both  on  the  jurisdiction  and  the  merits,  and  substituting  its  own  judg- 
ment for  that  of  the  ecclesiastical  court,  decides  that  ruling  elders,  declared  to  be  such 
by  that  tribunal,  are  not  such,  and  must  not  be  recognized  by  the  congregation, 
though  four-fifths  of  its  members  believe  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  and  desire 
to  conform  to  its  decree. 

But  we  need  pursue  this  subject  no  further.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  case 
before  the  Kentucky  court,  the  appellants,  in  the  case  presented  to  us,  have  separated 
themselves  wholly  "from  the  church  organization  to  which  they  belonged  when  this 
controversy  commenced.  They  now  deny  its  authority,  denounce  its  action  and  re- 
fuse to  abide  by  its  judgments.  They  have  first  erected  themselves  into  a  new  organ- 
ization, and  have  since  joined  themselves  to  another  totally  different,  if  not  hostile,  to 
the  one  to  which  they  belonged  when  the  difficulty  first  began.  Under  any  of  the  de- 
cisions which  we  have  examined,  the  appellants  in  their  present  position  have  no 
right  to  the  property,  or  to  the  use  of  it,  which  is  the  subject  of  this  suit. 

The  novelty  of  the  questions  presented  to  this  court  for  the  first  time,  their  intrin- 
sic importance  and  far-reaching  influence,  and  the  knowledge  that  the  schism  in 
which  the  case  originated  has  divided  the  Presbyterian  churches  throughout  Ken- 
tucky and  Missouri,  have  seemed  to  us  to  justify  the  careful  and  laborious  examina- 
tion and  discussion  which  we  have  made  of  the  principles  which  should  govern  the 
case. 

For  the  same  reasons  we  have  held  it  under  advisement  for  a  year,  not  uninfluenced 
by  the  hope  that,  since  the  civil  commotion  whicli  evidently  lay  at  the  foundation  of 
the  trouble  has  passed  away,  that  charity  which  is  so  large  an  element  in  the  faith 
of  both  parties,  and  which,  "by  one  of  the  apostles  of  that  religion,  is  said  to  be  the 
greatest  of  all  the  Christian  virtues,  would  have  brought  about  a  reconciliation. 

But  we  have  been  disappointed.  It  is  not  for  us  to  determine  or  ajiportion  the 
moral  responsibility  which  attaches  to  the  parties  for  this  result.  We  can  only  pro- 
nounce the  judgment  of  the  law  as  applicable  to  the  case  presented  to  us,  and  that 
requires  us  to  affirm  the  decree  of  the  circuit  court  as  it  stands. 

The  chief  justice  did  not  sit  on  the  argument  of  this  case,  and  took  uo 
part  in  its  decision. — 1872,  pp.  177-190. 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  263 


IL  OF  ERECTING  NEW  SYNODS,  ALTERING  THEIR  BOUNDS,  ETC. 

a.  [See  minutes  passim,  and  especially  1870,  pp.  86-88  (supra,  xi.,  1), 
where  the  Assembly  exercised  the  power  to  "consolidate,  adjust  and  de- 
fine the  boundaries  of  the  Synods."  Synod  of  Colorado  erected. — 1871, 
p.  547. 

b.  Boundaries  changed.— 1871,  pp.  540,  541,  545,  546 ;  1872,  pp.  86,  88 
{supra,  xi.,  sec.  i.  3). 

c.  CImrches  transferred. — 1803,  p.  279;  1810,  p.  440,  and  ^jassim.] 

d.  To  dissolve  a  Synod  and  transfer  its  Presbyteries. 

[The  Synod  of  Chesapeake  was  formed  on  petition. — 1833,  p.  395.] 
Resolved,  1.  That  the  Synod  of  the  Chesapeake  be  and  the  same  is 
hereby  dissolved. 

2.  That  the  Presbytery  of  East  Hanover  be  and  the  same  is  hereby 
restored  to  the  Synod  of  Virginia. 

3.  That  the  Presbyteries  of  Baltimore  and  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
be  and  the  same  are  hereby  restored  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. — 1834, 
p.  451. 

e.  The  Synod  of  Delaware  \_Erected. — 1834,  p.  451.]     Dissolved. 
Resolved,  That  at  and  after  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia 

in  October  next  the  Synod  of  Delaware  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  Pres- 
byteries constituting  the  same  shall  be  then  and  thereafter  annexed  to  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  thus  consti- 
tuted by  the  union  aforesaid  shall  take  such  order  concerning  the  organi- 
zation of  its  sevei-al  Presbyteries  as  may  be  deemed  expedient  and  consti- 
tutional, and  that  said  Synod,  if  it  shall  deem  it  desirable,  make  applica- 
tion to  the  next  General  Assembly  for  such  a  division  of  the  Synod  as 
may  best  suit  the  convenience  of  all  its  Presbyteries  and  promote  the  glory 
of  God.— 1835,  p.  486. 

III.  OF  ERECTING,  MODIFYING,  CHANGING,  DISSOLVING  PRESBY- 
TERIES. 

a.  [See  the  act  of  the  General  Synod  (supra,  chap,  i.,  1786,  p.  522). 
It  assumed  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  matter  of  dividing,  erecting,  etc. 
The  Presbytery  of  Carlisle  was  divided,  and  the  Presbytery  of  Hunting- 
don formed  on  "an  overture  through  the  Synod  of  Philadeljihia." — 1794, 
p.  89.] 

b.  On  petition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  that  Presbytery  was  divided, 
and  the  Presbyteries  of  Columbia,  Oneida  and  Albany  formed.  At  the 
same  time  the  following  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Whereas,  The  Assembly  have  this  day  determined,  upon  an  application 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  that  the  said  Presbytery  may  be  divided 
into  three,  and  in  the  investigation  of  this  subject  circumstances  were 
stated  to  exist  which  led  the  Assembly  to  judge  such  division  proper,  and 
perhaps  necessary,  at  this  time  ; 

And  ivJiereas,  Doubts  arose  whether  it  was  proper  for  the  Assembly  to 
interfere  for  the  jiurpose  of  making  such  division,  the  proposal  not  having 
been  first  laid  before  the  Synod,  as  it  would  establish  a  precedent  which 
might  tend  to  confusion  and  in  the  end  to  schism ;  the  Assembly  think  it 
expedient  to  declare  that  their  decision  in  this  case  has  been  particularly 
influenced  by  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  and  is  not  to  be  considered 
as  forming  a  precedent  for  future  conduct. — 1802,  p.  252. 

c.  On  petition  of  the  Presbytery  of  Oneida  it  was  divided,  and  the 
Presbytery  of   Geneva  formed. — 1805,  p.  324.     On   application  of  cer- 


264  FOEM    OF   GOVERN^SIENT. 

tain  ministers  and  churches  in  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  the  Presbytery 
of  Detroit  was  formed. — 1827,  p.  206.     Chenango. — 1826,  p.  176. 

d.  Fhiladelphia  Second  (Assembly's).  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia 
having  merged  the  two  Presbyteries  of  Philadelphia,  and  divided  them 
by  a  line,  an  appeal  was  taken. 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  be  and  the  same  are 
hereby  sustained,  and  the  act  of  said  Synod,  so  far  as  it  was  intended  to 
unite  the  said  Second  Presbytery  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  is 
hereby  declared  void. 

2.  That  this  resolution  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  the  integrity 
of  the  Presbytery  which  was  constituted  under  the  order  of  the  Synod  of  ^ 
Philadelphia  by  the  name  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  in 
November  last,  but  the  same  is  hereby  recognized  as  a  constituent  part  of 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  The  Assembly,  however,  recommend  to  the 
Synod  to  change  the  name  of  said  Presbytery, — 1834,  p.  432. 

[Against  the  action  of  the  Assembly  a  protest  was  entered,  viz. :] 

We  believe  the  power  exercised  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1832,  and  now  re- 
exercised  by  this  Assembly,  to  form  a  Presbytery  within  tlie  bounds  of  tiie  Synod  and 
against  her  decision,  is  without  foundation  in  our  Form  of  Cluirch  Government. 

In  the  constitutional  distribution  of  powers  and  checks  and  designation  of  risrhts 
and  duties  among  the  several  judicatories  of  the  Church,  tlie  power  to  "erect  new 
Presbyteries,  and  unite  or  divide  those  which  were  before  erected"  (Form  of  Govern- 
ment, chap,  xi.,  sec.  iv.),  is  distinctly  and  exclusively  secured  to  Synods.  And  the 
practice  of  the  General  Assembly,  from  the  establishment  of  this  body  till  the  present, 
has  been,  we  believe,  in  accordance  with  these  views.  The  ])rinciple  assumed  by  the 
majority  in  this  body  and  recognized  by  the  Assembly  in  the  above  decision,  and  on 
which  the  ajipellants  rest  their  j)lea,  that  the  duty  "of  superintending  the  concerns  of 
the  whole  Church"  (Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v.)  invests  the  Assembly 
with  all  powers  necessary  to  accomplish  that  object,  at  her  own  discretion,  tends  to 
abolish  the  constitutional  rights  of  Synods,  Presbyteries  and  church  sessions,  to  con- 
found and  contravene  those  original  and  essential  principles  of  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment and  order  which  constitute  and  characterize  the  Presbyterian  Church. — 1834, 
p.  446. 

[To  this  the  Assembly  replies  :] 

1.  That  the  Form  of  Government  vests  in  the  General  Assembly  the 
power  of  "  deciding  in  all  controversies  respecting  doctrine  and  discipline," 
and  to  "issue  all  appeals  and  references  brought  before  them  from  the  infe- 
rior judicatories."— See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v.  Now,  as 
the  question  as  to  the  erection  and  existence  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  came  regularly  before  the  Assemblies  of  1832  and  1834,  by 
ai)peal  and  complaint  from  the  lower  judicatories,  the  said  Assend)lies  n-^'t 
only  had  a  right  to  "decide"  finally,  but  were  imperiously  called  upon  lo 
"  issue"  the  case. 

2.  The  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1794,  1802.  180o  and 
182(5  show  tliat  the  Assembly  has  in  extraordinary  cases  claimed  and  exer- 
cised the  right  of  organizing  new  Presbyteries,  and  such  Presbyteries  have 
always  been  regarded  as  regularly  and  constitutionally  organized. 

3.  The  Form  of  Government  vests  the  right  of  deciding  (juestions  of 
constitutional  law,  not  in  the  Synods,  but  in  the  General  Assembly  ;  conse- 
quently, if  it  be  proved,  which  is  not  the  fiict,  that  the  General  Assembly 
has  exceeded  their  powers  in  organizing  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia, it  would  by  no  means  follow  that  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  had 
authority  to  rejudge  and  disannul  the  solemn  acts  of  the  highest  judica- 
tory of  the  Church.  In  this  view  of  the  subject,  the  General  Assembly 
were  bound  to  sustain  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery, 


OF   THE   GENEEAL  ASSEMBLY.  265 

from  respect  to  the  grave  decision  of  former  Assemblies,  as  well  as  from. 
regard  to  the  rights  of  the  complainants. — 1834,  p.  451, 

e.   The  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.— l^^^,  p.  278. 

/.  The  Presbytery  of  fdizerne  was  formed  by  the  Assembly. — 1843,  p. 
195,  O.  S. 

g.  The  Presbytery  of  Wisconsin. — 1846,  p.  194,  O.  S.  In  this  case  the 
Assembly  directed  "  that  upon  their  organization  the  ministers  aforesaid 
be  ipso  facto  detached  from  the  Presbyteries  to  which  now  they  respect- 
ively belong." 

h.  Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Messrs.  M.  S.  Culbertson,  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Carlisle,  A.  W.  Loomis,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  R.  Q.  AVay,  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  and  J.  W.  Quarterman,  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Georgia,  be  and  they  hereby  are  detached  from  their  respective  Pres- 
byteries and  constituted  a  Presbytery,  to  be  called  the  Presbytery  of 
Ningpo. 

That  the  Rev.  A.  P.  Happer  and  William  Speer,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Ohio,  and  the  Rev.  John  B.  French,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  be 
and  they  hereby  are  detached  from  their  resj>ective  Presbyteries  and  con- 
stituted a  Presbytery  to  be  called  by  such  name  as  those  brethren  may 
choose. 

And  that  the  Rev.  John  Loyd,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Huntingdon,  and 
Hugh  S.  Brown,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Logansport,  so  soon  as  a  third  minis- 
ter of  our  Church  shall  be  associated  with  them,  be  authorized  to  form  them- 
selves into  a  Presbytery,  to  be  called  the  Presbytery  of  Amoy,  and  shall 
ipso  facto  be  detached  from  the  respective  Presbyteries  with  which  until 
then  they  shall  be  connected. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  new  Presbyteries  shall  meet  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  organized  at  such  times  and  places  as  the  members  thereof 
shall  respectively  agree  on,  and  that  the  eldest  minister  of  each  who  may 
be  present  shall  preside  until  a  moderator  be  chosen. 

Resolved,  That  the  aforesaid  Presbyteries  be  rated  for  the  present  as 
component  parts  of  the  Synod  of  New  York,  but  that  as  soon  as  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Amoy  shall  be  organized,  the  three  Presbyteries  in  China  shall 
be  authorized  to  form  themselves  into  a  Synod,  to  be  called  the  Synod  of 
China;  that  they  meet  for  the  purpose  of  being  organized  at  such  time  and 
place  as  they  shall  mutually  agree  upon,  and  that  the  eldest  minister  who 
may  be  present  shall  preside  until  a  moderator  be  chosen. 

Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  James  M.  Connelly,  of  the  Presbytery  of  West 
Tennessee,  James  M.  Priest,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  and  the  Rev. 
H.  W.  Ellis,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Tuscaloosa,  be  and  they  hereby  are  de- 
tached from  their  respective  Presbyteries  and  constituted  a  Presbytery,  to 
be  called  the  Presbytery  of  Western  Africa ;  that  they  shall  meet  for  the 
purpose  of  being  organized  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  shall  mutually 
agree  upon,  and  that  the  eldest  minister  present  shall  preside  until  a  mod- 
erator be  cho?en.  And  farther,  that  the  Presbytery  of  Western  Africa 
shall  be  attached  for  the  present  to  the  Synod  of  Alabama. 

Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  R.  M.  Loughridge,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Tusca- 
loosa, H.  Ballentine,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  and  D.  W. 
Eakins,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  be  and  they  hereby  are  de- 
tached from  their  respective  Presbyteries  and  constituted  a  Presbytery,  to 
be  called  the  Presbytery  of  the  Creek  Nation ;  that  they  shall  meet  for 
the  purpose  of  being  organized  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  shall  mu- 
tually agree  upon,  and  that  the  eldest  minister  present  shall  preside  until 
a  moderator  be  chosen.  And  further,  that  the  Presbytery  of  the  Creek 
34 


266  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Nation  be  attached  for  the  present  to  the  Synod  of  Mississippi. — 1848, 
pp.  20,  21,  O.  S. 

i.  Presbytery  of  California. — 1849,  p.  264,  O.  S.  Presbytery  of  San 
Francisco. — 1849,  p.  176,  N.  S.  The  persons  named  are  hereby  detached 
fi"om  their  respective  Presbyteries  and  constituted  a  Presbytery. 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  do  hereby  order  and  constitute  a  Presby- 
tery in  Oregon,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Thompson,  Geary  and  Robe;  and 
that  they  be  empowered  to  assemble  and  constitute  themselves  a  Presby- 
tery, at  such  time  and  place  during  the  ensuing  summer  or  autumn  as 
may  be  fovuid  most  convenient  to  them,  and  report  to  the  next  General 
Assembly,  and  for  this  purpose  these  brethi'en  be  detached  from  the  Pres- 
bytery to  which  they  belong,  and  when  formed,  the  said  Presbytery  be 
attached  to  the  Synod  of  New  York ;  and  the  Presbytery  to  be  called  the 
Presbytery  of  Oregon. — 1851,  p.  35,  O.  S. 

Presbyteries  of  Sierra  Nevada  and  San  Jose. — 1857,  p.  388,  N.  S.,  and 
jxissim. 

j.  Since  the  Reunion.  The  Presbytery  of  Yedo — 1870,  p.  71 ;  of  Wyo- 
ming—1S71,  p.  546;  Montana— 1^1%  p.  88. 

2.  To   Transfer   Churches   from  one  Presbsrtery  and  Synod  to 

Another. 

A  petition  from  the  congregation  of  Solesbury,  under  the  care  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  referred  to  the  Assembly  by  said  Presbytery, 
was  overtured  and  read.  This  petition  requested  that  the  congregation 
of  Solesbury  be  separated  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  and  at- 
tached to  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick.  This  request  having  pre- 
viously been  before  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  having  been  referi'ed 
to  the  Presbytery  by  the  Synod,  and  the  Presbytery  having  given  their 
consent,  it  was  resolved  that  the  request  be  granted,  and  it  hereby  is 
granted,  and  the  congregation  of  Solesbury  is  detached  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia,  and  connected  with  the  Presbytery  of  New  Bruns- 
wick.—1824,  p.  105. 

See  also  1827,  p.  201,  202,  205;  1829,  p.  260;  1831,  p.  324;  1868,  p. 
633,  O.  S.,  et  passim.  See  also  under  chap,  xi.,  sec.  i.,  4,  for  changes 
since  the  Reunion. — 1871,  p.  540,  541,  545,  546 ;  1872,  p.  86,  88 ;  1873,  p. 
525. 

3.  To  Transfer  Ministers  from  one  Presby-tery  to  Another,  or  to  a 

Ne-w  one. 
See  a,  above,  also /and  /). 

a.  There  being  no  quorum  of  Presbytery. — 1858,  p.  268,  280,  O.  S. 

b.  In  forming  neio  Presbyteries  or  Synods,  see  above,  h.  Also  The  Ena- 
bling Act  of  1870,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  ii.,  8. — 1872,  p.  94. 

4.  To  Receive  other  Ecclesiastical  Bodies. 

a.  The  Presbytery  of  Suffolk— 1749,  p.  238;  of  Dutchess  County— 176S, 
p.  330.     See  Baird's  Revised  Edition,  p.  562. 

b.  The  Presbytery  of  Charleston. 

Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  petition  be  granted,  and  that  said 
Presbytery,  retaining  their  name  and  their  character  of  incorporation,  be 
and  they  hereby  are  taken  into  connection  with  the  General  Assembly ; 
provided,  however,  that  the  members  of  said  Presbytery  shall  have 
adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  shall  also  effect  a  compro- 


OF   THE   GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  267 

mise  or  union  with  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  which  transaction  shall 
be  subject  to  the  review  aud  control  of  the  Synod  of  the  Oaroliuas. — 1811, 
p.  475. 

c.  The  Associate  Reformed  Synod. — 1822,  pp.  39-42.  See  Baird,  p.  565- 
569. 

d.  Preahjtery  of  Pittsburg  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Chnrch. 

The  same  Committee  also  reported  an  application  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Pittsburg,  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  to  unite  as  a  Presby- 
tery with  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  to  be- 
come subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  this  body,  on  the  simple  condition  of 
being  allowed  to  remain,  as  they  are  still  attached  to  the  great  principles 
of  the  Reformation,  without  being  disturbed  in  their  time-honored  modes 
of  worship  aud  economical  usages  generally. 

On  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  the  request  was  granted. 

The  Committee  also  recommended  that  the  Presbytery  of  Pittsburg  be 
attached  to  the  Synod  of  Allegheny,  and  that  Rev.  John  McMillan  be 
enrolled  as  a  member  of  this  General  Assembly  as  a  delegate  from  that 
Presbytery. 

Which  was  adopted. — 1870,  p.  30. 

5.  To  Define  the  Succession  of  Presbyteries. 

Overture  No.  7,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Chester,  respecting  the  succes- 
sion to  the  late  Presbytery  of  New  Castle:  The  Committee  report  that  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  in  its  reconstruction  of  Presbyteries,  declared  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Chester  was  the  legal  successor  of  the  late  Presbytery 
of  New  Castle,  and  that  the  Synod  of  Baltimore  also  declared  that  its 
present  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  was  the  legal  successor  of  the  old  organ- 
ization. It  appears,  however,  that  the  ministers  and  churches  of  the  old 
Presbytery  are  ecpially  divided  between  the  present  Presbyteries  of  New 
Castle  and  Chester,  and  so  neither  is  entitled  to  the  succession.  The  Com- 
mittee think  that  as  the  present  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  has  the  name 
of  the  late  organization,  the  town  where  the  first  organization  was  made, 
the  chief  part  of  the  original  territory,  early  history  and  associations  and 
a  valuable  charter  from  the  State  of  Delaware,  under  which  some  property 
is  now  held,  it  should,  also,  have  the  succession,  and  the  following  resolu- 
tion is,  therefore,  recommended : 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  in  the  Synod  of  Balti- 
more, be  and  the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the 
late  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and  as  such  is  entitled  to  the  possession 
and  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  franchises,  and  liable  to  the  perform- 
ance of  all  the  duties,  of  that  Presbytery. 

It  is  also  recommended  that  the  candidates  and  licentiates  who  were 
under  the  care  of  the  former  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  at  the  date  of  the 
Reconstruction  Act  of  1870,  but  who  resided  in  the  territory  embraced  in 
the  present  Presbytery  of  Chester,  be  attached  to  the  latter  Presbytery. — 
1871,  p.  539.    • 

IV.  OF  CORRESPONDING  WITH  FOREIGN  CHURCHES, 

1.  The  Assembly  alone  may  Open  Correspondence. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Ten- 
nessee reported,  and  the  records  were  approved,  with  the  exception  of  a 
proposal  to  establish  a  plan  of  intercourse  between  said  Synod  and  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterians,  of  which  proposal  the  Assembly  disapprove, 
on  the  ground  that  it  belongs  to  the  Assembly  to  correspond  with  foreign 


268  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

churches  on  such  terms  as  may  be  agreed  upon  by  the  Assembly  and  the 
corresponding  body. — 1827,  p.  219. 

Eeaffirmed.— 1866,  p.  80,  O.  S.      _        ^ 

[For  local  correspondence  of  the  inferior  judicatories,  see  under  Form 
of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  xii.] 

2.  Proposals  for  Correspondence  with  the  New  England  Churches. 

[In  1766  the  General  Synod  adopted  an  overture  "to  endeavor  to  obtain 
some  correspondence  between  this  Synod  and  the  Consociated  churches  of 
Connecticut.  A  Committee  was  appointed  to  meet  the  delegates  from 
Connecticut. — Minutes,  1766,  p.  364.  A  convention  of  the  delegates  was 
held  at  Elizabethtowu,  November  5,  1766.  Its  minutes  were  laid  before, 
the  Synod,  "  seriously  considered  and  amended."  Delegates  were  appointed 
to  attend  at  New  Haven  September  10,  "  there  finally,  on  the  part  of  this 
body,  to  complete  the  plan  of  union." — Minutes,  1767,  p.  374.  Under  this 
plan  the  Convention  met  alternately  in  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut  until 
1776,  when  the  war  interrupted  it.  In  1790  the  General  Assembly  invited 
a  renewal  of  the  intercourse :  "  Resolved,  That  the  ministers  of  the  Con- 
gregational churches  of  New  England  be  invited  to  renew  their  annual 
Convention  with  the  clergy  of  the  Pi-esbyterian  Church." — 1790,  p.  29. 
A  Committee  was  appointed  under  the  above  resolution,  and  on  their 
report,  the  next  year,  another  Committee  was  appointed  to  meet  at  New 
Haven  "  such  ministers  of  the  New  England  churches  as  may  be  there 
present." — 1791,  p.  33.] 

3.  Plan  of  Correspondence  with  the  General  Association  of  Con- 

necticut. 

The  minutes  of  the  Convention  of  the  Committee  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  and  of  the  General 
Association  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  were  taken  into  consideration,  an 
extract  of  which  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

Considering  the  importance  of  union  and  harmony  in  the  Christian 
Church,  and  the  duty  incumbent  on  all  its  pastors  and  members  to  assist 
each  other  in  promoting,  as  far  as  possible,  the  general  interest  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  considering  further  that  divine  Providence 
appears  to  be  now  opening  the  door  for  pursuing  these  valuable  objects 
with  a  happy  prospect  of  success,  this  Convention  are  of  the  opinion  that 
it  will  be  conducive  to  these  important  purposes  that  a  Standing  Commit- 
tee of  Correspondence  be  appointed  in  each  body,  whose  duty  it  shall  be, 
by  fi'equent  letters,  to  communicate  to  each  other  whatever  may  be  mutu- 
ally useful  to  the  churches  under  their  care  and  to  the  general  interest 
of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  ;  that  each  body  should  from  time  to  time 
appoint  a  Committee  consisting  of  three  members,  who  shall  have  a  right 
to  sit  in  the  other's  general  meeting  and  make  such  communications  as 
shall  be  directed  by  their  respective  constituents,  and  deliberate  on  such 
matters  as  shall  come  before  the  body,  but  shall  have  no  right  to  vote ; 
that  effectual  measures  be  nmtually  taken  to  prevent  injuries  to  the  respect- 
ive churches  from  irregular  and  unauthorized  preachers.  To  promote 
this  end  the  Convention  judge  it  expedient  that  every  preacher  traveling 
from  the  limits  of  one  of  tliese  churches  into  those  of  the  other  shall  be 
furnished  with  recent  testimonials  of  his  regular  standing  and  good  charac- 
ter as  a  preacher,  signed  by  the  moderator  of  the  Presbytery  or  Associa- 
tion in  which  he  received  his  license,  or,  if  a  minister,  of  his  good  stand- 
ing and  character  as  such  from  the  moderator  of  the  Presbytery  or  Asso- 
ciation where  he  last  resided,  and  that  he  shall  previously  to  his  traveling 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  269 

as  a  preacher  into  distant  parts,  further  receive  a  recommendation  from 
one  member  at  least  of  a  standing  Committee  to  be  hereafter  appointed 
by  each  body,  certifying  his  good  qualitications  as  a  preacher.  Also,  that 
the  names  of  this. standing  Committee  shall  be  mutually  communicated; 
and  also  that  every  preacher  traveling  and  recommended  as  above,  and 
submitting  to  the  stated  rules  of  the  respective  churches,  shall  be  received 
as  an  authorized  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and  cheerfully  taken  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Presbytery  or  Association  Avithin  whose  bounds  he  shall 
find  employment  as  a  preacher ;  and  that  the  proceedings  of  the  respect- 
ive bodies  on  this  report  be  communicated  to  our  brethren  of  the  Congre- 
gational and  Presbyterian  churches  throughout  the  States." 

Upon  mature  deliberation  the  Assembly  unanimously  and  cordially 
approved  of  said  plan,  and  to  carry  the  same  into  elfect  appointed  the 
Rev.  Drs.  John  Rodgers,  John  Witherspoon  and  Ashbel  Green  to  be  a 
Committee  of  Correspondence,  agreeably  to  said  plan.  And  it  is  more- 
over agreed  that  this  Assembly  will  send  delegates  to  sit  and  consult  with 
the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  and  receive  their  delegates  to  sit 
in  this  Assembly,  agreeably  to  another  article  of  the  plan,  as  soon  as  due 
information  shall  be  received  that  it  is  adopted  on  the  part  of  the  Gene- 
ral Association  of  Connecticut. 

A  standing  Committee  was  appointed,  "  To  certify  the  good  qualifica- 
tions of  the  preachers  traveling  to  officiate  in  the  bounds  of  the  Association 
of  the  State  of  Connecticut.  And  it  was  agreed  that  any  preacher  trav- 
eling as  aforesaid  shall  have  at  least  the  name  of  one  of  the  Committee, 
who  shall  belong  to  the  Synod  from  whose  bounds  he  came." — 1792,  p.  52. 

[The  Convention  was  ratified  by  the  General  Association  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards  and  Rev.  Matthias  Burnett  took  their 
seats  in  the  Assembly. — 1793,  p.  64.] 

In  1794,  p.  80,  the  Assembly  proposed  to  the  Association  "that  the 
delegates  from  these  bodies  respectively  shall  have  a  right  not  only  to  sit 
and  deliberate,  but  also  to  vote,  on  all  questions  which  may  be  determined 
by  either  of  thera."  The  Association  acceded  to  the  proposition. — 1795, 
p.  96.  In  1827,  p.  213,  the  Assembly  asked  the  bodies  in  New  England 
to  which  these  rights  had  been  conceded  to  give  up  the  right  to  vote,  ac 
follows,  viz. : 

It  appears  that  in  the  plan  of  intercourse  between  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  New  England  and  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  an  article  was  adopted  which  is  now  believed  to  be  incon- 
sistent with  a  sound  construction  of  the  Constitution  of  the  latter  Church. 
This  article,  it  is  due  to  truth  and  candor  to  remark,  was  proposed  by 
the  Presbyterian  Church  without  an  overture  from  the  Congregational 
churches,  and  in  regard  to  which  they  did  nothing  more  than  accede  to 
the  proposition  submitted  to  them.  The  article  to  which  we  allude  relates 
to  the  powers  granted  to  the  delegates  of  the  corresponding  churclics  to 
vote  as  well  as  to  deliberate  on  the  various  subjects  that  may  come  before 
the  representatives  of  these  churches  respectively.  The  right  of  voting 
in  the  General  Assembly  cannot,  it  is  believed,  be  constitutionally  granted 
to  any  but  to  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Presbyteries  whose  rep- 
resentatives compose  that  Assembly. 

We  have,  therefore,  respectfully  to  request  that  the  plan  of  intercourse 
between  you  and  us  may  be  so  modified  as  that  the  delegates  to  each  body 
may  hereafter  be  empowered  to  sit  and  deliberate  only,  but  not  to  vote. 
It  is  believed  that  the  modification  here  contemplated,  if  it  shall  be  con- 
sented to  on  your  part,  will  not  only  place  the  Assembly  on  constitutional 
ground,  but  by  placing  your  Association  on  the  same  footing  with  other 


270  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

religious  communities  with  whieli  we  hold  a  friendly  correspondence  will 
destroy  the  appearance  of  an  invidious  distinction  which  now  exists,  and 
thus  be  calculated  to  promote  extensively  that  mutual  friendship  and  har- 
mony which  it  is  desirable  to  maintain  and  perpetuate  among  all  who 
love  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. — 1827,  p.  213. 

[The  resijective  bodies  acceded  to  the  request,  and  since  1830  no  dele- 
gate from  a  corresponding  body  has  had  the  right  to  vote.  For  terms  of 
correspondence  with  the  various  congregational  bodies  see  New  Digest, 
pp.  439-449;  Baird,  Kev.  Ed.,  pp.  506-525.] 

4.  The  Plan  of  Union,  and  Action  under  it. 

See  New  Digest,  chap,  xii.,  sees.  i.  and  ii.,  pp.  452-469,  and  minutes  of 
1801,  pp.  221,  224,  225;  1835,  p.  486;  1837,  p.  421,  458,  464;  also  Baird, 
Rev.  Ed.,  pp.  570-581. 

5.  Correspondence  -with  the  Reformed  Churches. 

[For  a  full  history  of  the  early  relations  of  the  Assembly  to  the  Dutch 
and  Associate  Reformed  churches,  see  Baird,  Rev.  Ed.,  pp.  525-533.  In 
1820  the  following  Plan  of  Correspondence  with  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church  was  adopted.  The  Synod  united  Avith  the  General  Asseiubly  in 
1822,  but  the  plan  is  given  as  containing  valuable  illustrations  of  the 
powers  and  the  spirit  of  the  Assembly  :] 

The  consideration  of  the  plan  of  a  brotherly  correspondence  between 
this  Assembly  and  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church 
was  resumed,  and  after  a  full  discussion  the  plan  was  adopted,  and  is  as 
follows,  viz.: 

I.  The  churches  are  to  remain  entirely  separate  and  independent. 

II.  Any  member  of  either  church  may  be  received  to  communion  in  the 
other  on  producing  to  the  proper  church  officers  sufficient  evidence  of  a 
good  and  regular  standing  in  the  church  with  which  he  is  connected. 

III.  It  shall  be  permitted  to  the  competent  church  officers  in  any  con- 
gregation, settled  or  vacant,  of  either  church,  to  invite  to  preach  in  their 
puljiit  any  minister  or  probationer  who  is  in  good  standing  in  either  of 
the  said  churches,  and  Avho  preaches  in  their  purity  the  great  doctrines  of 
the  gospel,  as  they  are  stated  in  their  common  Confessions  of  Faith,  and 
have  generally  been  received  and  taught  in  the  Reformed  churches.  But 
it  shall  be  entirely  optional  to  give  or  withhold  such  invitation,  nor  shall 
it  be  esteemed  offensive  or  unkind  if  the  invitation  be  withheld. 

IV.  A  vacant  congregation  shall  be  at  liberty  to  call  a  minister  from 
either  of  the  chui'ches  according  to  the  order  established  in  that  church 
from  which  he  may  be  called,  he  conforming  himself  to  the  order  of  the 
church  to  which  he  shall  be  called.  And  in  case  of  a  congregation  being 
formed  of  people  from  both,  it  shall  be  at  liberty  to  put  itself  under  the 
care  of  either,  at  its  option. 

V.  Persons  under  censure,  or  process  of  censure,  in  cither  church,  shall 
not  be  received  in  the  other  church  while  such  censure  remains  or  such 
process  is  unfinished. 

VI.  Any  Presbytery  or  Synod  not  formed  by  delegation  of  either  church 
may  invite  the  regular  members  of  any  similar  judicatory  of  the  other 
church  to  sit  as  corresponding  members ;  but  should  the  invitation  not  be 
deemed  expedient,  the  withholding  of  it  shall  not  be  considered  as  unkind 
or  offensive. 

VII.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  Gen- 
eral Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  shall  each  aj^point  one  min- 
ister and  one  elder,  with  an  alternate  of  each,  to  sit  in  these  judicatories 


OF   THE   GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  271 

respectively,  with  the  privilege  of  deliberating  on  all  subjects  that  may 
come  before  them,  but  not  of  voting  on  any. 

Resolved,  That  to  carry  into  effect  the  last  article  of  this  report,  this 
Committee  of  Conference  recommend  to  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
General  Synod  to  appoint  their  delegates  the  year  preceding, — 1820,  p.  731. 

a.    With  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church. 

The  Committee  to  which  were  referred  the  minutes  of  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  on  the  subject  of  correspondence  between 
that  Synod  and  the  General  Assembly,  reported,  and  their  report,  being 
read,  was  accepted.  A  motion  was  made  and  seconded  that  the  report  be 
adopted.  After  some  discussion  of  this  motion  it  was  postponed  to  take 
up  the  following  resolution,  which  after  discussion  was  adopted,  viz.: 

Resolved,  That  the  plan  of  correspondence,  as  amended  by  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  together  with  the  additional  article 
proposed  by  that  body,  be  adopted,  with  an  expression  of  a  hope,  however, 
that  the  additional  article  in  question  will  be  reconsidered  by  the  Synod  at 
their  next  meeting,  so  tliat,  unless  it  should  be  regarded  as  of  vital  import- 
ance to  the  mutual  and  friendly  correspondence  of  both  bodies,  it  may  be 
expunged,  depending  in  this  case  upon  the  honorable  principles  of  inter- 
course founded  on  our  common  Christianity. 

The  several  articles  of  the  plan  were  then  read,  and  the  vote  taken  upon 
them  separately,  and  finally,  the  vote  being  taken  upon  the  whole,  they 
were  adopted,  and  are  as  follows,  viz. : 

1.  The  churches  are  to  remain  en tirely"  separate  and  independent. 

2.  Any  member  of  either  church  may  be  received  to  communion  in  the 
other  on  producing  to  the  proper  church  officers  sufficient  evidence  of  a 
good  and  regular  standing  in  the  church  with  which  he  is  connected. 

3.  It  shall  be  permitted  to  the  competent  church  officers  in  any  congre- 
gation, settled  or  vacant,  of  either  church,  to  invite  to  preach  in  their  pul- 
pit any  minister  or  probationer  who  is  in  good  standing  in  either  of  said 
churches,  and  who  preaches  in  their  purity  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel, as  they  are  stated  in  their  respective  Confessions  of  Faith,  and  have 
generally  been  received  and  taught  in  the  Reformed  Churches ;  but  it 
shall  be  entirely  optional  to  give  or  withhold  such  invitations,  nor  shall 
it  be  esteemed  offensive  or  unkind  if  the  invitation  is  withheld. 

4.  A  vacant  congregation  shall  be  at  liberty  to  call  a  minister  from 
either  of  the  churches  according  to  the  order  established  in  that  church 
from  which  he  may  be  called,  he  conforming  himself  to  the  order  of  the 
church  to  which  he  shall  be  called.  And  in  case  of  a  congregation  being 
formed  of  people  from  both,  it  shall  be  at  liberty  to  put  itself  under  the 
care  of  either,  at  its  option. 

5.  Persons  under  censure,  or  process  of  censure,  in  either  church,  shall 
not  be  received  in  the  other  church  while  such  censure  remains  or  such 
process  is  unfinished. 

6.  The  ministers  of  either  church  maybe  invited  to  sit  as  corresponding 
members  in  their  respective  judicatories,  except  the  highest  and  the  lowest, 
viz.:  the  church  session  and  consistory,  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
General  Synod. 

7.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  shall  each  appoint  one  minister 
and  one  elder,  with  an  alternate  of  each,  to  sit  in  these  judicatories  re- 
spectively, with  the  privilege  of  deliberating  on  all  subjects  that  may 
come  before  them. 

Additional  Article. — 8.    The   ministers   of  one   of  the   corresponding 


272  FORM   OF   GOVEENME'XT. 

churches  shall  not  in  any  case  intrude  ujDon  the  office  of  the  ministers  of 
the  other  churcli.— 1823,  p.  76. 

[The  Synod  of  the  Dutch  Church  did  not  think  proper  to  rescind  the 
8th  article  above.] 

h. .  Amendment  of  the  Plan. 

[In  1828  the  Synod  complained  to  the  Assembly  against  the  Presbytery 
of  Columbia  for  receiving  a  student  under  the  care  of  the  classis  of  Al- 
bany, and  licensing  him. — 1828,  p.  237.  In  1830,  in  view  of  the  above 
case,  the  following  additional  article  was  proposed  by  the  Dutch  Church 
and  adopted  by  the  Assembly:] 

That  none  of  the  inferior  judicatories  under  the  care  of  the  correspond- 
ing churches  shall  be  at  liberty  to  admit  into  their  respective  bodies,  or 
under  their  care,  any  student  or  licentiate  from  their  sister  church,  with- 
out a  regular  dismission  from  the  ecclesiastical  body  or  theological  sem- 
inary to  which  he  is  considered  as  attached. — 1830,  p.  288. 

c.  Proposal  Declined. 

Dr.  Scott,  delegate  from  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  presented  to  the 
Assembly  the  following  minute  from  the  General  Synod  of  that  body  re- 
specting the  transference  of  churches : 

Besolved,  That  if  the  General  Assembly  shall  concur,  no  church  shall 
be  transferred  from  the  one  body  to  the  other  without  the  formal  dismissal 
of  the  Presbytery  or  classis  with  which  it  shall  have  been  connected. 

Which,  on  motion,  was  referred  to  a  special  Committee. — 1851,  p.  17, 

o.  s. 

Dr.  Stockton,  from  the  Committee  on  the  Minute  of  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  presented  the  following  resolution,  which 
was  adopted,  viz. : 

Besolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  great  prudence  and 
courtesy  should  be  manifested  by  the  Presbyteries  in  the  reception  of 
churches  from  the  classis  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  that,  where 
it  is  practicable,  the  consent  of  all  parties  concerned  should  be  at  least 
sought  and,  if  possible,  secured ;  but  that  the  adoption  of  an  absolute 
rule,  such  as  is  proposed  by  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reforjued  Dutch 
Church,  would  probably  be  productive  of  hardships  to  churches  and  in- 
convenience to  both  denominations;  and  therefore,  for  the  present  at  least, 
the  Assembly  very  respectfully  and  fraternally  beg  leave  to  decline  its 
concurrence  in  the  adoption  of  said  rule. — 1851,  p.  21,  0.  S. 

d.   Comj)laint  arjainst  the  Presbytery  of  Xorth  River. 

On  a  complaint  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  against  the  Presbytery 
of  North  River,  the  Assembly — 

Resolved,  1.  That  though  the  consistory  of  the  Second  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  of  Kingston  may  have  acted  arbitrarily  in  refusing  certificates  to 
its  members  applying  for  them,  to  join  one  of  our  churches,  this  Assem- 
bly regards  as  irregular,  and  as  wanting  in  the  due  exercise  of  Christian 
forbearance,  the  proceeding  of  North  River  Presbytery,  in  so  hastily  or- 
ganizing a  church  composed  mostly  of  the  members  whom  said  consistory 
had  refused  to  dismiss. 

2.  That  though  tlie  classis  of  Ulster  moy  have  done  Avrong  in  withhold- 
ing from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smuller  the  certificate  for  which  he  applied  to  join 
the  Presbytery  of  North  River,  this  Assembly  cannot  approve  of  the  act 
of  said  Presbytery  in  receiving  him,  regarding  their  act,  in  so  doing,  as 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  273 

deficient  in  the  exercise  of  that  forbearance  which  should  obtain  in  the 
intercourse  of  sister  churches. 

3.  That  the  stated  clerk  express  to  the  Dutch  Church  the  deep  regret 
which  this  Assembly  feels  that  thei-e  should  have  been  any  cause  for  com- 
plaint or  recrimination. — 1855,  p.  302,  O.  S. 

6.  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  Recognized,  as  an  Independent 
Body. — Synods  and  Presbyteries  Adhering  to  it  Stricken  from 
the  Roll. 

The  special  Committee  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  certain 
matters  relating  to  the  Southern  churches  respectfully  reports  that  the 
following  papers  have  been  placed  in  its  hands,  and  have  been  carefully 
considered,  viz. : 

1.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Zanesville,  asking  "  that  the 
Assembly  strike  from  the  lists  of  Synods,  Presbyteries  and  churches  those 
at  the  South  which  have  ceased  to  report  or  be  in  connection  with  us,  and 
that  they  be  recognized  as  an  independent  body  of  Presbyterians,  and  over- 
tures of  friendly  correspondence  be  made  to  them." 

2.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville  of  like  import. 

3.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Steubenville,  asking  that  the 
aforementioned  Synods,  Presbyteries  and  churches  be  stricken  from  the  roll. 

4.  A  memorial  signed  by  certain  ministers  and  ruling  elders,  asking  in 
general  terms  that  the  General  Assembly  "  devise  such  wise  and  concilia- 
tory measures  as  may  open  the  way  for  the  renewal  of  fraternal  relations 
with  our  brethren  of  the  Southern  churches." 

In  view  of  all  these,  your  Committee  would  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  preamble  and  resolutions : 

Whereas,  The  Synods  of  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Georgia,  Memphis,  Mis- 
sissippi, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Texas  and  Virginia,  with  the 
several  Presbyteries  under  their  care,  have,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Orleans  in  the  Synod  of  Mississippi,  voluntary  with- 
drawn from  our  connection  and  organized  themselves  into  a  separate 
Church.     Therefore, 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  permanent  clerk  is  directed  to  drop  their  names 
from  the  list  of  our  Synods  and  Presbyteries,  and  they  are  no  longer  to 
be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  under  the  care  of  this 
Assembly,  with  the  exception  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Orleans,  which  is 
hereby  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Nashville. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  Assembly  does  hereby  recognize  the  organization 
into  which  these  Synods  have  formed  themselves  as  a  separate  and  inde- 
pendent Church,  sustaining  to  us  the  same  relation  which  we  accord  to 
other  branches  of  the  Presl)yterian  Church ;  and  hereafter  it  is  to  be 
treated  accordingly  by  all  the  courts  under  our  care. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  Assembly  also  takes  this  occasion  to  say  that 
while  it  cannot  justify  those  brethren  in  separating  themselves  from  the 
Church  of  their  fathers,  it  regrets  their  withdrawal,  and  expresses  the 
earnest  hope  that  they  may  see  their  way  clear  to  return  to  their  former 
relations.— 1868,  p.  642,  O.  S. 

7.  Correspondence  ■with  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church. 

a.  The  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  presented  by  Rev.  William 
Adams,  D.  D.,  were  unanimously  adopted,  viz.: 

Whereas,  This  General  Assembly  believes  that  the  interests  of  the  king- 
dom of  our  Lord  throughout  our  entire  country  will  be  greatly  promoted 
by  healing  all  unnecessary  divisions ; 
85 


274  FORM   OF   GOVERNMEXT. 

Whereas,  This  General  Assembly  desires  the  speedy  establishment  of  cor- 
dial fraternal  relations  with  the  body  known  as  the  "  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church,"  on  terms  of  mutual  confidence,  respect,  Christian  honor  and  love  ; 

Whereas,  We  believe  that  the  terms  of  reunion  between  the  two  branches 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  the  North,  now  so  happily  consummated, 
present  an  auspicious  opportunity  for  the  adjustment  of  such  relations; 
therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  1.  That  a  Committee  of  five  ministers  and  four  elders  be  ap- 
pointed by  this  Assembly  to  confer  with  a  similar  Committee,  if  it  shall 
be  appointed  by  the  Assembly  now  in  session  in  the  city  of  Louisville, 
Ky.,  in  respect  to  opening  a  friendly  correspondence  between  the  Northern 
and  Southern  Presbyterian  Churches,  and  that  the  result  of  such  confer- 
ence be  reported  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1871. 

Resolved,  2.  That  with  a  view  to  the  furtherance  of  the  object  con- 
templated in  the  appointment  of  said  Committee,  this  Assembly  hereby 
reaffirms  the  "Concurrent  Declaration"  of  the  two  Assemblies  which  met 
in  the  city  of  New  York  last  year,  viz. : 

"  That  no  rule  or  precedent  which  does  not  stand  approved  by  both 
bodies  shall  be  of  any  authority  in  the  reunited  body,  except  in  so  far  as 
such  rule  or  precedent  may  affect  the  rights  of  property  founded  thereon." 

Resolved,  3.  That  two  ministers  and  one  elder  of  the  Committee  ap- 
pointed by  this  Assembly  be  designated  as  delegates  to  convey  to  the 
Assembly  now  in  session  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  a  copy  of  these  resolutions, 
Avith  our  Christian  salutations. — 1870,  p.  18. 

b.  William  Adams,  D.  D.,  C.  C.  Beatty,  D.  D.,  P.  H.  Fowler,  D.  D., 
H.  J.  Van  Dyke,  D.  D.,  J.  C.  Backus,  D.D.,  Henry  Green,  LL.D.,  Hon. 
William  E.  Dodge,  Mr.  James  Brown  and  Hon.  Daniel  Haines  were 
appointed  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  with  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  South,  now  in  session  at  Louisville,  Ky. — ib.,  p.  20. 

c.  J.  C.  Backus,  D.  D.,  and  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Dodge,  two  of  the  above 
Committee,  made  a  verbal  report  of  their  visit  to  Louisville,  which  was 
accejited. — ib.,  p.  34.     Subsequently, 

d.  The  stated  clerk  reported  a  communication  from  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  South,  which  was  read.  [For  the  Letter 
in  full  see  Minutes  1870,  pp.  56-58.] 

Whereupon  the  following  response,  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Cor- 
respondence with  the  Church  South,  was  adopted: 

Whereas,  This  General  Assembly,  at  an  early  period  of  its  sessions, 
declared  its  desire  to  establish  cordial  fraternal  relations  with  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  commonly 
known  as  the  Southern  Assembly,  on  the  basis  of  Christian  honor,  confi- 
dence and  love,  and  with  a  view  to  the  attainment  of  this  end  appointed 
a  Committee  of  five  ministers  and  four  elders  to  confer  with  a  similar 
Committee,  if  it  should  be  appointed  by  the  Assembly  then  in  session  at 
Louisville,  Ky.,  "in  regard  to  the  amicable  settlement  of  all 'existing  dif- 
ficulties, and  the  opening  of  a  friendly  correspondence  between  the  North- 
ern and  Southern  Churches;"  and  for  the  furtherance  of  the  objects  con- 
templated in  the  a})pointment  of  said  Committee,  and  with  a  view  to 
remove  the  obstacles  which  might  prevent  the  acceptance  of  our  propo- 
sals by  our  Southern  brethren,  reafiirmed  the  Concurrent  Declaration  of 
the  two  Assemblies  which  met  in  New  York  last  year,  to  the  efiect  that 
"  no  rule  or  precedent  which  does  not  stand  approved  by  both  the  bodies 
shall  be  of  any  authority  in  the  reunited  body,  except  so  far  as  such  rule 
or  precedent  may  affect  the  rights  of  property  founded  thereon,"  and  as 
a  further  pledge  of  our  sincerity  in  this  movement  sent  a  copy  of  our 


OF   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  275 

resolutions,  together  with  our  Christian  salutations,  to  the  Assembly  at 
Louisville  by  the  hands  of  delegates  chosen  for  that  purpose, 

And  whereas,  The  Southern  Assembly,  while  receiving  our  delegates 
with  marked  courtesy  and  formally  complying  with  our  proposition  for 
the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of  Conference,  has  nevertheless  accom- 
panied that  appointment  with  declarations  and  conditions  which  we  can- 
not consistently  accept,  because  they  involve  a  virtual  prejudgment  of  the 
very  difficulties  concerning  which  we  invited  the  conference ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject  be  postponed, 
and  the  C'ommittee  be  discharged.  At  the  same  time,  we  cannot  forbear  to 
express  our  profound  regret  that  a  measure  designed  and,  as  we  believe, 
eminently  fitted  to  promote  the  establishment  of  peace  and  the  advance-  < 
ment  of  our  Redeemer's  kingdom  in  every  part  of  our  country  has  appa- 
rently failed  to  accomplish  its  object.  We  earnestly  hope  that  the  nego- 
tiations thus  suspended  may  soon  be  resumed  under  happier  auspices,  and 
hereby  declare  our  readiness  to  renew  our  proposals  for  a  friendly  corre- 
spondence whenever  our  Southern  brethren  shall  signify  their  readiness  to 
accept  it  in  the  form  and  spirit  in  which  it  has  been  offered. — 1870,  pp. 
56-58. 

e.  Overture  No.  15,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Des  Moines,  with  reference  to 
union  with  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  South.  The 
Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved,  That  as  the  General  Assembly  has  heretofore  declared  its  will- 
ingness to  resume  fraternal  relations  and  Christian  union  Avith  the  Assem- 
bly South,  and  still  retains  the  same  sentiment,  it  is  deemed  unwise  to 
take  any  action  at  present  on  this  overture.     Adopted. — 1872,  p.  70. 

/.  Action  touching  those  adhering  to  the  Southern  General  Assembly  and  Old 
School  Synod  of  Missouri  declared  Null  and  Void. 

An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  asking  the  Assembly  to 
affirm  the  doctrines  of  the  standards  of  our  Church  pertaining  to  the  civil 
magistrate  and  the  relation  of  Church  and  State ;  also  one  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Austin,  concerning  certain  rules  passed  previously  to  the  Re- 
union with  regard  to  members  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church. 

As  the  subjects  of  these  overtures  greatly  concern  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  the  Church,  especially  in  those  regions  more  directly  aflected  by 
the  late  civil  war,  the  Committee  would  recommend  the  adoption  of  the 
following  paper : 

The  General  Assembly,  deploring  the  divisions  that  have  occurred,  and 
that  continue,  among  Presbyterians  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
earnestly  desiring  to  do  whatever  is  consistent  with  duty  and  fidelity  to 
the  Lord  toward  healing  these  divisions,  and  furthermore,  having  good 
reason  to  hope  that  the  action  contemplated  in  the  following  paper  will 
promote  and  secure  this  happy  result,  do  solemnly  declare — 

First.  That  in  accordance  with  a  resolution  unanimously  adopted  by 
each  of  the  two  bodies  now  constituting  the  reunited  Church,  all  action 
touching  the  brethren  adhering  to  the  body  popularly  known  as  the 
Southern  General  Assembly,  together  with  all  action  touching  the  breth- 
ren adhering  to  the  body  known  as  the  Old  School  Synod  of  Missouri,  has 
been  since  the  Reunion  null  and  void,  and  therefore  of  no  binding  effect, 
and  not  to  be  pleaded  as  a  precedent  in  the  future. 

Second.  The  Assembly  also  express  confidence  in  the  soundness  of  doc- 
trine and  in  the  Christian  character  of  these  brethren,  and  cannot  doubt 
that  a  more  intimate  communion  would  lead  to  the  speedy  removal  of  the 


276  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

barriers  that  now  separate  those  of  like  precious  faith,  to  increased  mutual 
affection  and  esteem,  and  to  a  practical  manifestation  of  our  oneness  in 

Christ. 

Third.  With  regard  to  the  civil  magistrate  and  the  relations  of  Church 
and  State,  the  Assembly  deem  it  sufficient  to  call  attention  to  the  follow- 
ino-  principles  and  statements  found  in  these  standards,  to  wit:  I.  "Synods 
and  Councils  are  to  handle  or  conclude  nothing  but  that  which  is  ecclesi- 
astical, and  are  not  to  intermeddle  with  civil  affairs  which  concern  the 
commonwealth,  unless  by  way  of  humble  petition  in  cases  extraordinary, 
or  by  way  of  advice  for  satisfaction  of  conscience,  if  they  be  thereunto  re- 
quired by  the  civil  magistrate."  (Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  xxxi.,  sec.  iv.) 
II.  "  That  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free  from 
the  doctrine  and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  anything  contrary 
to  his  word,  or  beside  it,  in  matters  of  faith  or  worship ;"  "  that  all  church 
power,  whether  exercised  by  the  body  in  general  or  in  the  way  of  repre- 
sentation by  delegated  authority,  is  only  ministerial  and  declarative — that 
is  to  say,  that  the  holy  Scriptures  are  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  manners ; 
that  no  church  judicatory  ought  to  pretend  to  make  laws  to  bind  the  con- 
science in  virtue  of  their  own  authority,  and  that  all  their  decisions  should 
be  founded  upon  the  revealed  will  of  God."  (Form  of  Gov.,  chap,  i.,  sees. 

i.  and  vii.) 

Fourth.  For  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  spirit  of  the  foregomg  res- 
olutions, the  Assembly  will  appoint  two  Committees  to  confer  with  similar 
Committees,  if  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  and  by  the  Old  School  Synod  of  Missouri,  to 
seek  closer  and  more  fraternal  relations  with  these  bodies. — 1873,  p.  502. 

8.  Report  on  Foreign  Correspondence. 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspondence  reported  in  part  as  follows : 
The  Committee  on  Foreign  Correspondence  respectfully  recommend  to 
the  Assembly  that  the  Rev.  William  Arnot  and  the  Rev.  William  G. 
Blaikie,  D.  D.,  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land, the  Rev.  Robert  Watts,  D.  D.,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Sinclair,  from  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  the  Rev.  John 
Edmond,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  John  McLeod,  D.  D.,  from  the  Synod  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  Rev. 
David  luglis  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Lowry,  from  the  Synod  of  the  Canada 
Presbyterian  Church,  be  admitted  to  seats  in  this  Assembly  as  delegates 
from  the  several  ecclesiastical  bodies  they  represent,  and  that  they  be 
heard  in  the  order  above  named  at  a  session  of  the  Assembly  to  be  held 
for  that  purpose  on  Wednesday  next,  at  7?  o'clock  p.  M. 

The  Committee  further  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  reso- 
lution : 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  cordially  receives  the  delegates  from  the 
Synod  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland— 
a'body  not  hitherto  in  correspondence  with  either  branch  of  our  reunited 
Church — and  that  the  Committee  on  Correspondence  be  directed  to  nomi- 
nate delegates  who  shall  present  our  greetings  to  that  Synod  at  its  meet- 
ing next  year. — 1870,  p.  17. 

Your  Committee  would  also  report  that  a  communication  has  been  re- 
ceived from  the  general  conference  of  churches  in  Connecticut,  notifying 
us  that  they  appointed  no  delegate  this  year,  as  steps  were  being  taken 
toward  the  formation  of  a  national  convention  of  Congregational  churches 
which  would  more  properly  send  delegates  to  represent  that  body  in  our 
General  Assemblies. — 1871,  p.  531. 


OF   THE   GENEEAL  ASSEMBLY.  277 

9.  Bodies  -with  which  the  Assembly  is  at  Present  in  Corre- 
spondence. 

1.  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 

2.  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

3.  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland. 

4.  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

5.  General  Assembly  of  the  Canada  Presbyterian  Church. 

6.  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada  in  connection  with  the 
Church  of  Scotland. 

7.  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

8.  General  Assembly  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North 
America. 

9.  General  Synod  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  of  the  United 
States. 

10.  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Lower  Provinces  of  Brit- 
ish North  America  and  the  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

11.  General  Assembly  of  the  Cumbei'land  Presbyterian  Church. 

12.  General  Assembly  of  the  Welsh  Presbyterian  Church  in  America. 

13.  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  France. 

14.  National  Council  of  the  Congregational  churches  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

15.  Synod  of  the  "VValdensian  Church. — 1873,  p.  537. 

10.  Power  of  the  Assembly  to  expel  a  Menaber. 

Mr.  Galloway  rose  to  a  question  of  privilege,  and  read  an  article  from 
the  Ohio  Statesman  reflecting  severely  upon  his  character  and  that  of  the 
General  Assembly,  which  article  he  attributed  to  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Fergu- 
son, a  member  of  this  house. 

Dr.  Krebs  offered  the  following : 

Besolved,  That  unless  the  Rev.  William  M.  Ferguson  forthwith  retract 
the  offensive  publication,  and  make  an  ample  apology  to  the  satisfaction 
of  this  house,  he  be  immediately  expelled. 

The  moderator  having  waited  a  suitable  length  of  time  for  an  explana- 
tion or  retraction,  and  Mr.  Ferguson  having  declined  to  speak,  the  mode- 
rator took  the  vote,  and  the  resolution  was  adopted,  when  the  moderator 
declared  Mr.  Ferguson  to  be  expelled  from  the  Assembly. 

Mr.  Ferguson  having  dechired  that  he  had  not  understood  that  an  ex- 
planation at  that  time  was  demanded,  the  vote  was,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Krebs, 
reconsidered,  in  order  to  renew  to  Mr.  Ferguson  the  opportunity  he  had 
failed  to  use  before  the  resolution  to  expel  him  was  adopted.  Mr.  Fergu- 
son then  rose  and  explained,  after  which  jNIr.  ]McKnight  oifered  the  fol- 
lowing as  an  amendment  to  the  motion  of  Dr.  Krebs : 

Besolvcd,  That  the  Rev.  William  M.  Ferguson,  a  commissioner  to  this 
General  Assembly,  because  of  a  gross,  abusive  and  scandalous  libel,  pub- 
lished in  the  Ohio  Statesman,  on  members  of  this  body,  which  he  has  now 
qualified  in  the  presence  of  the  Assembly,  is  entitled  to  and  does  hereby 
receive  the  grave  censure  of  this  Assembly. 

Various  resolutions  to  substitute,  to  amend  and  to  commit  were  pro- 
posed, which  were  all  laid  u])on  the  table  in  order  that  by  general  consent 
Dr.  Krebs  might  offer  the  following  resolution,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  whereas  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Ferguson,  a  commissioner  to 
this  General  Assembly  from  the  Presbytery  of  Zanesville,  is,  by  his  own 
acknowledgment,  guilty  of  writing  and  publishing  in  the  Ohio  Statesman 


278  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

a  gross,  abusive,  scandalous  and  slanderous  libel  against  the  members  of 
this  Assembly,  and  against  this  Assembly  itself,  and  although  he  has  quali- 
fied it  in  the  presence  of  this  Assembly  this  morning,  his  explanation  is 
not  deemed  satisfactory  ;  therefore, 

Besohed,  That  the  Rev.  Wm.  M.  Ferguson  be  forthwith  expelled  as  a 
member  of  this  house. 

On  these  resolutions  the  previous  question  was  called  for,  and  the  call 
was  sustained.  The  main  question  was  then  put,  and  the  resolutions  were 
adopted,  when  the  moderator  again  announced  that  the  Eev.  "W.  M. 
Ferguson,  a  commissioner  from  the  Presbytery  of  Zanesville,  had  been 
expelled  from  membership  in  this  General  Assembly. — 1866,  p.  58,  0.  S. 

11.  Report  on  the  Perils  -which  Beset  the  System  of  Popular  Edu- 
cation. 

The  Committee  on  the  Perils  which  Beset  the  S3'stem  of  Popular  Edu- 
cation presented  their  report,  which,  having  been  read  and  considered, 
was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

The  Committee  appointed  to  consider  the  perils  which  beset  the  system 
of  popular  education  in  this  country,  and  to  prepare  a  minute  expressive 
of  the  sentiment  of  the  General  Assembly  on  this  momentous  question, 
beg  leave  to  report : 

The  public  school  in  the  United  States  is  a  most  precious  heirloom  of 
American  liberty.  Planted  in  the  early  colonial  days,  it  has  grown  and 
expanded  into  one  of  the  most  beneficent  and  fruitful  institutions  of  the 
country.  Its  history  is  interwoven  with  that  of  the  nation.  Ko  other 
agency,  if  we  except  the  Church  of  God,  has  had  so  large  a  share  in  lay- 
ing the  foundations  of  popular  intelligence,  virtue  and  freedom  in  the 
United  States.  In  hardly  any  other  institution  is  the  characteristic  Amer- 
ican idea  so  happily  and  fully  realized.  It  cannot  be  endangered,  there- 
fore, without  peril  to  the  vital  interests  of  American  society. 

In  this  view  the  recent  assaults  upon  it  are  fitted  to  arrest  the  attention 
of  every  Christian  patriot  and  philanthropist.  These  assaults  resemble 
skirmishes  which  precede  and  are  intended  to  draw  on  a  great  battle. 
But  the  motives  and  ultimate  aim  of  those  who  have  made  them  are  very 
different;  they  have  joined  hands  merely  to  gain  a  temporary  advantage. 
One  party  hold  that  the  ])ublic  school  should  be  purged  of  every  vestige 
of  religion,  that  inasmuch  as  all  the  people  are  taxed  for  its  support 
there  should  be  recognized  in  it  no  form  of  Christian  instruction  or  influ- 
ence to  which  any  of  the  tax-payers  profess  conscientious  objections.  This 
is  the  position  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  a  total  divorce  of  popular 
education  from  the  Christian  life  and  morals  of  the  nation.  The  other 
party  regard  such  a  theory  of  popular  education  as  false  and  unchristian  ; 
they  hold  that  there  should  be  careful  instruction  in  religious  truth  and 
duty  under  the  direction  of  the  Church;  and  inasmuch  as  this  is  not  pos- 
sible in  the  common  school,  they  advocate  for  themselves  the  sectarian 
school,  and  demand  their  share  of  the  public  school  fund  to  enable  them 
to  sustain  it. 

The  importance  of  the  question  thus  raised  cannot  be  easily  over-esti- 
mated. The  question  of  popular  education,  indeed,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  is  one  of  the  great  problems  of  the  age.  Its  decision  among  our- 
selves involves  consequences  of  vast  moment  to  the  American  jicople. 
Shall  the  old  system  be  revolutionized,  and  every  form  of  Christian  instruc- 
tion or  influence  in  the  public  school  be  pi-ohibitcd  ?  Or  shall  the  insti- 
tution itself  be  given  up,  and  sectarian  schools  take  its  place? 

We  should  regard  the  successful  attempt  to  expel  all  religious  iustrue- 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  279 

tion  and  influence  from  our  public  schools  as  an  evil  of  the  first  raagni- 
tude.  Nor  do  we  see  how,  according  to  the  principles  upon  which  it  is 
advocated,  this  can  be  done,  without  inflicting  a  deadly  wound  upon  the 
intellectual  and  moral  life  of  the  nation.  It  is  contended  that  the  rights 
of  the  individual  conscience,  as  also  the  just  limits  of  political  power  under 
our  constitution  of  government,  are  violated  by  the  existing  system.  But 
scarcely  more,  we  reply,  than  they  are  violated  by  the  very  genius  and 
organization  of  American  society ;  no  more  than  they  are  violated  by  all 
public  acknowledgment  of  God  and  his  providential  government,  by  oaths 
of  ofiice,  by  the  recognition  of  the  Lord's  day,  by  chaplaincies  in  the  army 
and  navy,  or  by  laws  against  polygamy,  blasphemy,  jierjury  and  other 
forms  of  open  immorality  and  crime ;  no  more,  in  a  word,  than  they  are 
violated  by  the  fundamental  ideas  and  order  of  our  Christian  civilization. 
We  look  upon  the  State  as  an  ordinance  of  God,  and  not  a  mere  creature 
of  the  popular  will,  and  under  its  high  responsibility  to  the  supreme 
Ruler  of  the  world,  we  hold  it  to  be  both  its  right  and  bouuden  duty  to 
educate  its  children  in  those  elementary  principles  of  knowledge  and  vir- 
tue which  are  essential  to  its  own  security  and  well-being.  The  union  of 
Church  and  State  is  indeed  against  our  American  theory  and  constitutions 
of  government,  but  the  most  intimate  union  of  the  State  with  the  saving 
and  conservative  forces  of  Christianity  is  one  of  the  oldest  customs  of 
the  country,  and  has  always  ranked  as  a  vital  article  of  our  political 
faith.  What  impressive  illustrations  of  this  occur  along  the  whole  line  of 
our  history,  and  especially  during  our  late  national  struggle !  We  cannot, 
therefore,  help  regarding  the  notion  of  an  absolute  secularization  of  the 
public  school,  so  that  no  Christian  element  shall  remain  in  it,  as  un- 
American,  wrong  and  impracticable.  We  do  not  see  how  it  can  be  done 
without  a  complete  revision  of  the  literature  and  very  dictionary  of  the 
language,  without  reducing  the  education  of  the  future  citizens  of  the 
republic  to  the  most  meagre  and  pitiable  skeleton  of  knowledge,  without 
training  up  the  children  of  the  people  in  ignorance  of  some  of  the  most 
interesting  and  glorious  incidents  and  characters  of  their  own  history, 
Nor  do  we  see  how  it  can  be  done  without  sooner  or  later  stamping  down- 
right atheism,  not  only  upon  the  public  school,  but  upon  every  other  insti- 
tution of  the  State,  and  upon  the  whole  action  of  government  itself  The 
American  people,  we  cannot  doubt,  are  utterly  opposed  to  so  baleful  a 
dogma.  It  is  contrary  to  their  history,  to  their  practice  from  the  begin- 
ning and  to  their  deepest  convictions. 

But  while  they  can  never  consent,  as  we  believe,  to  expel  all  recognition 
of  God  and  his  truth  from  the  public  school,  neither  can  they  consent,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  let  a  portion  of  the  public  schools  pass  under  the  con- 
trol of  any  particular  denomination,  and  thus  become  the  instruments  of 
sectarian  instruction  and  influence.  It  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  import- 
ance that  the  children  of  the  people  should  be  educated  together,  under 
the  same  roof,  in  the  same  atmosphere  of  American  thought  and  feeling, 
and  in  those  common  elements  of  knowledge,  virtue,  fraternal  sympathy, 
humanity  and  patriotism  which  go  to  form  a  good  and  loyal  citizen  of  our 
great  republic. 

We  sincerely  trust,  therefore,  that  our  Roman  Catholic  fellow-citizens, 
who  agree  with  us  on  the  importance  of  the  moral  and  religious  element 
in  popular  education,  will  continue  to  co-operate  with  us  in  sustaining 
our  American  common  school  system,  and  in  infusing  into  it  as  far  as 
possible  those  universal  and  benign  principles — such  as  love  to  God  and 
love  to  our  neighbor — which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  human  duty  and  are 
essential  to  the  right  training  of  the  youthful  mind.     On  this  patriotic  and 


280  FOEM    OF   GOVEEXMENT. 

catholic  platform  we  ghould  hope  that  a  very  large  luajority  of  those  even 
who  dissent  entirely  from  our  theological  views,  and  belong,  indeed,  to  no 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church,  would  be  willing  to  stand  with  us.  We 
cannot  think  that  there  are  many  of  our  countrymen  who  would  seriously 
object  to  having  their  children  trained  uj)  in  the  public  school  under  the 
influence  of  these  ancestral  and  truly  democratic  principles.  The  number 
of  such  in  the  past  has  been  exceedingly  small,  and  we  cherish  the  confi- 
dent hope  that  it  will  be  so  in  the  future.  AVe  believe  that  the  roots  of 
our  human  and  Christian  nationality  lie  deep  in  the  heart  of  the  Amer- 
ican people. 

In  accordance  with  the  foregoing  views,  your  Committee  submit  the 
following  resolutions:  4 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  regard  the  fi-ee  public  school 
as  au  essential  part  of  our  republican  system,  as  conducive  in  the  highest 
degree  to  the  moral  unity,  common  spirit  and  kindly  sympathies  of  Amer- 
ican citizenship,  and  as  closely  connected  with  all  the  best  interests  of 
Christian  society  in  the  United  States. 

liesolved,  2.  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  General  Assembly  the  divorce 
of  popular  education  from  all  religious  elements,  while  involving  a  radi- 
cal departure  from  the  spirit  and  principles  in  which  our  public  school 
had  its  origin,  would  be  eminently  unwise,  unjust  and  a  moral  calamity 
to  the  nation. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  General  Assembly  are  also  entirely  opposed  to 
the  appropriation  of  any  portion  of  the  public  school  funds  for  the  sup- 
port of  sectarian  institutions,  and  would  regard  the  establishment  of  such 
a  policy  as  fraught  with  the  greatest  mischief  not  only  to  the  cause  of 
popular  education,  but  hardly  less  to  the  interests  of  American  freedom, 
unity  and  progress. 

Resolved,  4.  That  whereas  the  Bible  is  not  only  the  Magna  Charta  of 
the  spiritual  rights  and  liberties  of  mankind,  but  is  also  ju-e-eminently  our 
national  book,  the  best  model  of  our  mother  tongue  and  the  fountain  of 
our  highest  thought  and  of  our  ruling  ideas,  both  in  private  and  public 
life,  the  General  Assembly  would  regard  its  expulsion  from  the  schools 
of  the  people  as  a  deplorable  and  suicidal  act,  nor  can  they  perceive  that 
any  real  advantage  could  thereby  be  gained  to  the  cause  of  popular  edu- 
cation. 

Resolved,  5.  That  the  General  Assembly,  conscious  of  being  actuated  in 
this  matter  by  no  other  motive  than  the  greatest  good  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, hereby  profess  their  readiness  to  co-operate  with  all  Christian  people, 
of  whatever  name,  and  with  all  good  citizens,  in  so  modifying  and  ])erfect- 
ing  our  noble  public  school  system  as  to  obviate,  as  far  as  practicable,  the 
conscientious  scruples  and  difficulties  of  any  of  its  friends,  and  thus  to 
render  it  a  fountain  of  still  greater  light  and  benediction  to  us  and  our 
children  after  us  to  the  latest  generation. — 1870,  pp.  49-52. 

12.  The  Pastoral  Letters. 
1.  On  jSIissioxs. 

The  letter  of  the  Synod  now  sitting  at  Phihulelphia,  to  the  several  congregations 
witliin  the  bounds  of  the  Svnod  : 

September  22,  1719. 
ClIKISTlAN    FkIEXDS. 

"Whereas  divine  Providence,  which  is  the  Disposer  of  the  lot  of  all  men, 
has  planted  us  in  these  parts  of  the  world,  and  in  such  a  station  wherein 
we  are  obliged,  in  an  eminent  manner,  to  study  the  everlasting  welfai-e  of 
the  souls  of  men.     And  whereas,  to  our  great  grief  and  exercise,  we  see 


OF   THE  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  281 

many  smaller  places  of  lesser  ability  to  maintain  and  support  the  interest 
of  Christ  among  them  by  the  ordinary  means  of  salvation,  and  yet  desirous 
thei'eof,  languishing  in  darkness  and  blindness,  and  in  great  danger  of  utter 
ruin  for  lack  of  vision,  casting  in  our  minds  how  to  get  these  miserable 
people  relieved,  could  think  upon  no  other  way  than  by  using  our  utmost 
interest  and  endeavor  to  have  such  a  fund  or  stock  of  money  raised  as  may 
be  of  some  use  to  help  those  distressed  places  and  people.  In  pursuance 
of  which  design  we  have  addressed  our  friends  in  Britain  and  Ireland  not 
altogether  without  success. 

And  forasmuch  as  it  seems  to  us  unreasonable  and  unjustifiable  to  apply 
to  other  places  in  this  atfair,  and  ourselves,  who  are  more  immediately  con- 
cerned, to  hold  our  hands,  we  determined  to  request  the  charity  of  our 
respective  congregations  in  the  premises,  that  they  would  yearly  make  a 
collection  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  said  noble  and  pious  design  of  plant- 
ing and  spreading  the  everlasting  gospel  in  these  provinces. 

As  for  arguments  to  enforce  this  our  proposal,  the  thing  itself  is  of  such 
consequence  and  importance,  and  withal  so  needful,  that  we  need  not,  we 
hope,  use  any  other,  only  the  consideration  of  a  blessing  entailed  in  this 
and  the  other  world,  by  God's  gracious  promises,  on  all  such  as  do  cheer- 
fully exert  themselves  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  souls,  together 
with  the  honorable  examples  that  are  frequently  set  us  by  the  good  people 
of  our  own  nation  both  at  home  and  abroad.  So  recommending  you  to 
the  counsel  and  blessing  of  the  Author  and  Rewarder  of  all  good  works, 
we  subscribe  ourselves  yours  in  the  truest  bonds  of  Christian  affections. — 
[Letter  Book.']— 1719,  p.  58. 

2.  Pastoral  Letter  on  occasion  op  the  "Old  French  "War." 

The  Synod  [of  New  York],  under  a  sense  of  the  present  distressed 
and  calamitous  state  of  the  country,  do  agree  that  they  will  recommend 
to  all  their  congregations  to  unite  in  observing  the  last  Thursday  of  Octo- 
ber, instant,  as  a  day  of  public  humiliation,  fasting  and  prayer. 

The  Synod  propose  further  to  recommend  to  their  congregations  to 
spend  part  of  the  last  Thursday  of  every  month  in  extraordinary  prayer 
while  the  present  mournful  state  of  our  public  affairs  continues. 

And  they  do  further  most  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  their  mem- 
bers, present  and  absent,  to  exert  themselves  in  an  extraordinary  manner, 
in  their  several  spheres  of  influence,  for  a  general  and  thorough  reforma- 
tion of  those  crying  abominations  which  seem  most  evidently  to  have 
kindled  the  anger  of  Heaven  against  this  land. 

And  that  they  would,  in  their  public  performances,  frequently  explain 
and  warmly  press  on  their  hearers  the  necessity  of  such  a  reformation  in 
this  day. 

The  Synod  taking  into  serious  consideration  the  dangerous  situation 
of  the  public  at  this  juncture  by  means  of  a  potent,  prevailing  and  cruel 
enemy;  the  divided  state  of  these  colonies;  the  abounding  of  profanity, 
luxury,  infidelity,  error  and  ignorance  ;  the  evident  suspension  of  spiritual 
influences  from  the  Church,  which  is  followed  with  an  evident  insensibility 
under  the  judgments  as  well  as  ordinances  of  God ;  together  with  other 
awful  aspects  of  divine  Providence,  cannot  but  view  them  as  plain  demon- 
strations of  his  displeasure.  We  have  been  warned  and  chastised,  first 
more  gently,  then  more  terribly ;  but  not  returning  to  Him  that  smites  us, 
his  anger  is  not  turned  away,  but  his  hand  is  stretched  out  still.  Judg- 
ment yet  proceeds,  the  prospect  becomes  darker  and  darker,  and  all  things 
respecting  us  are  loudly  alarming.  When  God  judges,  he  will  overcome; 
36 


282  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

none  have  ever  hardened  themselves  against  him  and  prospered.  Nothing 
but  impiety  rouses  his  vengeance,  and  nothing  but  repentance  toward  him 
and  fhith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can  turn  it  away.  We  have  not 
so  much  as  the  least  reason  to  expect  deliverance  and  safety  in  a  way  of 
impenitent  sinning ;  for  we  are  assured,  if  we  walk  contrary  to  our  God, 
he  will  walk  contrary  to  us,  and  Avill  punish  us  yet  seven  times  more  for 
our  iniquity.  And  as  we  judge  that  extraordinary  distresses  are  calls  to 
extraordinary  humiliation  and  acts  of  devotion,  so  we  look  on  ourselves 
bound,  not  only  as  members  of  the  community,  but  by  the  duty  of  our 
office,  as  those  who  are  entrusted  with  the  declaration  of  God's  revealed 
will,  to  warn  all  who  will  attend  unto  us,  and  earnestly  exhort  them  to 
prostrate  themselves  before  his  offended  majesty  in  the  humblest  manner; 
to  deprecate  his  righteous  displeasure,  implore  his  mercy  for  themselves, 
their  children,  country  and  nation,  their  and  our  rightful  and  gracious 
sovereign  King  George  the  Second,  his  royal  family,  all  officers  civil  and 
military,  and  the  whole  Church  of  God  ;  and  solemnly  endeavor  sincere 
and  thorough  reformation.  For  this  purpose  the  Synod  agree  to  recom- 
mend the  last  Thursday  of  this  instant,  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  public 
fasting  and  prayer,  in  all  the  congregations  under  our  care.  We  also  rec- 
ommend to  all  the  members  of  our  body  that  they  exert  themselves  in 
promoting  a  reformation  from  those  evils  which  have  evidently  kindled 
the  anger  of  Heaven  against  this  land  ;  and  that  they  would  frequently 
urge  the  necessity  of  such  a  reformation  in  this  day. 
Signed  in  the  name  of  the  Synod. 

KiCHAED  Treat,  Synod  Clerk. 

—1756,  p.  276. 

3.  Pastoral  Letter  upon  the  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 

Dearly  Beloved  :  AVe  think  it  our  indispensable  duty,  not  only  in 
our  particular  charges,  but  in  this  united  and  more  public  capacity,  to  di- 
rect you  to  some  suitable  reflections  upon  the  late  remarkable  and  merciful 
steps'  of  divine  Providence,  and  to  inculcate  a  becoming  improvement  of 
an  event  the  most  interesting  and  important  to  the  people  of  this  conti- 
nent. For  not  only  in  the  word  of  God  should  we  attend  to  his  divine 
will,  but  also  mark  his  hand  in  that  providence  by  which  he  directs  the 
course  of  human  affiiirs  with  invariable  wisdom  and  paternal  goodness. 

The  faithless  French  and  their  savage  allies  were  lately  the  rod  of  di- 
vine displeasure  for  our  many  provocations.  Under  the  calamities  of  war 
and  the  wasting  ravages  of  Indian  cruelty,  we  were  repeatedly  brought  to 
apj)roach  the  throne  of  grace  with  solemn  fasting  and  prayer,  and  thereby 
openly  profess  our  resolution  to  forsake  the  ways  of  sin,  and  turn  unto 
the  Lord.  But,  alas!  we  rendered  not  to  God  according  to  the  nniltitude 
of  his  tender  mercies ;  for  no  sooner  was  the  rod  removed,  and  the  bless- 
ings of  peace  restored,  but  we  became  more  vain  and  dissolute  than  be- 
fore. 

The  Almighty,  thus  provoked,  permitted  counsels  of  the  most  pernicious 
tendency,  both  to  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies.  The  imi)osition  of  un- 
usual taxes,  a  severe  restriction  of  our  trade  and  an  almost  total  stagna- 
tion of  business  threatened  us  with  inevitable  ruin.  A  long  suspense, 
whether  we  should  be  deprived  of  or  restored  to  the  peaceable  enjoyment 
of  the  inestimable  privilege  of  English  liberty,  filled  every  breast  with  the 
most  painful  anxiety.  A  gloomy  cloud  thickened  over  our  heads,  ready 
to  burst  upon  us  in  a  desolating  storm.  Had  our  gracious  Sovereign,  the 
present  ministry  and  the  British  parliament  been  less  wise,  just  and  good, 
had  they,  instead  of  yielding  to  a  spirit  of  moderation,  unhappily  re- 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  283 

curred  to  force,  we  shudder  at  the  very  thoughts  of  the  consequences. 
We  cannot  look  down  the  precipice  on  the  brink  of  which  we  stood,  with- 
out horror.  We  were  not  without  reason  apprehensive  that  the  tumultu- 
ous outrages  which  in  some  places  attended  a  determined  opposition  to 
the  disrelished  statute  might  provoke  the  resentment  of  the  British  legis- 
lature. 

When  we  reflect  on  the  public  offences  of  our  land  against  Heaven; 
when  we  think  of  the  open  disregard  and  violation  of  the  holy  Sabbath ; 
the  neglect  of  the  ordinances  of  divine  worship,  the  abuse  of  gospel  light 
and  privileges,  the  profane  swearing  and  cursing,  intemperance  and  lux- 
ury, the  various  scenes  of  uncleanness  and  lasciviousness,  the  pride  and 
vanity,  and  every  other  evil  so  shamefully  prevalent,  what  less  could  we 
expect  than  that  an  offended  God  would  have  made  the  gathering  tempest 
to  break  upon  us,  and  plunged  us  and  our  mother  country  in  all  the  rue- 
ful calamities  of  a  civil  war?  But  how  astonishing  is  the  long-suffering 
patience  of  Jehovah !  He  has  inclined  the  hearts  of  many  powerful 
friends  to  espouse  our  cause.  He  has  given  us  to  experience  the  paternal 
tenderness  of  the  best  of  kings,  and  the  moderation  of  the  British  parlia- 
ment. Our  gracious  God  is  our  deliverer.  He  is  making  a  further  trial 
of  us.     May  his  unmerited  goodness  lead  us  to  repentance ! 

We  therefore  call  upon  you  who  are  the  dear  people  of  our  charge  not 
only  to  acknowledge  with  joy  and  gratitude  the  general  providence  of 
God,  but  also  thankfully  to  adore  that  particular  providence  wherein 
upon  special  occasions  he  directs  and  controls  the  course  of  events  by  his 
immediate  influence,  and  whereby  he  hath  on  the  late  interesting  occasion 
so  signally  appeared  for  our  protection.  We  call  upon  you  constantly  to 
reverence  that  all-wise  and  omnipotent  Director  and  Disposer  of  events,  on 
whom  we  depend  for  every  mercy  we  enjoy,  to  be  thankful  to  him  for 
every  instance  of  prosperity,  patient  under  every  affliction,  submissive  to 
his  wise  disposals  and  obedient  to  all  his  holy  precepts ;  to  awake  to  re- 
pentance, to  consider  your  ways,  and  to  turn  unto  the  Lord,  through  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ.  Let  every  one  beware  of  adding  to  the  common  stock 
of  guilt  and  iniquity.  We  beseech  and  obtest  you  to  be  strict  in  observing 
the  laws  and  ordinances  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  pay  a  sacred  regard  to  his 
Sabbath,  to  reverence  his  holy  name  and  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our 
Saviour  by  good  works.  We  pray  you  to  seek  earnestly  the  saving  know- 
ledge of  Christ  and  the  internal  power  and  spirit  of  religion.  Thus  may 
you  hope  for  the  continued  kindness  of  a  gracious  Providence,  and  this  is 
the  way  to  express  your  gratitude  to  the  Father  of  mercies  for  your  late 
glorious  deliverance.  But  persisting  to  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  by  a  neg- 
lect of  vital  religion  and  a  continuance  in  sin,  you  w'ill  have  reason  to 
dread  that  a  holy  God  will  punish  you  yet  seven  times  more  for  your 
iniquities. 

While  we  thus  call  upon  you  to  fear  God,  you  will  not  forget  to  honor 
your  king  and  pay  a  due  submission  to  his  august  parliament.  Let  this 
fresh  instance  of  royal  clemency  increase  the  ardor  of  your  affection  to 
the  person,  family  and.  government  of  our  rightful  and  gracious  sover- 
eign. This  you  will  manifest  by  a  cheerful  and  ready  obedience  to  civil 
authority.  A  spirit  of  liberty  is  highly  laudable  when  under  proper  reg- 
ulations, but  we  hope  you  will  carefully  distinguish  between  liberty  and 
licentiousness. 

We  most  earnestly  recommend  it  to  you  to  encourage  and  strengthen 
the  hands  of  government,  to  demonstrate  on  every  proper  occasion  your 
undissembled  love  for  your  mother  country  and  your  attachment  to  her 
true  interest,  so  inseparably  connected  with  our  own. 


284  FORM   OF   GOVEENMENT. 

That  thus  you  may  become  wise  and  good,  as  well  as  free  and  happy, 
and  that  while  you  enjoy  liberty,  civil  and  religious,  you  may  not  be  the 
servants  of  sin  and  Satan,  is  the  fervent  pi'ayer  of  those  who  watch  for 
your  souls  as  men  who  must  give  an  account. 

Signed  by  order.  Elihu  Spencer,  Moderator. 

Presbyterixxn  Church,  at  Neiv  York,  May  30,  1766. — 1766,  p.  362. 

4.  Pastoral  Letter  upon  Occasion  of  the  Kevolutionary  "War. 

Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Rodgers,  Messrs.  Caldwell,  Halsey,  Smith,  Kerr 
and  Ogden  are  appointed  a  Committee  to  bring  in  to-morrow,  in  the  after- 
noon, a  draught  of  a  pastoral  letter. 

The  Committee  brought  in  a  draught  of  a  pastoral  letter,  which,  after  a 
few  alterations,  was  approved,  ordered  to  be  printed,  and  is  as  follows : 

Very  dear  Brethren  :  The  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  being 
met  at  a  time  when  public  affairs  wear  so  threatening  an  aspect,  and  when 
(unless  God  in  his  sovereign  providence  speedily  pi'event  it)  all  the  horrors 
of  a  civil  war  throughout  this  great  continent  are  to  be  apprehended,  were 
of  opinion  that  they  could  not  discharge  their  duty  to  the  numerous  con- 
gregations under  their  care  w'ithout  addressing  them  at  this  important  cri- 
sis. As  the  firm  belief  and  habitual  recollection  of  the  power  and  presence 
of  the  living  God  ought  at  all  times  to  possess  the  minds  of  real  Christians, 
so  in  seasons  of  public  calamity,  when  the  Lord  is  known  by  the  judgment 
which  he  executeth,  it  would  be  an  ignorance  or  indifference  highly  crim- 
inal not  to  look  up  to  him  with  reverence,  to  implore  his  mercy  by  humble 
and  fervent  prayer,  and,  if  possible,  to  prevent  his  vengeance  by  unfeigned 
repentance. 

We  therefore,  brethren,  beseech  you  in  the  most  earnest  manner  to  look 
beyond  the  immediate  authors  either  of  your  sufferings  or  fears,  and  to 
acknowledge  the  holiness  and  justice  of  the  Almighty  in  the  present  visita- 
tion. He  is  righteous  in  all  his  ways  and  holy  in  all  his  works.  Affliction 
springeth  not  out  of  the  dust.  He  doth  not  afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve  the 
children  of  men ;  and  therefore  it  becomes  every  person,  family,  city  and 
province  to  humble  themselves  before  his  throne,  to  confess  their  sins  by 
which  they  have  provoked  his  indignation,  and  entreat  him  to  pour  out 
upon  all  ranks  a  spirit  of  repentance  and  of  prayer.  Fly  also  for  forgiveness 
to  the  atoning  blood  of  the  great  Redeemer,  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  which 
speaketh  better  things  than  that  of  Abel.  Remember  and  confess  not  only 
your  sins  in  general,  but  those  prevalent  national  offences  which  may  be 
justly  considered  as  the  procuring  causes  of  public  judgments,  particuhirly 
profaneness  and  contempt  of  God,  his  name,  Sabbaths  and  sanctuary, 
pride,  luxury,  uncleanness  and  neglect  of  family  religion  and  government, 
with  the  deplorable  ignorance  and  security  which  certainly  ought  to  be 
imputed  to  this  as  their  principal  cause.  All  these  are,  among  us,  highly 
aggravated  by  the  inestimable  privileges  which  we  have  hitherto  enjoyed 
without  interrupti(m  since  the  first  settlement  of  this  country.  If,  in  the 
present  day  of  distress,  we  expect  that  God  will  hear  our  sup])lications  and 
interpose  for  our  protection  or  deliverance,  let  us  remember  wliat  he  him- 
self requires  of  us  is  that  our  prayers  should  be  attended  with  a  sincere 
purpose  and  thorough  endeavor  after  personal  and  family  reformation. 
"If  thou  prepare  thine  heart  and  stretch  out  thine  hand  toward  him,  if 
iniquity  be  in  thine  hand,  put  it  far  away,  and  let  not  wickedness  dwell  in 
thy  tabernacles."  Job  xi.  13,  14. 

The  Synod  cannot  help  thinking  that  this  is  a  proper  time  for  pressing 
all,  of  every  rank,  seriously  to  consider  the  things  that  belong  to  their  eter- 
nal peace.     Hostilities,  long  feared,  have  now  taken  place ;  the  sword  has 


OF   THE   GENF.RAL    ASSEMBLY.  285 

been  drawn  in  one  province,  and  the  whole  continent,  with  hardly  any 
exception,  seem  determuied  to  defend  their  rights  by  force  of  arms.  If, 
at  the  same  time,  the  British  ministry  shall  continue  to  enforce  their 
claims  by  violence,  a  lasting  and  bloody  contest  must  be  expected. 
Surely,  then,  it  becomes  those  who  have  taken  up  arms,  and  profess  a 
willingness  to  hazard  their  lives  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  to  be  prepared  for 
death,  which  to  many  must  be  certain,  and  to  every  one  is  a  possible  or 
probable  event. 

We  have  long  seen  with  concern  the  circumstances  which  occasioned, 
and  the  gradual  increase  of,  this  unhappy  difference.  As  ministers  of  the 
gospel  of  peace  we  have  ardently  wished  that  it  could,  and  often  hoped 
that  it  would,  have  been  more  early  accommodated.  It  is  well  known  to 
you  (otherwise  it  would  be  imprudent  indeed  thus  publicly  to  profess)  that 
we  have  not  been  instrumental  in  inflaming  the  minds  of  the  people  or 
urging  them  to  acts  of  violence  and  disorder.  Perhaps  no  instance  can 
be  given  on  so  interesting  a  subject  in  which  political  sentiments  have  been 
so  long  and  so  fully  kept  from  the  pulpit,  and  even  malice  itself  has  not 
chax'ged  us  with  laboring  from  the  press ;  but  things  are  now  come  to  such 
a  state  that  we  do  not  wish  to  conceal  our  opinions  as  men  and  citizens, 
so  the  relation  we  stand  in  to  you  seemed  to  make  the  present  improve- 
ment of  it  to  your  spiritual  benefit  an  indispensable  duty. 

Suffer  us,  then,  to  lay  hold  of  your  present  temper  of  mind,  and  to  ex- 
hort, especially  the  young  and  vigorous,  by  assuring  them  that  there  is  no 
soldier  so  undaunted  as  the  pious  man,  no  army  so  formidable  as  those 
who  are  superior  to  the  fear  of  death.  There  is  nothing  more  awful  to 
think  of  than  that  those  whose  trade  is  war  should  be  despisers  of  the 
name  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  that  they  should  expose  themselves  to  the 
imminent  danger  of  being  immediately  sent  from  cursing  and  cruelty  on 
the  earth  to  the  blaspheming  rage  and  despairing  horror  of  the  infernal 
pit.  Let,  therefore,  every  one,  who  from  generosity  of  spirit  or  benevo- 
lence of  heart  offers  himself  as  a  champion  in  his  country's  cause,  be  jier- 
suaded  to  reverence  the  name  and  walk  in  the  fear  of  the  Prince  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  and  then  he  may,  with  the  most  unshaken  firmness, 
expect  the  issue  either  in  victory  or  death. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  though  for  the  wise  ends  of  his  providence 
it  may  please  God  for  a  season  to  suffer  his  people  to  lie  under  unmerited 
oppression,  yet  in  general  we  may  expect  that  those  who  fear  and  serve 
him  in  sincerity  and  truth  will  be  favored  with  his  countenance  and 
sti'ength.  It  is  both  the  character  and  the  privilege  of  the  children  of 
God  that  they  call  upon  him  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  He  who  keepeth 
covenant  and  truth  for  ever  has  said  that  his  ears  are  always  open  to  their 
cry.  We  need  not  mention  to  you  in  how  many  instances  the  event  in 
battles  and  success  in  war  have  turned  upon  circumstances  which  were 
inconsiderable  in  themselves,  as  well  as  out  of  the  power  of  human  pru- 
dence to  foresee  or  direct,  because  we  suppose  you  firmly  believe  that  after 
all  the  counsels  of  men  and  the  most  probable  and  promising  means,  the 
Lord  will  do  that  which  seemeth  him  good ;  nor  hath  his  promise  ever 
failed  of  its  full  accomplishment.  "The  Lord  is  with  you  while  ye  be 
with  him,  and  if  ye  seek  him  he  will  be  found  of  you,  lout  if  ye  forsake 
him  he  will  forsake  you."  2  Chron.  xv.  2. 

After  this  exhortation,  which  we  thought  ourselves  called  upon  to  give 
you  at  this  time  on  your  great  interest,  the  one  thing  needful,  we  shall 
take  the  liberty  to  offer  a  few  advices  to  the  societies  under  our  charge  as 
to  their  public  and  general  conduct ;  and. 

First.  In  carrying  on  this  important  struggle,  let  every  opportunity  be 


286  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

taken  to  express  your  attachment  and  I'espect  to  our  sovereign  King 
George,  and  to  the  revolution  principles  by  which  his  august  family  was 
seated  on  the  British  throne.  We  recommend,  indeed,  not  only  allegiance 
to  him  from  duty  and  principle,  as  the  first  magistrate  of  the  empire,  but 
esteem  and  reverence  for  the  person  of  the  prince,  who  has  merited  well 
of  his  subjects  on  many  accounts,  and  who  has  probably  been  misled  into 
the  late  and  present  measures  by  those  about  him ;  neither  have  we  any 
doubt  that  they  themselves  have  been  in  a  great  degree  deceived  by  false 
information  from  interested  persons  residing  in  America.  It  gives  us  the 
greatest  pleasure  to  say,  from  our  own  certain  knowledge  of  all  belonging 
to  our  communion,  and  from  the  best  means  of  information,  of  the  far 
greatest  part  of  all  denominations  in  the  country,  that  the  present  opposi- 
tion to  the  measures  of  administration  does  not  in  the  least  arise  from  dis- 
affection to  the  king  or  a  desire  of  separation  from  the  parent  state.  We 
are  happy  in  being  able  with  truth  to  affirm  that  no  part  of  America  would 
either  have  approved  or  permitted  such  insults  as  have  been  offered  to  the 
sovereign  in  Great  Britain.  We  exhort  you,  therefore,  to  continue  in  the 
same  disposition,  and  not  to  suffer  oppression,  or  injury  itself,  easily  to 
provoke  you  to  anything  which  may  seem  to  betray  contrary  sentiments : 
let  it  ever  appear  that  you  only  desire  the  preservation  and  security  of 
those  rights  which  belong  to  you  as  freemen  and  Britons,  and  that  recon- 
ciliation upon  these  terms  is  your  most  ardent  desire. 

Secondly.  Be  careful  to  maintain  the  union  which  at  present  subsists 
through  all  the  colonies ;  nothing  can  be  more  manifest  than  that  the  suc- 
cess of  every  measure  depends  on  its  being  inviolably  preserved,  and, 
therefore,  we  hope  that  you  will  leave  nothing  undone  which  can  promote 
that  end.  In  particular,  as  the  Continental  Congress,  now  sitting  at  Phil- 
adelphia, consists  of  delegates  chosen  in  the  most  free  and  unbiased  man- 
ner by  the  body  of  the  people,  let  them  not  only  be  treated  with  respect 
and  encouraged  in  their  difficult  service — not  only  let  your  prayers  be 
offered  up  to  God  for  his  direction  in  their  proceedings — but  adhere 
firmly  to  their  resolutions ;  and  let  it  be  seen  that  they  are  able  to  bring 
out  the  whole  strength  of  this  vast  country  to  carry  them  into  execution. 
We  would  also  advise  for  the  same  purpose  that  a  spirit  of  candor,  charity 
and  mutual  esteem  be  preserved  and  promoted  toward  those  of  different 
religious  denominations.  Persons  of  probity  and  principle  of  every  pro- 
fession should  be  united  together  as  servants  of  the  same  Master,  and  the 
experience  of  our  happy  concord  hitherto  in  a  state  of  liberty  should  engage 
all  to  unite  in  support  of  the  common  interest;  for  there  is  no  example  in 
history  in  which  civil  liberty  was  destroyed  and  the  rights  of  conscience 
preserved  entire. 

Thirdly.  We  do  earnestly  exhort  and  beseech  the  societies  under  our 
care  to  be  strict  and  vigilant  in  tlieir  private  government,  and  to  watch 
over  the  morals  of  their  several  members.  It  is  with  the  utmost  pleasure 
we  remind  you  that  the  last  Continental  Congress  determined  to  discourage 
luxury  in  living,  pul^lic  diversions  and  gaming  of  all  kinds,  which  have  so 
fatal  an  influence  on  the  morals  of  the  pcoj^Ie.  If  it  is  undeniable  that 
universal  profiigacy  makes  a  nation  ripe  for  divine  judgment,  and  is  the 
natural  mean  of  bringing  them  to  ruin,  refornuition  of  manners  is  of  the 
utmost  necessity  in  our  present  distress.  At  the  same  time,  as  it  has  been 
observed  by  many  eminent  writers  that  the  censorial  ])ower,  which  had 
for  its  object  the  manners  of  tlie  public  in  the  ancient  free  states,  was  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  their  continuance,  we  cannot  help  being  of  opinion 
that  the  only  thing  whicli  we  have  now  to  supply  the  place  of  this,  is  the 
religious  discipline  of  the  several  sects  with  respect  to  their  own  members; 


OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  287 

SO  that  tlie  denomiuation  or  profession  which  shall  take  the  most  effectual 
care  of  the  instruction  of  its  members,  and  maintain  its  discipline  in  the 
fullest  vigor,  will  do  the  most  essential  service  in  the  whole  body.  For 
the  very  same  reason  the  greatest  service  which  magistrates  or  persons  in 
authority  can  do,  with  respect  to  the  religion  or  morals  of  the  people,  is  to 
defend  and  secure  the  rights  of  conscience  in  the  most  equal  and  impartial 
manner. 

Fourthly.  We  cannot  but  recommend  and  urge  in  the  warmest  manner 
a  regard  to  order  and  the  public  peace ;  and  as  in  many  places,  during  the 
confusions  that  prevail,  legal  proceedings  have  become  difficult,  it  is 
hoped  that  all  persons  will  conscientiously  pay  their  just  debts,  and  to 
the  utmost  of  their  power  serve  one  another,  so  that  the  evils  inseparable 
from  a  civil  war  may  not  be  augmented  by  wantonness  and  irregularity. 

Fifthly.  We  think  it  of  importance  at  this  time  to  recommend  to  all 
of  every  rank,  but  especially  to  those  who  maybe  called  to  action,  a  spirit 
of  humanity  and  mercy.  Every  battle  of  the  warrior  is  with  confused 
noise  and  garments  rolled  in  blood.  It  is  impossible  to  appeal  to  the 
sword  without  being  exposed  to  many  scenes  of  cruelty  and  slaughter ; 
but  it  is  often  observed  that  civil  wars  are  carried  on  with  a  rancor  and 
spirit  of  revenge  much  greater  than  those  between  independent  states. 
The  injuries  received,  or  supposed,  in  civil  wars,  wound  more  deeply  than 
those  of  foreign  enemies  ;  it  is  therefore  the  more  necessary  to  guard 
against  this  abuse,  and  recommend  that  meekness  and  gentleness  of  spii-it 
which  is  the  noblest  attendant  on  true  valor.  That  man  will  fight  most 
bravely  who  never  fights  till  it  is  necessary,  and  who  ceases  to  fight  as  soon 
as  the  necessity  is  over. 

Lastly.  We  would  recommend  to  all  the  societies  under  our  care  not  to 
content  themselves  with  attending  devoutly  on  general  fasts,  but  to  con- 
tinue habitually  in  the  exercise  of  prayer,  and  to  have  frequent  occasional 
voluntary  meetings  for  solemn  intercession  with  God  on  the  important 
trial.  Those  who  are  immediately  exposed  to  danger  need  your  sym- 
pathy ;  and  we  learn  from  the  Scriptures  that  fervency  and  importunity 
are  the  very  characters  of  that  prayer  of  the  righteous  man  which  availeth 
much. 

We  conclude  with  our  most  earnest  prayer  that  the  God  of  heaven 
may  bless  you  in  your  temporal  and  spiritual  concerns,  and  that  the 
present  unnatural  dispute  may  be  speedily  terminated  by  an  equitable 
and  lasting  settlement  on  constitutional  principles. 

Signed  in  the  name,  presence  and  by  appointment  of  the  Synod. 

Benjamin  Hait,  Moderator. 
JSfcw  York,  May  22,  1775. 

N.  B.  The  stated  clerk  is  to  insert  the  pastoral  letter  from  a  printed 
copy.  The  Synod  agree  that  five  hundred  copies  of  said  pastoral  letter 
be  printed,  and  order  the  synodical  treasurer  to  pay  the  expenses  of  print- 
ing, which  is  to  be  by  the  Synod  refunded  at  their  next  meeting. 

^Ir.  Halsey  dissents  from  that  paragraph  of  said  letter  which  contains 
the  declarations  of  allegiance. — 1775,  pp.  466-469. 

5.  Address  to  Washington  on  his  Election  to  the  Presidency. 

On  motion.  Resolved  unanimously,  That  an  address  be  presented  from 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  Drs.  Witherspoon,  Alison  and  S.  S.  Smith  be  a 
Committee  to  draft  said  address  : 


288  rORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

To  THE  President  of  the  United  States  : 

Sir  :  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America  embrace  the  eai'liest  opportunity  in  their  power  to  test- 
ify the  lively  and  unfeigned  pleasure  which  they,  with  the  rest  of  their 
fellow-citizens,  feel,  on  your  appointment  to  the  first  office  in  the  nation. 

We  adore  almighty  God,  the  Author  of  every  perfect  gift,  who  hath 
endued  you  with  such  a  rare  and  happy  assemblage  of  talents  as  hath  ren- 
dered you  equally  necessary  to  your  country  in  Avar  and  in  peace.  Your 
military  achievemeuts  ensured  safety  and  glory  to  America  in  the  late 
arduous  conflict  for  freedom,  while  your  disinterested  conduct  and  uni- 
formly just  discernment  of  the  public  interest  gained  you  the  entire  con- 
fidence of  the  people ;  and  in  the  present  interesting  period  of  public 
afiairs  the  influence  of  your  personal  character  moderates  the  divisions 
of  political  parties,  and  promises  a  permanent  establishment  of  the  civil 
government. 

From  a  retirement  more  glorious  than  thrones  and  sceptres  you  have 
been  called  to  your,  present  elevated  station  by  the  voice  of  a  great  and  a 
free  people,  and  with  a  unanimity  of  sufli-age  that  has  few  if  any  exam- 
ples in  history.  A  man  more  ambitious  of  fame  or  less  devoted  to  his 
country  would  have  refused  an  office  in  which  his  honors  could  not  be 
augmented,  and  where  they  might  possibly  be  subject  to  a  reverse.  We 
are  happy  that  God  has  inclined  your  heart  to  give  yourself  once  more  to 
the  public.  And  we  derive  a  favorable  presage  of  the  event  from  the 
zeal  of  all  classes  of  the  people  and  their  confidence  in  your  virtues,  as 
well  as  from  the  knowledge  and  dignity  with  which  the  federal  councils 
are  filled.  But  we  derive  a  presage  even  more  flattering  from  the  piety 
of  your  character.  Public  virtue  is  the  most  certain  means  of  public 
felicity,  and  religion  is  the  surest  basis  of  virtue.  We,  therefore,  esteem  it 
a  peculiar  happiness  to  behold  in  our  Chief  Magistrate  a  steady,  uniform, 
avowed  friend  of  the  Christian  religion,  who  has  commenced  his  admin- 
istration in  rational  and  exalted  eentimeuts  of  piety,  and  wlio  in  his  pri- 
vate conduct  adorns  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  on  the  most 
public  and  solemn  occasions  devoutly  acknowledges  the  government  of 
divine  Providence. 

The  example  of  distinguished  characters  will  ever  possess  a  powerful 
and  extensive  influence  on  the  public  mind  ;  and  when  we  see  in  such  a 
conspicuous  station  the  amiable  example  of  piety  to  God,  of  benevolence 
to  men  and  a  pure  and  virtuous  patriotism,  we  naturally  hope  that  it  will 
diffuse  its  influence,  and  that  ev^entually  the  most  happy  consequences  will 
result  from  it.  To  the  force  of  imitation  we  will  endeavor  to  add  the 
wholesome  instructions  of  religion.  We  shall  consider  ourselves  as  doing 
an  acceptable  service  to  God  in  our  profession  when  we  contribute  to  ren- 
der men  sober,  honest  and  industrious  citizens,  and  the  obedient  subjects 
of  a  lawful  government.  In  these  pious  labors  we  hope  to  imitate  the 
most  worthy  of  our  brethren  of  other  Christian  denominations,  and  to  be 
imitated  by  them,  assured  that  if  we  can  by  mutual  and  generous  emula- 
tion promote  truth  and  virtue,  we  shall  render  a  great  and  important  ser- 
vice to  the  republic,  shall  receive  encouragement  from  every  wise  and  good 
citizen,  and  above  all  meet  the  approbation  of  our  divine  Master. 

AVe  pray  almighty  God  to  have  you  always  in  his  holy  keeping.     May 
he  prolong  your  valuable  life,  an  ornament  and  a  blessing  to  your  country, 
and  at  last  bestow  on  you  tlie  glorious  reward  of  a  faithful  servant. 
Signed  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly. 

John  Kodgers,  Moderator. 

Philadelphia,  May,  1789.  —1789,  p.  11. 


of  the  general  assembly.  289 

•Washington's  Reply. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  present  the  address  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  the  President  of  the  United  States  reported  that  thev  presented  the 
said  address,  agreeably  to  the  order  of  last  year,  and  received  from  the 
President  the  following  answer,  viz. : 

To  the   General  Assembly  of  the  Preshyterian   Church  in  the  United  States 

of  America. 

Gentlemen  :  I  receive  with  great  sensibility  the  testimonial  given  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States- 
of  America  of  the  lively  and  unfeigned  pleasure  experienced  by  them  on 
my  aj)pointment  to  the  first  office  in  the  nation. 

Although  it  will  be  my  endeavor  to  avoid  being  elated  by  the  too  favor- 
able opinion  which  your  kindness  for  me  may  have  induced  you  to  express 
of  the  in)portance  of  my  former  conduct  and  the  effect  of  my  future  ser- 
vices, yet,  conscious  of  the  disinterestedness  of  my  motives,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary for  me  to  conceal  the  satisfaction  I  have  felt  upon  finding  that  my 
compliance  with  the  call  of  my  country  and  my  dependence  on  the  assist- 
ance of  Heaven  to  support  me  in  my  arduous  undertakings  have,  so  far 
as  I  can  learn,  met  the  universal  apj^robation  of  my  countrymen.  While 
I  reiterate  the  professions  of  my  dependence  upon  Heaven  as  the  source  of 
all  public  and  private  blessings,  I  will  observe  that  the  general  prevalence 
of  piety,  philanthropy,  honesty,  industry  and  economy  seems,  in  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  human  affairs,  particularly  necessary  for  advancing  and 
confirming  the  happiness  of  our  country.  While  all  men  within  our  ter- 
ritories are  protected  in  worshiping  the  Deity  according  to  the  dictates  of 
their  consciences,  it  is  rationally  to  be  expected  from  them  in  return,  that 
they  will  all  be  emulous  of  evincing  the  sincerity  of  their  professions  by 
the  innocence  of  their  lives  and  the  benevolence  of  their  actions ;  for  no- 
man  who  is  profligate  in  his  morals,  or  a  bad  member  of  the  civil  commu- 
nity, can  possibly  be  a  true  Christian  or  a  credit  to  his  own  religious  society. 

I  desire  you  to  accept  my  acknowledgments  for  your  laudable  endeav- 
ors to  render  men  sober,  honest  and  good  citizens,  and  the  obedient  sub- 
jects of  a  lawful  government,  as  well  as  for  your  prayers  to  almighty 
God  for  his  blessing  on  our  common  country  and  the  humble  instrument 
which  he  has  been  pleased  to  make  use  of  in  the  administration  of  its  gov- 
ernment. George  Washington. 

—1790,  p.  24. 

6.  Pastoral  Letter  Occasioned  by  the  Results  of  the  French 

Revolution. 

A  pastoral  letter  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America  to  the  people  in  their  communion: 

Dear  Friends  and  Brethrijn:  The  aspect  of  divine  Providence,  and 
the  extraordinary  situation  of  the  world,  at  the  present  moment,  indicate 
that  a  solemn  admonition  by  the  ministers  of  religion  and  other  church 
oflficers,  in  General  Assembly  convened,  has  become  our  indispensable  duty. 
When  formidable  innovations  and  convulsions  in  Europe  threatened  de- 
struction to  morals  and  religion,  when  scenes  of  devastation  and  blood- 
shed, unexampled  in  the  history  of  modern  nations,  have  convulsed  the 
Avorld,  and  when  our  own  country  is  threatened  with  similar  calamities, 
insensibility  in  us  would  be  stupidity,  silence  would  be  criminal.  The 
watchmen  on  Zion's  walls  are  bound  by  their  commission  to  sound  a  gen- 
eral alarm  at  the  approach  of  danger.  We  therefore  desire  to  direct  your 
37 


290  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

RAvakened  attention  towards  that  bursting  storm  which  threatens  to  sweep 
before  it  the  religious  principles,  institutions  and  morals  of  our  people. 
We  are  filled  with  a  deep  concern  and  awful  dread  whilst  we  announce  it. 
as  our  real  conviction  that  the  eternal  God  has  a  controversy  with  oui 
nation,  and  is  about  to  visit  us  in  his  sore  displeasure.  A  solemn  crisis 
has  arrived  in  which  we  are  called  to  the  most  serious  contemplation  of 
the  moral  causes  which  have  produced  it,  and  the  measures  which  it  be- 
comes us  to  pursue. 

With  regard  to  the  causes  of  those  national  calamities  which  we  either 
feel  or  fear,  a  little  reflection  may  convince  us  that  these  may  be  traced  to 
a  general  defection  from  God  and  corruption  of  the  public  i)rincij)les  and 
morals.  These  usually  keep  an  equal  pace,  and  they  uniformly  precede 
the  ruin  of  nations. 

The  evidences  of  our  guilt  are,  unhappily,  too  numerous  and  glaring. 
We  perceive,  with  pain  and  fearful  apprehension,  a  general  dereliction  of 
religious  principle  and  practice  amongst  our  fellow-citizens;  a  great  de- 
parture from  the  faith  and  simple  purity  of  manners  for  which  our  fathers 
were  I'emarkable  ;  a  visible  and  prevailing  impiety  and  contempt  for  the 
laws  and  institutions  of  religion,  and  an  abounding  infidelity  which  in 
many  instances  tends  to  Atheism  itself,  which  contemptuously  rejects  God's 
eternal  Son,  our  Saviour,  ridicules  the  gospel  and  its  most  sacred  myster- 
ies, denies  the  providence  of  God,  grieves  and  insults  the  Holy  Spirit — in 
a  word,  which  assumes  a  front  of  daring  impiety  and  possesses  a  mouth 
filled  with  blasphemy. 

In  the  midst  of  the  alarming  situation  of  the  public  mind,  which  we 
have  noticed  above,  we  perceive  a  degree  of  supineness  and  inattention 
amongst  too  many  of  the  ministers  and  professors  of  Christianity  which 
seems  to  threaten  a  dissolution  of  religious  society.  Formality  and  dead- 
ness,  not  to  say  hypocrisy,  a  contempt  for  vital  godliness  and  the  spirit 
of  fervent  piety,  a  desertion  of  the  ordinances,  or  a  cold  and  unprofitable 
attendance  U])on  them,  visibly  pervade  every  part  of  the  Church,  and  cer- 
tain men  have  crept  in  amongst  us  who  have  denied  or  attempt  to  explain 
away  the  pure  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  to  introduce  pernicious  errors 
which  were  either  not  named  or  named  with  abhorrence,  but  which  have 
within  a  few  years  since  been  embraced  by  deluded  multitudes.  The 
Lord's  day  is  horribly  profaned  and  family  religion  and  instruction  la- 
mentably neglected. 

Our  ingratitude  to  God  enhances  our  dreadful  guilt.  No  people  have 
been  more  highly  favored  in  our  original  establishment,  our  increasing 
prosperity,  and  particularly  in  our  contest  during  the  Revolutionary  war 
and  its  i)rosperous  issue;  but,  alas !  we  have  basely  forgotten  our  Benefac- 
tor. We  have  abused  his  favors  and  turned  them  into  engines  of  o[)po- 
sition  against  himself.  "  He  has  nourished  and  brought  us  up  as  children, 
and  we  have  rebelled  against  him." 

The  profligacy  and  corruption  of  the  public  morals  have  advanceil  with 
a  progress  proportioned  to  our  declension  in  religion.  Profancness  pri<le, 
luxury,  injustice,  intemperance,  lewdness  and  every  species  of  debauchery 
and  loose  indulgence  greatly  abound.  And  "  shall  not  the  Lord  visit  us 
for  these  things?  Shall  not  liissoul  be  avenged  on  such  a  nation  as  this?" 
Are  not  our  crimes  enormous  as  they  are  numerous?  Are  they  not  pecu- 
liarly aggravated?  Have  we  not  known  our  Master's  will,  and  refused, 
or  at  least  neglected,  to  do  it?  Have  we  not  possessed  uncommon  means 
of  information  with  regard  to  our  duty  without  a  proportionate  improve- 
ment? And  have  not  our  uncommon  advantages  been  abused  without 
shame  or  remorse?     As  surely  as  there  is  a  righteous  God,  so  surely  will 


OF   THE   GEXERAL   ASSEMBLY.  291 

he  visit  us  in  his  just  displeasure,  unless  his  grace  prevent  b}'  awakening 
us  to  a  sense  of  our  guilt  and  recalling  us  to  the  practice  of  our  duty. 
Our  circumstances  loudly  demand  a  puBlic  and  solemn  acknowledgment 
of  God  as  our  moral  Governor  and  righteous  Judge.  It  is  time  to  cease 
from  man,  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils,  to  look  beyond  second  causes, 
and  openly  confess  the  hand  and  agency  and  government  of  God  in  the 
world.  Let  Christians  unite  more  cordially  and  openly  in  adhering  to 
their  i\[aster"s  cause  and  opposing  infidelity  in  all  its  forms.  God  hath  a 
controversy  with  us;  let  us  prostrate  ourselves  before  him.  Let  the  deep- 
est humiliation  and  the  sincerest  repentance  mark  our  sense  of  national 
sins;  and  let  us  not  forget,  at  the  same  time,  the  personal  sins  of  each  in- 
dividual that  have  contributed  to  increase  the  mighty  mass  of  corruption. 
Let  the  ministers  of  religion  weep  and  intercede  for  themselves  and  a 
guilty  people.  Let  all  descriptions  of  persons  lament  their  iniquities,  and 
reform.  Let  us  practice  all  righteousness.  Let  us  lie  earnest  and  fervent 
in  prayer  that  God,  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  would  pour  out 
his  gracious  Spirit  upon  ministers  and  people,  and  that  he  would  revive 
his  work,  not  only  amongst  our  churches,  but  amongst  all  denominations 
of  Christians,  until  the  blessed  promises  and  predictions,  with  regard  to 
the  extent  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  be  completely  fulfilled.  Let  us 
conduct  ourselves  as  quiet  and  peaceable  citizens,  submitting  conscien- 
tiously to  the  laws  of  our  own  making  and  the  government  of  our  own 
choice.  Let  us  treat  with  candor  and  respect  our  civil  rulers.  Let  us 
reflect  that  the  Scripture  precepts  upon  this  subject  are  applicable  to  no 
people,  if  not  to  us,  under  a  representative  government ;  yet  as  in  the 
present  imperfect  state  of  human  nature  differences  in  opinion  must  exist, 
let  us  carefully  cultivate  the  sentiment  of  brotherly  kindness  and  mutual 
forbearance  and  charity. 

With  a  view  to  give  the  greater  effect  to  the  exhortation  and  admon- 
itions in  this  letter  expressed,  we  recommend  that  the  last  Thursday  of 
August  next  be  observed  in  all  the  congregations  under  our  care  as  a  day 
of  solemn  humiliation,  fasting  and  prayer,  and  that  the  ministers  of  our 
communion  do  then  read  this  letter  to  the  people  of  their  charge,  and 
enforce  the  truth  it  contains  in  such  discourses,  founded  on  the  word  of 
God,  as  shall  appear  best  adapted  to  effect  so  desirable  a  purpose. — 1798, 
p.  152. 

7.  On  the  Disturbances  in  Kentucky  and  the  South-west. 

Christian  Brethren  :  United  to  you  in  the  bonds  of  love  and  of 
Christ,  we  feel  all  the  constraint  of  the  ties  which  bind  us  to  you  as  one 
body  in  our  common  Lord.  Assembled  by  the  good  providence  of  God 
in  the  supreme  judicatory  of  the  Church,  we  feel  the  duty  imposed  upon 
us,  as  the  guardians  of  the  peace,  order  and  purity  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
of  addressiiig  you  on  the  great  subject  of  our  common  salvation. 

Dear  brethren,  we  still  have  cause  of  mutual  congratulations  and  joy 
on  account  of  the  increasing  prosperity  of  Zion  in  these  lands,  which  not 
long  since  were  so  dry  and  barren.  They  are  in  many  places  watered 
with  the  abundant  dews  of  heaven,  and  righteousness  has  run  down  the 
streets  of  our  Jerusalem  like  a  mighty  stream.  God  has  appeared  to 
revive  his  cause  in  the  midst  of  the  years  of  great  declension,  and  in  the 
midst  of  deserved  wrath  he  lias  remembered  mercy.  In  many  parts  of  our 
Church  God  has  poured  out  a  spirit  of  prayer  upon  his  people,  and  has 
been  graciously  pleased  to  answer  their  prayers  by  a  copious  effusion  of 
his  blessed  Spirit.  The  boldness  of  infidelity  and  the  profligacy  of  im- 
piety have  been  greatly  repressed ;  and  though  here  and  there  we  still  be- 


292  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

hold  its  violent  struggles  exerted  against  the  Saviour,  they  appear  to  be 
only  the  convulsive  sti'uggles  of  despair.  The  truths  of  revelation  are 
gradually  acquiring  a  decided  ascendency  in  all  parts  of  our  land,  and  in 
many  they  are  daily  coming  home  to  the  hearts  of  men  with  uncommon 
evidence  and  power. 

For  more  particular  information  on  these  subjects  we  refer  you,  breth- 
ren, to  that  summary  of  the  state  of  religion  within  the  bounds  of  the 
General  Assembly  which  accompanies  this  letter.  You  will  there  per- 
ceive, however,  that  amidst  so  many  subjects  of  gratitude  and  praise  to 
almighty  God,  for  the  riches  of  his  grace  displayed  in  the  revivals  of  the 
spirit  of  religion  in  various  portions  of  our  Church,  we  have  also  some 
causes  of  deep  affliction  and  regret  mingled  with  them.  Human  frailty 
is  apt  to  mar  and  disfigure,  in  some  degree,  whatever  it  touches,  and  the 
great  adversary  of  souls  and  of  Christ,  taking  advantage  of  the  passions 
of  convinced  sinners,  of  the  hypocrisy  of  deceivers  and  of  the  imperfec- 
tions even  of  the  best  men,  sets  himself,  often  too  effectually,  to  tarnish  the 
beauty  and  glory  of  the  work  of  God, 

An  unhappy  separation  of  five,  who  had  formerly  appeared  to  be  zeal- 
ous and  successful  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  in  union  Avith  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky,  has  given  no  small  occasion  of  grief  to  the  churches.  Too 
great  an  ardor  of  spirit  for  what  they  conceived  to  be  the  truth,  and  per- 
haps too  great  heat  concerning  the  meaning  and  importance  of  words, 
have  created  a  division  which  Christian  charity  should  exert  all  its  powers 
to  heal.  We  beseech  you,  brethren,  yet  receive  one  another  in  the  spirit 
of  love  and  forbearance.  Remember  how  divisions  and  contests  between 
men  engaged  in  the  same  glorious  cause  will  wound  the  hearts  of  sincere 
Christians  and  distract  the  minds  of  the  weak ;  remember  how  apt  they 
are  to  embitter  the  meek  spirit  of  the  gospel  and  to  quench  the  zeal  of 
genuine  piety  in  the  unholy  passions  of  strife  and  contention  ;  remember, 
we  entreat  you,  for  the  love  of  Christ,  how  the  adversary  will  blaspheme 
and  rejoice  and  the  Redeemer  be  wounded  in  the  house  of  his  friends. 
Brethren,  reunite  your  hearts  and  your  labors  in  this  blessed  work,  and 
let  not  its  progress  be  arrested  or  its  glory  impaired  by  the  baneful  influ- 
ence of  your  divisions.  Meet  together  for  the  purposes  of  conciliation, 
using  the  counsels  and  aid  of  the  Committee  which  the  General  Assembly 
has  thought  proper  to  send  to  you,  to  endeavor  to  repair  so  undesirable 
and  dangerous  a  breach  in  the  walls  of  our  Zion.  If  you  love  the  Lord, 
if  you  love  and  pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem,  will  you  not  sacrifice 
much  to  these  objects  so  dear  to  every  real  Christian  ? 

With  not  less  i-egret  have  we  heard  of  certain  extravagances  in  the 
exercises  and  agitations  of  many  persons  who  in  tliis  work  otherwise  so 
desirable  have  once  been  the  subjects  of  strong  religious  impressions. 
That  the  sudden  bhize  of  divine  truth  upon  a  mind  hitherto  covered  with 
thick  darkness  ;  that  a  deep  conviction  of  guilt  and  sense  of  the  wrath  of 
God  against  an  offending  worm  of  the  dust,  especially  when  these  appre- 
hensions are  raised  to  the  highest  pitch  by  the  power  of  sympathy,  and 
the  panic  excited  by  the  emotions  of  a  vast  assembly,  should  often  pro- 
duce strong  bodily  affections,  is  not  surprising  to  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  human  economy  ;  that  the  transports  of  a  mind  suddenly  brought 
out  of  darkness  into  God's  marvelous  light,  suddenly  rai.sed  from  the 
borders  of  despair  to  the  ecstasies  of  religious  hope  and  joy,  should  be 
accompanied  with  a  similar  influence  on  the  nervous  system,  is  not  incre- 
dible. 

The  preceding  are  not  pretended  to  be  assigned  as  the  certain  or  the 
sole  reasons  of  many  extraordinary  appearances  in  some  of  our  Southern 


OF   THE  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  293 

churches.  It  is  sufficient  to  answer  the  views  of  the  Assembly  to  show 
that  causes  are  adequate  to  the  production  of  the  highest  effects  of  this 
kind,  in  order  to  preserve  them  from  the  unjust  imputation  of  a  fanat- 
ical or  demoniacal  influence.  But  when  bodily  agitations,  which  in  most 
instances  disturb  the  serious,  sober  and  rational  exercises  of  the  mind, 
instead  of  beiug  soothed  and  restrained  within  the  bounds  of  decency,  are 
encouraged  and  excited  by  those  who  lead  the  worsliip  and  some  who  join 
in  it,  they  very  easily  run  into  excesses  highly  reproachful  to  religion. 
When  they  go  into  antic  gestures,  ridiculous  contortions,  to  movements  of 
apparent  levity,  and  contrary  to  propriety  and  religious  order,  and  which 
resemble  the  effects  of  delirium,  or  of  a  spirit  very  different  from  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel,  these  are  evidences  of  a  wild  enthusiasm  whose  extrav- 
agances are  infinitely  various  and  unaccountable.  When  each  person  has 
a  psalm,  a  prayer,  a  triumphant  exultation,  in  the  public  worship  of  God, 
is  not  this  the  very  evil  which  once  took  place  in  the  Corinthian  church, 
which  the  apostle  severely  reproves,  saying,  "  God  is  not  a  God  of  confu- 
sion, but  of  oi'der"?  In  genuine  and  rational  religion,  however  high  and 
fervent  may  be  its  affections,  "  the  spirits  of  the  prophets  are  subject  to 
the  prophets."  And  if  so,  surely  this  power  is  still  more  necessary  for 
the  sake  of  order  in  every  ordinary  Christian. 

We  strongly  bear  our  testimony  against  those  j^ersons  who  pretend  to 
immediate  impulses  and  revelations  from  heaven,  those  divine  communi- 
cations which  were  given  only  to  the  prophets  and  apostles  Avho  were 
appointed  by  God  to  reveal  to  mankind  the  way  of  eternal  life.  When 
men  presume  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  contrary  to  the  established  order  of 
providence,  interferes  by  particular  impulse  to  direct  them  in  all  the  com- 
mon affairs  of  life,  when  they  deem  themselves  to  be  impelled  by  him  to 
particular  acts  or  particular  religious  exercises,  contrary  to  the  established 
order  of  the  gospel  and  the  obvious  duties  of  the  moment ;  when,  finally, 
they  pretend  to  miraculous  powers  or  prophetic  influences  and  the  fore- 
telling of  future  events,  all  these  are  evidences  of  a  wild  enthusiastic  spirit, 
and  tend  eventually  to  destroy  the  authority  of  the  word  of  God  as  the  sole 
rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Ecclesiastical  history  furnishes  us  with  many 
examples  of  such  enthusiastic  impulses,  following  great  revivals  of  relig- 
ion, which  have  ever  been  strongly  and  uniformly  condemned  by  the 
voice  of  the  whole  Church,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Fi'eneh  prophets,  the 
fanatics  of  Munster,  and  we  may  add  the  fanatical  Jews  who  sprung  up 
in  such  numbers,  and  persevered  with  such  obstinacy,  even  while  the  dis- 
asters of  their  city  and  their  temple  were  daily  refuting  their  ])rcdictions. 
And  it  will  be  a  subject  of  sincere  lamentation  to  us  if  any  minister  in  our 
communion  should  unhappily  be  found  to  encourage  such  great  evils.  But 
Ave  hope  better  things  of  you,  though  we  thus  speak. 

Dear  brethren  and  fellow-laborers  in  the  gospel  of  our  common  Lord, 
study  to  prevent  excesses  so  dishonorable  and  contrary  to  the  beautiful 
order  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  or  zealously  endeavor  to  repress  them 
wherever  they  begin  to  appear.  In  a  great  and  general  inflammation  of 
the  human  mind  we  ought  not  to  be  astonished  if  these  fervors,  operating 
sometimes  on  weakness,  sometimes  on  an  enthusiastic  temperament,  should 
impel  a  few  men  to  very  considerable  errors  and  excesses.  Such  have 
happened  in  every  revival  of  religion,  and  in  even  every  great  political 
commotion,  and  such  especially  happened  in  various  instances  in  the  mem- 
orable and  glorious  reformation  of  the  Christian  Church  from  the  s])irit- 
ual  thraldom  and  the  errors  of  popery.  By  common  concert  and  counsel 
endeavor  to  restrain  every  irregularity  in  the  worship  of  God  at  its  very 
commencement.     Disorders  of  an  enthusiastic  spirit  may  often  be  checked 


29-i  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

in  the  beginning  with  facility,  which,  when  suffered  to  progress,  come  at 
length  to  overleap  all  the  barriers  of  authority  and  burst  through  all  the 
bounds  of  order  and  decency.  Solemnly  bear  in  mind,  brethren,  how 
much  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  has  committed  his  glory  and  the 
glory  of  his  holy  cause  in  the  world  to  your  activity  and  your  faithful- 
ness, to  your  prudence  as  well  as  your  zeal. 

And  now,  fellow-Christians,  of  every  order  and  condition  in  life,  we 
entreat  you  earnestly  to  co-operate  with  the  public  servants  of  Christ  in 
promoting  the  glory  and  extension  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  Faith- 
fully improve  the  precious  season  of  divine  grace  which  God  is  now  be- 
stowing on  his  Church. 

By  your  prayers  draw  down  the  blessings  of  Heaven  on  your  families, 
on  the  Church,  on  your  country,  on  the  world.  God  will  appear  for  his 
people  with  a  great  salvation,  but  for  all  these  things  will  he  be  "  inquired 
of  by  the  house  of  Israel  to  do  it  for  them."  Let  your  prayers  for  the 
prosperity  of  Zion  continually  ascend  in  secret  to  the  throne  of  grace. 
Promote  and  encourage  assemblies  for  social  prayer.  For  Jerusalem's 
sake  rest  not,  and  for  Zion's  sake  hold  not  your  peace.  AVhenever  God 
has  appeared  in  any  signal  display  of  his  mercy  to  the  Church,  he  has 
usually,  in  the  first  place,  poured  out  "  on  the  house  of  David  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  a  spirit  of  grace  and  supplication."  That  we 
may  continue  to  wait  at  his  footstool,  he  condescends  to  bestow  his  special 
and  extraordinary  grace  in  answer  to  the  prayers  which  he  himself  has 
inspired. 

Parents,  train  up  your  children  "  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord."  Your  houses  should  be  temples  of  the  living  God,  in  which 
should  ascend  to  his  mercy-seat  the  continual  incense  of  your  daily  sacri- 
fices. Pious  pai'ents  can  most  affectionately  preach  to  the  hearts  of  their 
children  by  their  affectionate  precepts  and  their  holy  example.  Your 
instructions  will  best  prepare  them  to  receive  benefit  from  the  public  ordi- 
nances of  religion.  And  oh,  can  you  see  those  dearest  portions  of  your- 
selves ready  to  perish  without  earnestly  reaching  forth  a  hand  to  "  pluck 
them  as  brands  from  the  burning"? 

"  Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord."  You  are  the  future  hope 
of  the  Church  and  of  tlie  world.  Your  early  piety  will  be  your  glory 
and  your  happiness.  And  remember  that  shortly  the  glory  of  your  Crea- 
tor and  Redeemer  in  the  world  will  rest  with  you. 

Beloved  brethren.  Christians  of  every  class,  "  be  ye  steadfast  and  im- 
movable, always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord."  "Adorn  the  doc- 
trine of  God  your  Saviour"  by  the  purity,  the  simplicity  and  sanctity  of 
your  lives,  that  the  enemies  of  the  cross  may  have  no  occasion  to  blas- 
pheme the  Master,  by  whose  name  you  arc  called.  Let  God  witness  the 
humility  of  your  spirit,  the  sincerity  and  fervor  of  your  devotion.  Let 
the  world  witness  your  ministerial  charity  and  love,  that  others,  "  seeing 
your  good  works,  may  glorify  your  Father  in  heaven."  We  pray,  dear 
brethren,  that  God  may  ever  have  you  in  his  holy  keeping.  And  now  to 
Him  that  is  able  to  keep  you  from  falling,  and  to  present  you  faultless 
before  the  throne  of  his  glory  with  exceeding  joy,  to  the  only  Avise  God 
our  Saviour,  be  glorv,  majesty,  dominion  and  j^ower,  both  now  and  ever. 
Amen  1—1804,  pp.  314-317. 

8.  Pastokal  Letter  on  the  Sabbath. 

The  Committee  ajipointed  to  draught  a  pastoral  letter  to  the  churches 
under  the  care  of  the  Assembly,  in  relation  to  the  due  observance  of  the 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  295 

Sabbath,  reported  the  following,  ^vhich,  being  read  and  amended,  was 
adopted,  viz. : 

Dear  Brethren  :  From  the  printed  report  transmitted  to  you  on  the 
state  of  religion  in  our  bounds,  you  will  perceive  the  prosperity  which  God 
has  vouchsafed  to  our  churches  the  past  year ;  and  you  will,  we  trust, 
unite  with  us  in  praise  and  thanksgiving  to  his  throne  for  his  rich  and 
condescending  mercy.  It  is  our  duty  to  rejoice  in  this  manifestation  of 
the  divine  favor,  but  let  us  rejoice  w'ith  fear  and  trembling.  Many  causes 
still  exist  which  threaten  to  cloud  our  prosperity  and  to  cover  us  with 
mourning.  Lukewarmness,  intemperance,  profaneness.  Sabbath-breaking, 
are  prevailing  sins  in  our  land,  and  call  aloud  for  our  vigilance,  our  ex- 
ertions and  prayers. 

While  the  Assembly  would  lift  up  a  warning  voice  against  every  kind 
of  iniquity,  and  recommend  such  measures  as  promise  in  any  degree  to 
correct  the  evils  of  which  they  complain,  they  deem  it  proper  at  this  time 
to  direct  the  attention  of  the  churches  more  especially  to  the  proflmation 
of  the  Lord's  day,  a  sin  to  which  many  are  particularly  exposed  from  the 
present  calamitous  state  of  our  country. 

Brethren,  the  God  whom  we  worship  is  a  jealous  God — jealous  for  the 
honor  of  his  institutions,  but  for  none  more  than  for  that  sacred  day  which 
he  has  commanded  to  be  solemnly  and  exclusively  appropriated  to  his  ser- 
vice. Any  profanation  of  this  day  is  an  immediate  affront  to  his  holiness, 
and  when  committed  deliberately  and  openly  may  be  classed  among  those 
presumptuous  sins  against  which  he  has  given  us  the  strongest  proofs  of 
his  displeasure. 

The  Lord  has  instituted  the  Sabbath  a  sign  between  him  and  his  people 
— a  visible  test  of  their  sincerity.  If  they  violate  the  duties  of  this  day,  or 
fold  their  hands  in  supineness  and  indifference  when  they  are  violated  by 
others,  he  will  regard  their  offerings  as  hypocritical  and  vain.  This  con- 
sideration deserves  your  serious  attention,  and  ought  to  awaken  and  ani- 
mate your  zeal.  But  it  is  more  important  that  you  should  reflect  that  the 
sanctification  of  the  Lord's  day  stands  in  close  connection  with  all  the 
institutions  of  religion  and  with  the  dearest  interests  of  society.  The 
visible  worship  of  God  can  no  longer  be  maintained  than  a  sacred  regard 
to  this  day  is  secured.  In  every  past  period  of  the  world  it  has  been  seeu 
that  a  departure  from  the  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath  has  been  fol- 
lowed by  a  general  neglect  of  religious  duty,  and  this  by  a  relaxation  both 
of  public  and  private  duty,  deei)ly  to  be  deplored  as  it  respects  the  peace 
and  good  order  of  society,  and  the  spiritual  and  eternal  interests  of  man- 
kind. We  hold  as  important  maxims,  never  to  be  lost  sight  of,  that  with- 
out the  Sabbath  there  will  be  no  religion — without  religion  there  will  be 
no  morality — and  that  where  morality,  sound  and  correct  morality,  ceases 
to  form  the  basis  of  the  public  manners,  the  strongest  bonds  of  society  are 
dissolved,  and  nothing  is  to  be  expected  but  mutual  jealousy  and  hatred, 
with  all  the  crimes  and  miseries  to  which  this  i^ainful  and  disordered  state 
of  things  will  lead. 

Desirous,  brethren,  to  engage  you  in  a  vigorous  and  combined  effort  to 
maintain  the  authority  and  influence  of  the  Sabbath,  we,  as  a  judicature 
of  Christ's  Church,  address  you,  and  earnestly  entreat  you  to  renew  your 
attention  to  this  subject.  Take  it  into  your  serious  and  prayerful  con- 
sideration, view  it  in  all  its  extent  and  relations,  nuirk  its  connection  with 
the  temporal  and  spiritual  interests  of  mankind — its  aspect  toward  present 
and  future  generations.  What  shall  become  of  our  children,  whose  spirit- 
ual and  eternal  destiny  we  should  chiefly  regard,  if  we  suffer  the  holy 
Sabbath  to  be  violated  and  its  sacred  influence  lost  ? 


28  G  FORM   OF   GOVERX.ArENT.  ' 

Resolve,  then,  brethren,  for  yourselves  and  for  those  committed  to  your 
care,  that  you  will  strictly  observe  the  duties  of  this  day,  doing  nothing 
\vhich  is  incompatible  with  that  religious  sanctification  of  it  so  minutely 
explained  and  so  solemnly  enjoined  in  the  word  of  God.  Let  there  be  no 
coming  in  or  going  out  among  you,  no  bearing  of  burdens  on  the  Lord's 
day.  Piously  abstain  in  thought,  word  and  deed  from  all  your  worldly 
avocations  and  amusements,  and  let  the  whole  of  this  consecrated  time  bo 
a  rest  unto  God,  employed  only  in  the  ])ublic  and  private  exercises  of  re- 
ligion, except  such  portions  of  it  as  are  obviously  due  to  works  of  necessity 
and  mercy. 

Where  it  is  prudent  and  practicable,  we  recommend  that  societies  be 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  encouragement  and  vigilance,  and. 
especially  for  guarding  the  Sabbath  against  encroachments  made  uj)on  it 
by  those  who  are  unhappily  ignorant  of  its  blessings,  and  regardless  of  its 
authority  and  design.  We  invite  to  this  subject  the  attention  of  parents 
and  guardians,  of  ministers  and  elders  of  the  Church.  We  entreat  every 
friend  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  every  one  who  regards  the  welfare  of 
society,  whatever  may  be  his  capacity  or  relation,  to  exert  his  influence  in 
promoting  a  strict  and  devout  observance  of  the  Lord's  day. 

Need  we  remind  you,  Christian  brethren,  of  the  solemn  command  of 
Jehovah  to  "remember  the  Sabbath  day  and  keep  it  holy"?  Need  we 
call  to  your  recollection  the  awful  tlireatenings  which  he  has  denounced 
and  executed  against  those  who  have  voluntarily  disregarded  this  com- 
mand ?  You  know  the  history  of  his  providence;  you  know  that  for  this 
very  sin,  among  others,  his  ancient  people,  the  descendants  of  Abraham, 
were  cast  out  of  his  sight,  and  their  land  made  to  enjoy  that  rest  in  deso- 
lation which  they  had  refused  to  consecrate  to  him  in  the  observance  of 
days  prescribed  for  his  worship.  We  conclude  by  bringing  to  your  re- 
membrance those  gracious  words  of  the  prophet:  "If  thou  turn  away  thy 
foot  from  polluting  the  Sabbath,  from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy  day, 
and  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  honorable,  and  shall 
honor  him,  not  doing  thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor 
speaking  thine  own  w'ords  ;  then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord, 
and  I  will  cause  thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  -^f  the  earth,  and  feed 
thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy  father,  for  tl. .  .nouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it." 

It  w"as  recommended  by  the  Assembly  that  the  ministers,  on  the  day  on 
which  they  read  the  foregoing  letter,  preach  a  sermon  on  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath.— 1814,  pp.  569,  570. 

9.  Pastoral  Lettp:r  ox  Christian  Activity. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  to 
the  churches  under  their  care,  u-lsh  grace,  mercy  and  peoce  from  God  the 
Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Very  dear  Biuctiiren:  Assembled  by  the  good  providence  of  God  as 
the  supreme  judicatory  of  our  Church,  we  are  constrained  to  address  you, 
and  to  endeavor  to  impart  to  you  some  of  those  feelings  to  which  our  coun- 
sels have  given  rise,  and  which  are  suggested  by  the  present  aspect  of  the 
Church  and  the  world. 

From  the  printed  "narrative  of  the  state  of  religion  within  our  bounds," 
which  accompanies  this  address,  you  will  learn  that  although  we  have 
heard  of  some  facts  which  are  matter  of  regret  and  humiliation,  "tlie  gen- 
eral aspect  of  the  Church  of  God  has  never  been  more  favorable,  within 
our  knowledge,  than  at  the  present  time."     The  gradual  increase  of  gos- 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  297 

pel  liglit,  the  extension  of  the  blessings  of  education  to  all  classes  and  ages, 
the  growing  diffusion  of  missionary  zeal  and  exertions,  the  rapid  multipli- 
cation of  Bible  societies,  and,  through  their  instrumentality,  the  wonderful 
spread  of  the  knowledge  of  the  word  of  life  in  languages  and  countries 
hitherto  strangers  to  the  sacred  volume,  the  numerous  associations  for 
evangelical,  benevolent  and  humane  purposes  which  have  arisen  and  are 
daily  arising  in  every  part  of  our  bounds,  and,  above  all,  the  converting 
and  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  have  been  poured  out 
for  some  time  past,  and  especially  during  the  last  year,  in  many  of  the 
congregations  belonging  to  our  communion,  form  an  assemblage  which 
cannot  fail  to  be  in  a  high  degree  interesting  and  animating  to  the  friends 
of  pure  and  undefiled  religion — an  assemblage  which,  while  it  gratifies  for 
the  present  the  pious  and  benevolent  heart,  must  excite  the  most  pi-ecious 
hopes  for  the  future.  Such  mighty  plans  of  benevolence,  such  wonderful 
combinations,  such  a  general  movement  of  mankind  in  promoting  the 
great  cause  of  human  happiness,  were  surely  never  before  witnessed.  The 
days  of  darkness,  we  fondly  hope,  are  passing  away,  and  the  period  draw- 
ing nigh  when  the  angel,  bearing  the  trumpet  of  the  everlasting  gospel, 
shall  carry  his  holy,  life-giving  message  to  every  kindred  and  people  and 
nation  and  tongue. 

The  General  Assembly,  standing,  as  it  is  their  privilege  to  do,  at  the 
confluence  of  so  many  streams  of  information  on  these  great  subjects,  while 
they  communicate  a  summary  of  this  information  to  the  churches  under 
their  care,  desire  to  accompany  it  with  a  word  of  aflectionate  exhortation, 
the  object  of  which  is  to  engage  every  heart  and  every  hand  in  promoting,  to 
the  utmost  of  their  power,  the  interests  of  that  kingdom  which  is  not  meat 
and  drink,  but  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

At  such  a  period,  dear  brethren,  let  it  be  impressed  upon  the  mind  of 
every  member  of  our  Church  that  we  are  called  to  humble,  diligent,  per- 
severing exertion.  Much  has  been  done,  but  much  more  remains  to  be 
done,  and  much,  we  hope,  will  be  done  by  us.  Every  day  makes  a  de- 
mand upon  the  time,  the  aflections,  the  prayers,  the  property  and  the  in- 
fluence of  the  people  of  God  which  it  would  be  ingratitude,  cruelty — nay, 
treachery — to  repel.  Let  every  one,  then,  in  his  place  and  proportion,  en- 
deavor daily  to  add  something  to  the  common  amount  of  eflbrt  to  prepare 
the  way  of  the  Lord.  No  one  can  tell  ho\v  much  it  may  please  the  sov- 
ereign Disposer  of  events  to  accomplish  by  means  of  the  humblest  exer- 
tions. This,  however,  we  know,  that  those  who  are  steadfast,  unmovable, 
always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  shall  find  that  their  labor  is 
not  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 

Let  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  our  communion  be  everywhere  found 
engaged  in  preaching  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  with  affectionate  zeal. 
Let  tliem  go  before  the  people  in  every  holy  example  and  in  every  pious 
and  benevolent  exertion.  Let  it  be  manifest  to  all  that  they  seek  not 
their  own,  but  the  things  which  are  Jesus  Christ's.  Surely  there  never 
was  a  time  when  the  watchmen  on  the  walls  of  Zion  were  more  solemnly 
bound  to  give  themselves  wholly  to  their  work,  or  when  they  had  more 
encouragement  to  plan  and  labor  for  their  Master's  honor.  Surely  there 
never  was  a  time  when  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  guide  the  exertions  of 
their  fellow-men  had  more  reason  to  feel  their  responsibility,  and  to  ask 
for  wisdom  and  strength  from  above.  Let  ministers  take  great  and  com- 
prehensive views  of  the  signs  of  the  times  and  the  prospects  of  the  Church, 
and  while  they  point  out  the  way  to  those  who  are  willing  to  be  workers 
together  with  God,  let  it  be  seen  that  it  is  their  meat  and  drink  to  share  in 
the  labors,  as  well  as  in  the  rewards,  of  their  Kedeemer's  kingdom. 
38 


298  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Let  all  the  members  of  our  churches  consider  themselves  as  called  upon, 
in  their  several  stations,  to  do  something,  to  do  much,  for  Christ.  Millions 
of  our  race  are  still  sunk  in  ignorance  and  depravity.  Dark  and  waste 
places  abound,  even  in  our  most  populous  and  enlightened  neighborhoods, 
and  still  more  in  the  remote  portions  of  our  Church.  In  very  large  dis- 
tricts within  the  United  States  there  are  no  Bibles,  no  Sabbaths,  no  sanc- 
tuaries, none  to  show  men  the  way  of  salvation.  Can  a  single  heart  be 
unimpressed  or  a  single  hand  idle  while  such  calls  for  compassion  and 
exertion  abound?  No,  brethren  ;  these  obligations,  we  trust,  are  too  ten- 
der not  to  be  felt,  these  calls  too  solemn  not  to  be  heard.  Be  entreated, 
then,  with  one  accord  to  come  forward  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the 
mighty.  Embrace  every  opportunity,  to  the  extent  of  the  ability  which 
God  has  given  you,  to  form  and  vigorously  support  missionary  associa- 
tions, Bible  societies,  plans  for  the  distribution  of  religious  tracts,  and  ex- 
ertions for  extending  the  benefits  of  knowledge,  and  especially  of  spiritual 
knowledge,  to  all  ages  and  classes  of  persons  around  you.  Exert  your- 
selves individually  and  in  combination  to  oppose  all  those  degi-ading  and 
destructive  vices  over  which  we  have  so  long  had  reason  to  mourn.  En- 
deavor by  your  example  and  your  influence  to  discourage  the  unnecessary 
use  of  spirituous  liquors,  to  promote  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's  day, 
to  guard  against  a  criminal  conformity  to  the  world,  to  promote  a  general 
attendance  on  the  means  of  grace,  and  to  advance  the  great  interests  of 
truth,  purity  and  righteousness  in  all  manner  of  conversation. 

In  these  'hallowed  labors  let  none  refuse  to  join.  It  is  among  the  dis- 
tinguished glories  of  the  commencement  of  the  nineteenth  century  that 
pious  females  are  more  extensively  associated,  and  more  actively  useful,  in 
j^romoting  evangelical  and  benevolent  objects  than  in  any  former  period 
of  the  world.  Let  them  go  on  with  increasing  activity  and  ardor  in  these 
exertions,  so  worthy  of  women  professing  godliness,  and  so  useful  to  man- 
kind. And  let  them  by  precept,  as  well  as  by  example,  train  up  their 
daughters  in  principles  and  habits  so  well  calculated  to  elevate  the  female 
character  and  to  enlarge  the  sum  of  human  happiness. 

Let  not  even  lisping  childhood  or  tender  youth  be  idle.  Let  every 
Bible  class,  every  school  association,  every  employment  which  brings  your 
beloved  children  together,  be  made  a  medium  for  conveying  to  their  minds 
that  benign  impression  which  shall  enlist  them  on  the  side  of  truth  and 
of  the  Church  of  God  from  the  earliest  dawn  of  reason,  Happy  congre- 
gations, happy  families,  in  which  even  babes  and  sucklings  shall  be  taught, 
as  in  times  of  old,  to  sing,  Hosanna  to  him  that  cometli  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord!    Hosanna  in  the  highest! 

In  a  word,  let  your  plans  of  co-operation  in  carrying  on  these  works  of 
piety  and  benevolence  end)race  every  class  and  every  age,  aiid  be  pur- 
sued with  growing  ardor,  until  every  congregation  within  our  bounds  sliall 
be  completely  organized  for  exertion  to  promote  the  temporal  and  eternal 
welfare  of  men — until  eveiy  heart  that  can  lift  a  prayer  to  the  throne  of 
grace,  and  every  hand  that  can  cast  a  mite  into  the  treasury  of  God,  sliall 
be  fully  engaged  in  this  mighty  effort  of  Christian  charity — until  the  des- 
ert shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose — until  men,  under  the  reign  of 
millennial  glory,  we  trust  not  far  distant,  shall  live  together  as  brethren 
indeed,  having  no  other  wishes  than  to  promote  their  common  happiness 
and  to  glorify  their  common  God, 

To  these  eff'orts  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  Christ  join  fervent  united 
prayer.  We  need  not  remind  you,  brethren,  that  all  Zion's  blessings 
come  down  from  her  King  and  Head,  and  that  he  will  be  inquired  of  by 
his  people  to  do  for  them  that  which  they  need  and  desire,     AVe  are  per- 


OF   THE   GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  299 

suaded  that  all  those  periods  and  churches  which  have  been  favored  with 
special  revivals  of  religion  have  been  also  distinguished  by  visible  union 
and  concert  in  prayer.  We  entreat  you,  brethren,  to  cherish  this  union 
and  concert.  We  especially  exhort  you  to  pay  renewed  and  more  solemn 
attention  to  the  monthly  concert  in  prayer  recommended  by  a  former 
Assembly,  and  so  generally  and  happily  observed.  Has  not  the  Saviour 
promised  that  if  any  two  of  liis  people  agree  as  touching  anything  they 
desire  he  will  grant  their  request? 

What  blessings,  then,  may  we  not  hope  will  be  shed  down  upon  the 
Church,  when  the  thousands  of  our  Israel  are  found  bowing  together  be- 
fore the  throne  of  mercy,  saying,  "  For  Zion's  sake  we  will  not  hold  our 
peace,  and  for  Jerusalem's  sake  we  will  not  rest  until  the  righteousness 
thereof  go  forth  as  brightness,  and  the  salvation  thereof  as  a  lamp  that 
burnetii  " ! 

Endeavor  to  maintain  a  spirit  of  harmony  with  all  denominations  of 
Christians.  AVhile  you  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints,  and  bear  a  faithful  testimony  to  the  apostolic  doctrine  and 
order  which  we  profess  to  receive,  let  no  bigotry  or  prejudice,  no  party 
rancor  or  offensive  crimination,  pollute  your  testimony.  Remember  that 
the  period  is  approaching  when  all  real  Christians  shall  see  eye  to  eye, 
when  they  shall  be  united  in  opinion  as  well  as  in  affection.  Cherish  now 
the  sentiments  which  corresjxnid  with  this  delightful  anticipation.  Let 
all  bitterness  and  wrath  and  evil-speaking  be  put  away  from  among  you, 
with  all  malice,  and  continually  look  and  pray  for  the  happy  period  when 
believers  of  every  name  shall  agree  to  act  together  upon  the  great  princi- 
ples of  our  common  salvation. 

Finally,  dear  brethren,  be  united  among  yourselves.  If  you  desire  to 
profit  by  your  spiritual  privileges,  if  you  hope  to  be  instrumental  in  pro- 
moting the  cause  of  Christ  or  to  be  honored  with  his  blessing,  cherish  har- 
mony of  affection  and  union  of  effort.  Besides  the  common  bonds  of 
Christian  love  which  unite  the  great  family  of  believers,  the  ministers  and 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  are  cemented  l)y  a  compact  which 
every  honest  man  cannot  fail  to  appreciate.  We  mean  the  "  Confession 
of  Faith"  of  our  Church.  While  we  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  to  be  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice, 
we  do  also,  if  we  deal  faithfully  with  God  and  man,  sincerely  receive  and 
adopt  this  confession  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Let  us  adhere  to  this  standard  with  fidelity,  and  en- 
deavor to  transmit  to  our  children,  pure  and  undefiled,  a  treasure  which  our 
fathers  at  great  expense  have,  under  God,  bequeathed  to  us.  But  while  we 
hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words  which  we  have  received,  let  us  guard 
against  indulging  a  spirit  of  controversy,  than  which  few  things  are  more 
unfriendly  to  the  life  and  power  of  godliness.  It  is  never  necessary  to 
sacrifice  charity  in  order  to  maintain  faitli  and  hope.  That  differences  of 
opinion,  acknowledged  on  all  hands  to  be  of  a  minor  class,  may  and  ought 
to  be  tolerated  among  those  who  are  agreed  in  great  and  leading  views  of 
divine  truth,  is  a  principle  on  which  the  godly  have  so  long  and  so  gener- 
ally acted  that  it  seems  unnecessary  at  the  present  day  to  seek  arguments 
for  its  support.  Our  fathers,  in  early  periods  of  the  history  of  our  Church, 
had  their  peculiarities  and  diversities  of  opinioji,  which  yet,  however,  did 
not  prevent  them  from  loving  one  another  and  cordially  acting  together, 
and  by  their  united  prayers  and  exertions  ti'ansmitting  to  us  a  goodly  in- 
heritance;  and  we  hope  to  be  favored  with  more  than  their  success. 

The  great  adversary  will  no  doubt  be  disposed  to  sow  the  seeds  of  dis- 
cord and  division  among  you,  but  resist  him  in  this  as  well  as  in  all  his 


300  FORM    OF   GOVERXMEXT. 

other  insidious  efforts.  Surely  those  who  can  come  together  on  the  great 
principles  of  our  public  standards,  however  they  may  differ  on  non-essen- 
tial points,  ought  not  to  separate  or  to  indulge  bitterness  or  prejudice 
against  each  other.  Dear  brethren,  let  there  be  no  divisions  among  you, 
but  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judg- 
ment. Follow  the  things  which  make  for  peace,  and  the  things  whereby 
ye  may  edify  one  another.  Behold  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for 
brethren  to  dwell  in  unity!  Brethren,  farewell !  Love  one  another,  for 
love  is  of  God,  and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God,  and  knoweth 
God.  Be  of  one  mind;  live  in  peace,  and  the  God  of  love  and  peace  shall 
be  with  you.     Amen  ! 

Signed  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly. 

JoxAS  CoE,  Moderator. 

Resolved,  That  two  thousand  copies  of  this  letter  be  printed,  and  that 
the  Committee  superintend  the  printing. — 1817,  pp.  6G1-664. 

10.  On  Prevalent  Vices  and  Immoralities. 

A  Pastoral  Letter  from  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  to  the  churches  tinder  their  care. 

Dear  Brethren  :  The  time  in  which  we  address  you  is  very  important 
and  interesting.  The  free  conversation  on  the  state  of  religion  has  ex- 
hibited abundant  evidence  that  the  churches  under  our  care  have  never 
been  in  a  more  prosperous  condition  than  during  the  last  year.  In  the 
year  immediately  preceding,  perhaps,  special  revivals  were  more  remark- 
able and  more  numerous,  but  as  it  relates  to  the  general  extension  of  re- 
ligious influence,  the  organization  of  new  congregations,  and  the  wide- 
spreading  success  of  missionary  labors,  the  as])ect  of  the  Church  has  prob- 
ably never  been  so  promising  as  at  the  present  time;  and  when,  in  addition 
to  this,  we  reflect  on  the  various  institutions,  not  only  in  our  connection, 
but  in  the  Christian  world  at  large,  calculated  to  extend  the  kingdom  of 
our  Redeemer,  the  zeal  and  liberality  with  which  those  institutions  are 
supported,  and  the  extensively  beneficial  effects  which  they  are  every  day 
producing,  we  are  obliged  to  consider  the  present  moment  as  forming  an 
important  era  in  the  annals"  of  religion.  A  general  movement  of  Protest- 
ant Christendom  has  taken  place,  an  unusual  blessing  has  descended  on 
the  Church  of  Christ,  and  we  are  probably  approaching  some  day  of  the 
Son  of  man  of  no  usual  and  ordinary  character.  The  present,  therefore, 
is  no  doulit  a  favorable  time,  not  only  for  extending  the  influence,  but  for 
advancing  the  purity,  of  the  Church,  for  the  extirpation  of  any  errors  and 
the  abolition  of  any  unchristian  practices  which  may  have  found  entrance 
among  us  during  the  long  period  of  comparative  darkness  and  desertion 
through  which  we  have  passed.  And  although  we  do  not  believe  that  any- 
thing immoral  or  vicious  is  more  prevalent  now  than  at  former  periods, 
or  even  as  much  so,  yet  the  existence  of  such  things  at  the  present  time 
strikes  the  minds  of  serious  Christians  with  an  appearance  of  greater  de- 
formity, and  fills  them  with  more  pungent  regret  as  it  is  exhibited  in  such 
dark  conti'ast  with  that  ])romising  and  wonderful  aspect  of  things  so  ex- 
tensively displayed  by  the  Christian  world.  The  free  conversation  on  the 
state  of  religion  has  brought  some  such  things  to  our  view  against  which 
we  feel  constrained  to  bear  our  decided  testimony,  and  we  would  enter 
upon  this  duty  with  the  tenderness  and  meekness,  but  at  the  same  time 
Avith  the  firmness  and  authority,  which  becomes  a  judicatory  of  the  Church 
of  Christ. 


OF   THE    GEXERAL   ASSEMBLY.  301 

The  first  thing  we  shall  mention  is  the  crime  of  dru  ikenness.  This 
crime  has  at  all  times  been  a  curse  to  our  country,  and  has  often  made 
lamentable  inroads  upon  our  Church.  We  are  convinced  that  it  may  be 
opposed  more  successfully  by  prevention  than  in  any  other  way.  When 
the  character  of  drunkenness  is  fully  formed,  the  unhappy  victim  is  lost 
to  those  motives  which  ordinarily  influence  all  other  classes  of  men.  lu 
this  state  of  things  nothing  but  a  miracle  of  divine  grace  can  effect  his 
reformation.  The  certain  and  acknowledged  prospect  of  the  wreck  of  his 
family,  his  fortune  and  his  character,  and  even  of  the  ruin  of  his  immortal 
soul,  is  not  sufficient  to  arrest  his  course  ;  and  yet  perhaps  the  same  man 
may  formerly  have  been  in  such  a  state  of  equilibrium  or  indecision  upon 
this  subject  that  the  smallest  motives  might  have  prevented  the  formation 
of  a  habit  which  in  its  maturity  has  become  so  irresistible.  The  consider- 
ation is  certainly  sufficient  to  justify  an  effort  for  saving  our  fellow-men 
from  the  domination  of  so  destructive  a  vice.  For  this  purpose  we  earn- 
estly recommend  to  the  officers  and  members  of  our  Church  to  abstain 
even  from  the  common  use  of  ardent  spirits.  Such  a  voluntary  privation 
as  this,  with  its  motives  publicly  avowed,  will  not  be  without  its  effect  in 
cautioning  our  fellow-Christians  and  fellow-citizens  against  the  encroach- 
ment of  intoxication  ;  and  we  have  the  more  confidence  in  recommending 
this  course  as  it  has  already  been  tried  with  success  in  several  sections  of 
our  Church. 

The  vice  of  gambling  has  also  been  forced  upon  our  attention.  We  in- 
deed hope  that  few,  or  perhaps  none,  of  our  actual  professors  have  indulged 
themselves  in  the  practice  of  what  they  consider  as  coming  under  the  de- 
nomination of  gambling.  But  perhaps  there  are  some  addicted  to  this 
practice  wdio  have  evinced  a  predilection  for  our  Church  and  forms  of 
worship,  and  who  are  not  unwilling  to  receive  the  word  of  admonition 
from  us.  Such  we  would  earnestly  exhort  to  consider,  in  the  most  serious 
manner,  the  consequences  of  the  course  they  are  pursuing,  and  the  awful 
lessons  which  the  experience  of  the  world  is  every  day  exhibiting  on  this 
subject.  But  it  is  our  duty  further  to  testify  that  all  encouragement  of 
lotteries  and  purchasing  of  lottery  tickets,  all  attendance  on  horse-racing, 
and  betting  on  such  or  any  other  occasions,  and  all  attempts  of  whatever 
kind  to  acquire  gain  without  giving  an  equivalent,  involve  the  gambling 
principle,  and  participate  in  the  guilt  which  attaches  to  that  vice. 

On  the  fashionable,  though,  as  we  believe,  dangerous,  amusements  of 
theatrical  exhibitions  and  dancing,  we  deem  it  necessary  to  make  a  few 
observations.  The  theatre  we  have  always  considered  as  a  school  of  im- 
morality. If  any  person  wishes  for  honest  conviction  on  this  subject,  let 
him  attend  to  the  character  of  that  mass  of  matter  Avhich  is  generally  ex- 
hibited on  the  stage.  We  believe  all  will  agree  that  comedies  at  least, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  are  of  such  a  description  that  a  virtuous  and  modest 
person  cannot  attend  the  representation  of  them  without  the  most  painful 
and  embarrassing  sensations.  If  indeed  custom  has  familiarized  the  scene, 
and  these  painful  sensations  are  no  longer  felt,  it  only  proves  that  the  per- 
son in  question  has  lost  some  of  the  best  sensibilities  of  our  nature,  that 
the  strongest  safeguard  of  virtue  has  been  taken  down,  and  that  the  moral 
character  has  undergone  a  serious  depreciation. 

With  respect  to  dancing  we  think  it  necessary  to  observe  that,  how'ever 
plausible  it  may  appear  to  some,  it  is  perhaps  not  the  less  dangerous  on 
account  of  that  plausibility.  It  is  not  from  those  things  which  the  world 
acknowledges  to  be  the  most  wrong  that  the  greatest  danger  is  to  be  appre- 
hended to  religion,  especially  as  it  relates  to  the  young.  When  the  prac- 
tice is  carried  to  its  highest  extremes,  all  admit  the  consequences  to  be  fatal, 


302  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

and  why  not,  then,  npprehend  clanger  even  from  its  incipient  stages?  It  is 
certainly  in  all  its  siages  a  fascinating  and  infatuating  practice.  Let  it 
once  be  introduced,  and  it  is  difficult  to  give  it  limits.  It  steals  away  our 
precious  time,  dissipates  religious  impressions  and  hardens  the  heart.  To 
guard  you,  beloved  brethren,  against  its  wiles  and  its  fascinations,  we  earn- 
estly recommend  that  you  will  consult  that  sobriety  which  the  sacred 
pages  require.  AVe  also  trust  that  you  will  attend  with  the  meekness  and 
docility  becoming  the  Christian  character  to  the  admonitions  on  this  sub- 
ject of  those  whom  you  have  chosen  to  watch  for  your  souls.  And  now, 
beloved  brethren,  that  you  may  be  guarded  from  the  dangers  we  have 
pointed  out,  and  from  all  other  dangers  which  beset  the  path  of  life  and 
obstruct  our  common  salvation,  and  that  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  may  . 
have  you  in  his  holy  keeping,  is  our  sincere  and  affectionate  prayer.    Amen. 

J.  J.  JANEWAY,  Moderator. 
June,  1818.  —1818,  pp.  689,  690.  - 

11.  On  Eevivals  and  their  Abuses. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  to 
the  Ministers  and  Churches  under  their  care. 

Dearly  Beloved  Brethren  :  You  will  perceive  by  the  narrative  of 
the  state  of  religion  which  we  this  year  publish  that  the  God  of  all  grace 
has  been  pleased  during  the  last  year  to  pour  out  more  copiously  of 
his  blessed  Spirit  on  the  people  of  our  denomination  in  this  laud  than 
perhaps  in  any  period  of  equal  extent  in  former  times.  For  this  signal 
and  ineffable  benefit  we  desire  that  you  may  unite  with  us  in  ascribing 
humble  and  fervent  thanksgiving  to  Him  from  whom  we  have  received 
this  transcendent  mercy,  and  "  from  whom  cometh  down  every  good  and 
perfect  gift." 

And  suffer  us  to  remind  you,  dear  brethren,  that  one  of  the  best  and 
most  acceptable  expressions  of  gratitude  to  God  for  the  unspeakable  favor 
we  have  received  is  to  be  exceedingly  careful  not  to  abuse  it.  It  is  of 
more  importance  than  we  know  how  to  express  that  we  should,  together 
with  much  prayer  for  direction  and  aid  from  on  high,  use  all  our  influ- 
ence and  put  forth  our  best  efforts  to  preserve  the  glorious  revivals  of 
relio-ion  with  which  we  have  been  blessed  from  all  that  may  mar  their 
beauty  and  prevent  their  extension,  and  where  anything  of  an  injurious 
tendency  has  already  taken  place,  that  we  should  labor  to  correct  the  evil 
as  speedily  as  possible. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  we  would  willingly  say  anything 
that  might  encourage  or  countenance  those  who  condemn  all  revivals  of 
religion — condemn  them  because  they  may  be  attended  by  some  errors  and 
irregularities  which  it  is  readily  admitted  ought  to  be  deplored  and  avoided. 
Far,  very  far,  be  this  from  us.  Those  who  cherish  an  aversion  to  revivals 
of  religion,  because  they  are  accompanied  by  imperfections  and  are  liable 
to  abuse,  should  recollect  that  there  is  nothing  with  which  the  human 
powers  and  passions  have  to  do,  whatever  be  its  general  excellence,  that 
is  not  open  to  the  same  objection.  In  revivals  of  religion  in  which  there 
are  confessedly  some  things  to  be  lamented — as  there  was  in  the  abuse  of 
the  miraculous  gift  of  tongues  in  the  primitive  church  of  Corinth — there 
may  still  be  numerous  and  sound  conversions  of  sinners  unto  God,  and 
"what  is  the  chaff'  to  the  wheat?  saith  the  Lord."  There  remain  in  our 
land  and  in  our  beloved  Church  many  congregations  in  which  fornuility 
and  a  Laodicean  spirit  are  mournfully  prevalent.  Little  reason  have 
they  to  felicitate  themselves  that  they  are  free  from  all  the  extravagances 


OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  303 

■which  they  censure  in  others,  and  which  it  is  not  denied  do  exist  in  cer- 
tain places  and  to  a  limited  extent.  Let  them  rather  remember  that  a 
congregation  in  which  many  souls  are  born  into  the  kingdom  of  God, 
although  some  fiilse  pretensions  to  piety  and  some  censurable  practices 
appear,  is,  on  the  whole,  in  a  state  infinitely  preferable  to  that  of  a  con- 
gregation in  which  hundreds  are  going  quietly  down  to  eternal  perdition, 
and  in  which  the  wise  virgins  are  slumbering  and  sleeping  with  the  fool- 
ish. Let  congregations  of  tliis  latter  description  be  exhorted  to  rouse 
themselves  from  their  spiritual  lethargy,  make  use  of  the  means  and  efforts 
which  God  is  wont  to  bless,  and  cry  mightily  to  him  that  they  may  par- 
take in  those  gracious  visitations  with  which  others  are  so  remarkably 
blessed  and  distinguished — partake  of  them  purified  from  all  that  is  justly 
offensive  either  to  God  or  man. 

Having  thus  endeavored  to  guard  against  a  misconstruction  of  our  pur- 
pose, we  desire,  with  parental  solicitude  and  affection,  to  caution  and  warn 
the  ministers  and  churches  of  our  communion  against  some  of  the  most 
common  errors  and  improprieties  to  which  revivals  of  religion  are  exposed, 
and  from  which,  we  grieve  to  say,  some  of  the  congregations  within  our 
bounds  cannot  plead  an  entire  exemption. 

1.  In  a  time  of  the  revival  of  religion  let  it  be  remembered  that,  while 
all  proper  means  are  to  be  used  to  deepen  and  cherish  serious  impressions, 
and  to  awaken  and  alarm  the  sinfully  secure,  an  undue  excitement  should 
he  carefiil/y  avoided.  Here  is  a  fruitful  source  to  which  may  be  traced 
nearly  all  the  abuses  which  so  often  mar  and  deform  and  bring  into  dis- 
repute the  work  of  God,  when  sinners  are  awakened  in  clusters  and  led 
to  inquire  witli  great  anxiety  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved.  If,  instead 
of  distinguishing  deep  and  genuine  and  salutary  conviction  of  sin  and  the 
mere  effusions  of  animal  passions  and  nervous  sensibility,  the  latter  are 
encouraged  and  stimulated  as  leading  to  a  desirable  issue,  the  most  bane- 
ful eftects  are  likely  to  ensue — effects  multiform  in  appearance  and  cha- 
racter, but  in  all  (le[)lorable  and  pernicious.     Therefore, 

2.  We  advise  that  with  tenderness,  but  yet  with  unshaken  firmness,  all 
bodily  agitations  and  noisy  OM^cries,  especially  in  worshiping  assemblies,  be  dis- 
couraged, and  as  far  as  possible  prevented.  Inculcate  the  truth  that  every 
appearance  of  this  description  is  a  weakness  or  an  error  which,  so  far 
from  promising  anything  beneficial,  is  likely  to  lead  to  the  most  disastrous 
results — so  far  from  deserving  to  be  cherished  and  applauded  is  to  be  dis- 
countenanced and  deprecated,  and  as  speedily  as  may  consist  with  Chris- 
tian kintluess  and  forbearance  entirely  suppressed. 

o.  Guard  against  every  species  of  indecorum  in  social  worship — such 
particularly  as  is  manifestly  apparent  when  several  individuals  pray  or 
exhort  or  converse  at  the  same  time.  This  is  an  irregularity  pointedly 
rebuked  and  forbidden  by  the  apostle  Paul  in  the  xiv.  chapter  of  his  first 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  his  summary  and  repeated  injunction  is, 
"Let  all  things  be  done  to  edifying;  let  all  things  be  done  decently  and 
in  order,"  But  besides  the  particular  irregularity  specified,  we  would 
dissuade  our  brethren  in  the  ministry  and  the  eldership  of  our  churches 
from  introducing  or  countenancing  any  practice  in  their  public  religious 
assemblies  which  savors  of  ostentation,  or  which  may  have  a  tendency  to 
ulterior  evils  that  they  would  themselves  deprecate  and  seek  to  avoid. 
We  designedly  leave  this  as  a  general  but  important  monition,  the  appli- 
cation of  which  to  particular  instances  or  cases  our  brethren  must  judge 
of  for  themselves. 

4.  There  may  be  in  a  revival  of  religion  an  excess  of  social  meetings  and 
exen-cises.     That  such  meetings  should  be  frequent  in  the  time  of  a  revival 


304  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMEXT. 

we  not  only  admit,  but  recommend.  Yet  it  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that 
they  may  be  carried  to  a  hurtful  extreme,  and  such  an  extreme  they  cer- 
tainly reach  when  they  encroach  to  any  considerable  extent  on  the  ordi- 
nary duties  of  life,  or  when  they  leave  very  little  time  to  the  thoughtful 
and  inquiring  for  private  meditation,  self-rellection  and  examination,  secret 
prayer,  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  other  books  of  instruction,  direc- 
tion and  serious  exhortation  which,  as  they  have  opportunity,  they  ought 
to  peruse. 

5.  Meetings  of  pious  women  by  themselves  for  conversation  and  prayer 
whenever  they  can  conveniently  be  held  Ave  entirely  approve.  But  let 
not  the  inspired  prohibitions  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  as  found 
in  his  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  and  to  Timothy,  be  violated.  To  teach 
and  exhort  or  to  lead  in  prayer  in  public  and  promiscuous  assemblies  is 
clearly  forbidden  to  women  in  the  holy  oracles. 

6.  Let  not  the  settled  order  of  churches'  be  disturbed.  Let  official  elders  be 
respected,  and  in  the  absence  of  pastors  or  other  authorized  ministers  of 
the  gospel,  let  the  elders  or  deacons,  or  other  Christians  of  standing  and 
experience,  rather  than  young  converts,  take  the  lead  in  the  social  exer- 
cises of  religion. 

7.  Listen  to  no  self-sent  or  irregular  preachers,  whatever  may  be  their 
pretensions  to  knowledge,  piety  and  zeal. 

8.  Let  no  doctrine  inconsistent  with  the  sacred  Scriptures  as  explained 
and  summarily  taught  in  the  doctrinal  standards  of  our  Church  be  promul- 
gated and  favored  in  any  of  our  churches.  That  the  word  of  God  con- 
tained in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  is  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice  is  a  sacred  principle  which  we  steadfastly  maintain.  But 
when  almost  every  description  of  persons  who  profess  any  regard  to  Chris- 
tianity are  ready  to  declare  their  adherence  to  the  same  principle,  it  be- 
comes indispensable  for  Christians  who  would  walk  together  in  peace  and 
order  and  comfort  of  the  gospel  to  state  in  what  manner  they  understand 
the  great  truths  of  divine  revelation.  This  has  been  done  by  our  Church 
in  our  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms,  and  he  who  teaches  any  doc- 
trine plainly  and  palpably  inconsistent  with  the  evident  meaning  of  these 
excellent  formularies  should  be  regarded  by  Presbyterians  as  an  errorist 
whom  they  ought  not  to  encourage,  but  to  discountenance,  reject  and 
avoid. 

9.  Jjet  not  apparent  converts  be  hnrried  into  the  Church  and  brought  to 
the  table  of  the  Lord  without  a  careful  examination,  nor  ordinarily  with- 
out a  suitable  period  of  probation,  by  which  the  reality  of  their  religion 
may  be  better  judged  of  than  it  can  be  by  any  sudden  indications,  however 
plausible. 

Nothing  is  more  directly  calculated  to  injure  ultimately  the  cause  of 
God  and  the  credit  of  our  holy  religion  than  urging  or  permitting  individ- 
uals to  make  a  public  profession  of  religion  as  soon  as  they  have  experienced 
some  serious  impressions  and  flatter  themselves  that  they  have  been  re- 
newed in  the  temper  of  their  minds.  All  experience  shows  that  such 
persons  often  and  speedily  dishonor  the  profession,  and  not  unfrequently 
become  open  a})0states  and  sometimes  avowed  infidels.  We  know  and 
admit  that  after  all  possible  care  which  the  churches  can  take  in- 
stances of  deception  will  occur,  for  it  is  the  prerogative  of  God  only  to 
search  the  heart.  But  to  use  all  proper  means  to  preserve  the  purity  of 
the  Church  and  save  religion  from  reproach  is  a  sacred  duty  incumbent 
on  all  church  officers,  and  it  is  a  duty  which,  when  faithfully  performed, 
will  to  a  great  extent  secure  its  object — the  Church  will  rarely  be  disgraced 
by  self-deceived  hypocrites  and  eventual  apostates.     As  well  might  men 


OF   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  305 

pretend  that  no  care  should  be  taken  to  preserve  their  health,  because  dis- 
ease cannot  always  and  certainly  be  avoided,  as  that  no  care  should  be 
taken  to  preserve  a  sound  state  of  the  visible  Chui'ch  because  its  members 
and  its  ministers  do  in  some  instances,  and  despite  of  all  precaution,  be- 
come profligates  and  a  public  scandal.  Let  the  Church  do  its  duty,  and 
leave  the  event  to  God. 

10.  Finally,  let  no  measures  Jor  the  promotion  of  religious  revivals  be 
adopted  which  are  not  sanctioned  by  some  example  or  precept,  or  fair  and 
sober  inference  drawn  fi-om  the  word  of  God.  This  is  a  safe  general  rule, 
applicable  to  numerous  particular  cases  which  we  have  neither  time  nor 
inclination  to  specify.  Some  variety  of  opinion  will  exist,  and  may  law- 
fully and  properly  be  indulged,  in  regard  to  the  measures  which  are  best 
calculated  to  pi'oduce  revivals,  and  to  conduct  them,  where  they  exist,  to 
a  happy  result.  But  we  earnestly  counsel  that  for  every  measure  contem- 
plated a  warrant  be  carefully  and  impartially  sought  in  God's  unerring 
word.  If  such  a  warrant  can  be  fairly  made  out,  let  the  measure  be 
adopted,  but  otherwise  let  it  be  promptly  abandoned,  for  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  Bible  contains  not  only  a  safe,  but  a  com2Jl€te,  rule  of 
duty. 

Thus,  beloved  brethren,  we  have  raised  our  warning  voice  to  caution 
you  against  certain  things  by  which  those  displays  of  God's  special  grace 
which  we  denominate  revivals  of  religion  may  be  clouded  and  counter- 
acted, and  the  incalculable  benefits  which  might  otherwise  be  derived 
from  them  may  be  finally  and  irretrievably  lost.  Let  us  receive  instruc- 
tion from  past  times ;  let  us  for  a  moment  turn  away  our  attention  from 
all  that  is  now  passing  in  our  country  to  what  was  witnessed  in  the  days 
of  the  celebrated  evangelist  Whitefield,  and  at  a  still  later  period  in  the 
south-western  parts  of  our  land. 

In  both  these  instances  there  was  certainly  a  most  powerful  and  prom- 
ising religious  awakening,  and  for  a  time  the  happiest  eflfects  were  experi- 
enced. Numerous  conversions  of  a  solid  and  lasting  character  took  place,, 
and  many  and  most  desirable  additions  were  made  to  the  Church  of 
Christ.  But  through  the  subtilty  of  Satan,  and  the  inflamed  and  mis- 
guided passions  of  men,  doctrines  were  at  length  taught  and  measures 
adopted — with  a  view,  as  it  was  loudly  proclaimed,  to  promote  and  extend 
the  revivals — which  were  speedily  followed  by  the  most  disastrous  conse- 
quences. The  Holy  Spirit  was  grieved  away ;  excesses  which  shocked  all 
sober  minds  succeeded ;  every  form  of  fanaticism  and  religious  error  ap- 
peared ;  soon  the  passions,  which  had  been  raised  to  their  highest  tone, 
subsided  into  apathy  and  carelessness  in  regard  to  all  religion  ;  a  season 
of  the  most  lamentable  spiritual  declension  and  deadness  followed;  infidels 
multiplied  and  infidelity  proclaimed  its  triumphs;  revivals  of  religion 
were  reproached  and  ridiculed,  and  a  deep  prejudice  against  them  was 
excited  and  fostered  which,  in  some  places  and  in  many  minds,  has  not  yet 
been  removed. 

It  is,  dear  brethren,  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  evils  as  these  that, 
with  great  solicitude  for  your  welfare,  we  entreat  you  to  be  on  your  guard. 
Think  not  that  vigilance,  cautiou  and  prayer  in  relation  to  the  abuse  of 
revivals  are  superfluous.  Hear  on  this  subject  the  eminent  and  justly- 
venerated  President  Edwards.  He  remarks  that  in  a  time  of  revival  the 
chief  exertions  of  the  great  adversary  will  be  likely  to  be  made  with  the 
friends  and  promoters  of  the  work,  to  drive  them  into  such  excesses  and 
extravagances  as  shall  ruin  its  credit  and  ultimately  bring  all  religion 
into  disgrace.  And  in  this  his  success  will  be  rendered  the  more  probable 
if  he  can  first  persuade  such  persons  that  they  are  in  no  danger  on  that 
39 


306  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

side.  It  was  "\Yhile  men  glept"  that  the  enemy  came  and  "sowed  tares;" 
not  while  they  were  in  a  state  of  indifference,  but  while  they  were  not 
watching  against  his  devices.  It  is  not  while  men  are  in  a  state  of  indif- 
ference that  the  false  conversions  represented  by  the  tares  are  brought  in, 
but  while  men  are  asleep  in  a  far  different  sense,  while  their  passions  are 
in  such  a  state  of  excitement  as  blinds  their  minds  to  the  danger.  Then 
the  great  deceiver  can  work  to  the  best  advantage  both  in  promoting  false 
conversions  and  in  leading  into  dangerous  extremes  those  who  are  zealous 
promoters  of  the  work. 

Such  is  the  monitory  language  of  at  once  the  most  powerful  defender 
of  revivals  of  religion  and  the  ablest  correcter  of  their  abuses  which  our 
country  has  ever  seen.  Let  us  hear  and  regard  his  voice,  uttered,  as  it  is, 
in  concert  with  the  voices  of  men  the  most  distinguished  for  wisdom,  piety 
and  prudence,  from  the  period  of  the  Protestant  Eeformation  to  the  pres- 
ent hour.  Doing  thus,  and  looking  earnestly  to  our  covenant-keeping 
God  to  crown  our  endeavors  with  success,  it  is  scarcely  too  much  to  hope 
that  revivals  of  religion  will  spread  throughout  our  whole  land,  and  that 
their  heavenly  influence  and  lustre  will  continue  and  increase  till  they 
mingle  with  the  noontide  splendor  of  the  millennial  day. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  Assembly.  JAMES  HOGE, 

June  1,  1832.  Moderator. 

—1882,  pp.  377-880. 

[The  pastoral  and  circular  letters  of  the  Assembly  of  1887  are  omitted 
here.  They  may  be  found  in  Baird's  Col.,  Rev.  Ed.,  pp.  760-763,  and 
New  Digest,  pp.  495-506.  The  pastoral  of  1888,  O.  S.,  may  be  found  in 
Baird,  pp.  780-784.     That  of  1888,  N.  S.,  in  New  Digest,  pp.  522-526.] 

12.  Letter  of  the   General  Assembly  to  the  Churches  under 
ITS  Care  on  the  Maintenance  of  Doctrinal  Purity. 

a.  Dear  Brethren:  The  General  Assembly,  being  the  bond  of  union, 
correspondence  and  mutual  confidence  among  all  the  churches,  has  au- 
thority to  reprove,  to  warn  or  bear  testimony  against  error  in  doctrine  or 
immorality  in  practice.  It  is  bound  to  exercise  this  prerogative  when- 
ever the  Church  is  exposed  to  any  particular  danger,  or  needs  admon- 
ition or  exhortation  with  regard  to  any  special  duty.  Believing  that  the 
present  circumstances  of  our  Church  render  the  duty  of  maintainiiig  a 
faithful  adherence  to  our  standards  of  doctrine  and  discii)line  peculiarly 
necessary,  the  Assembly  desire  to  call  attention  to  this  important  subject. 

God  has  been  pleased  to  bring  us  through  a  protracted  and  arduous 
conflict,  in  which  we  have  been  contending  for  the  truth  and  order  of  the 
Church.  Wliile  we  gratefully  acknowledge  his  goodness  in  crowning  our 
efforts  to  sustain  our  standards  with  success,  it  becomes  us  to  look  back 
and  see  whei'ein  we  have  sinned,  that  we  nuiy  penitently  confess  our 
errors  and  learn  wisdom  for  our  future  guidance.  It  is  not  our  object  on 
this  occasion  to  point  out  the  various  particulars  in  which  the  ])ast  con- 
duct of  our  Church  may  have  offended  God,  but  simply  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  our  ministers  and  members  to  what,  in  the  judgment  of  this  As- 
sembly, has  been  the  principal  source  of  our  long  continued  difhculties. 
Our  great  error  has  been  a  want  of  fidelity  to  the  fundamental  principles 
of  our  ecclesiastical  compact.  It  is  important,  therefore,  that  these  prin- 
ciples should  be  distinctly  stated,  and  the  duty  of  adhering  to  them  be 
urged  upon  the  Church. 

Our  fathers  taught  that  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath 
Jeft  it  free  from  the  doctrincv*  and  commandments  of  men  which  are  in 


OF   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  307 

anything  contrary  to  his  word,  or  beside  it,  in  matters  of  faith  and  wor- 
ship, that  saints  by  profession  are  bound  to  maintain  a  holy  fellowship 
and  communion  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  in  performing  such  other 
spiritual  services  as  tend  to  their  mutual  edification,  and  tinxt  this  com- 
munion, as  God  offered  opportunity,  is  to  be  extended  unto  all  those  who, 
in  every  place,  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  perfect  con- 
sistency with  these  principles  of  liberty  of  conscience  and  communion  of 
saints,  they  held  that  every  Christian  Church  or  association  of  Churches 
is  entitled'to  declare  the  terms  of  admission  into  its  communion,  and  the 
qualifications  of  its  ministers  and  members,  as  well  as  the  whole  system 
of  its  internal  government  wiiich  Christ  has  appointed. 

b.  The  terms  of  Christian  communion  adopted  by  our  Church  have 
been  in  accordance  witii  the  divine  command  that  we  should  receive  one 
another  as  Christ  has  received  us.  We  have  ever  admitted  to  our  com- 
munion all  those  who,  in  the  judgment  of  charity,  were  the  sincere  disci- 
ples of  Jesus  Christ.  If,  in  some  instances,  stricter  terms  have  been  in- 
sisted upon,  if  candidates  for  sealing  ordinances  have  been  required  to 
sign  pledges,  to  make  profession  of  anything  more  than  faith,  love  and 
obedience  to  Jesus  Christ,  these  instances  have  been  few  and  unauthorized, 
and  therefore  do  not  aflect  the  general  character  of  our  Church.  We 
fully  recognize  the  authority  of  the  command:  "Him  that  is  weak  in 
faith  receive  ye,  but  not  to  doubtful  disputations."  The  application  of 
this  command"  is  entirely  confined  to  private  membership  in  the  Church. 
It  has  no  reference  to  the  admission  of  men  to  offices  in  the  house  of  God. 
On  the  contrary,  we  observe  that,  with  regard  to  ministerial  communion, 
or  the  qualifications  for  admission  into  the  otfice  of  the  ministry,  the 
command  of  God  is  that  a  bishop  must  be  blameless,  apt  to  teach,  hold- 
ing fast  the  faithful  word  that  he  may  be  able  by  sound  doctrine  both  to 
exhort  and  convince  the  gainsayers.  In  obedience  to  this  command,  the 
founders  of  our  Church,  and  all  who  have  entered  it  with  enlightened 
views  and  honest  intentions,  have  declared  to  the  world  and  to  all  other 
Christian  Churches  that  the  system  of  doctrine  contained  in  the  West- 
minster Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechism  is  that  sound  doctrine  which 
we  are  to  require  in  all  those  who  seek  the  office  of  a  bishop.  So  also  our 
Form  of  Government  requires  of  elders  and  deacons,  who  are  not  teach- 
ers, but  rulers  and  stewards  in  the  house  of  God,  a  no  less  unequivocal 
and  public  profession  of  adherence  to  our  standards ;  and  in  this  the 
Scriptures  abundantly  sustain  our  principles.  When  the  elders  and  dea- 
cons of  a  church  become  lax  or  heretical  in  their  doctrinal  views,  they 
may,  and  often  do,  adopt  measures  as  subversive  of  the  doctrine  which  is 
according  to  godliness  as  could  be  any  measures  resorted  to  by  the  pastor 
of  the  Church. 

Such  are  the  principles  on  which  our  Church  was  founded,  and  on 
which  for  more  than  a  century  it  was  faithfully  administered.  It  is 
believed  that  during  all  that  period  no  one  was  debarred  from  the  com- 
munion of  saints  who  was  regarded  as  a  sincere  disciple  of  Christ,  and 
that  no  one  Avas  admitted  to  any  office  in  our  Church,  or  if  admitted  Avas 
allowed  to  retain  his  standing,  who  dissented  in  any  material  point  from 
the  system  of  doctrine  contained  in  our  standards.  That  this  latter  prin- 
ciple of  our  Constitution  has  of  late  years  been  in  many  cases  culpably 
disi'cgarded  is  a  matter  of  general  notoriety.  Many  ministers  have  been 
received  into  our  Presbyteries  who  never  adopted  our  Confession  of  Faith, 
and  many  others,  bishops  and  elders,  who  professed  to  adopt  it  have  been 
allowed  publicly  to  avow  opinions  subversive  of  its  distinguishing  doc- 
trines.    The  General  Assembly  bears  its  solemn  testimony  against  this 


308  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

unfaitlifulness.  It  enjoins  on  the  Presbyteries,  on  the  one  hand,  to  abstain 
from  making  anything  a  condition  of  ministerial  communion  which  the 
Constitution  does  not  prescribe,  and  on  the  other  to  be  firm  and  faithful 
in  demanding  everything  whicli  the  Constitution  enjoins.  In  giving  this 
injunction  the  Assembly  requires  nothing  that  is  unjust  or  unreasonable. 
No  man  has  a  right  to  join  any  society  unless  he  is  willing  to  submit  to  its 
rules.  Much  less  has  any  man  the  right  to  assume  the  office  of  teacher, 
ruler  or  steward  in  a  church  unless  he  fully  assents  to  its  doctrines.  All 
those  who  approve  of  the  doctrines  which  we  are  pledged  to  sustain,  and 
who  are  otherwise  qualified  for  the  work,  we  cordially  welcome  to  our  fel- 
lowship, and  promise  them  our  confidence  and  support.  But  we  protest 
against  the  unfairness  of  those  who  adopt  our  standards  in  a  sense  differ- 
ent from  their  obvious  import,  contrary  to  the  known  and  generally  received 
interpi'etation,  as  a  dishonesty  and  an  injury  against  which  the  Presbyteries 
are  bound  to  protect  the  churches,  and  against  which  the  churches  should 
both  watch  and  pray. 

c.  The  Presbyteries  should  remember  that  they  are  not  independent 
bodies,  each  acting  for  itself  alone,  and  therefore  at  liberty  to  receive  any 
candidate  whom  they  may  suppose  is  qualified  to  do  good.  The  Pi'esbyter- 
ies  are  co-ordinate  members  of  an  extended  communion  bound  together 
by  a  written  compact.  Wlien,  therefore,  they  admit  a  member  who  has 
not  the  constitutional  qualifications,  they  are  guilty  of  a  breach  of  faith. 
80  also  the  churches  and  sessions  are  not  at  liberty  to  desire  and  urge  the 
election  and  ordination  of  any  of  their  own  number  to  any  office  in  the 
church,  or  to  approve  of  their  continuance  in  such  office,  unless  they  are 
known  to  be  men  who  hold  fast  the  form  of  sound  words  and  show  in  doc- 
trine uncorruptness. 

Were  the  points  in  regard  to  which  the  Presbyteries,  sessions  and 
churches  are  thus  exhorted  to  adhere  to  the  Constitution  mere  matters  of 
form,  the  duty  would  still  be  binding ;  but  as  they  relate  to  the  truth  of  God, 
it  is  the  more  obligatory  and  important.  The  truth  is  a  sacred  deposit 
which  we  are  bound  to  treasure  and  transmit  uncorrupted.  It  is  the  fire 
upon  God's  altar  which  we  are  to  watch,  without  which  there  can  be  no 
acceptable  offering,  and  which,  if  once  extinguished,  can  hardly  be  rekin- 
dled. The  sanctuary  remains  dark  and  desolate  for  ages.  The  history  of 
the  Christian  Church  is  one  solemn  admonition  on  this  subject.  Indiffer- 
ence to  truth  is  one  of  the  first  and  surest  indications  of  the  decline  of 
religion  in  any  communion.  Men  cannot  be  indifferent  to  what  they  see 
and  feel  concerns  their  own  salvation.  The  Assembly,  therefore,  would 
deplore  any  manifestation  of  such  indifference,  and  would  warn  all  in  our 
communion  against  its  insidious  approaches.  It  may  put  on  the  guise  of 
liberality  or  assume  the  name  of  charity,  but  its  natuix3  is  not  thereby 
altered.     It  is  only  the  more  dangerous  from  these  false  assumptions. 

d.  We  should  ever  remember  that  truth  is  in  order  to  goodness,  that 
the  great  touchstone  of  truth  is  its  tendency  to  promote  holiness,  tliat  no 
oj)inion  can  be  either  more  pernicious  or  more  absurd  than  that  which 
brings  all  opinions  upon  a  level,  and  represents  it  as  of  no  consequence 
what  a  man  believes  if  lie  be  sincere.  On  the  contrary,  we  should  ever 
remember  that  there  is  an  inseparable  connection  between  faith  and  prac- 
tice, truth  and  duty.  (Form  of  Government,  chap,  i.,  sec.  iv.)  The  Assem- 
bly is  the  more  earnest  on  this  subject,  as  the  most  subtle  errors  to  which 
our  churches  are  at  present  exposed  are  intimately  connecte<l  with  experi- 
mental religion.  It  is  true  indeed  that  the  forms  of  error  in  our  day  vary 
from  the  refinements  of  Arminiaiiism  to  the  grossest  atheism,  from  high 
Arianism  to  the  lowest  humanitarianism,  and  from  the  most  abstruse  meta- 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  309 

physical  philosophy,  touching  free  will,  moral  agency  and  sin,  original  and 
actual,  to  the  bold  and  daring  denial  of  all  accountability  and  of  the  moral 
government  of  God.  It  is  neither  possible  nor  necessary  for  the  Assem- 
bly to  enter  into  a  detail  of  these  various  and  varying  forms  of  error. 
But  it  is  proper  briefly  to  allude  to  a  few  of  the  more  subtle  character, 
held  by  men  who  have  been,  and  are  still  desirous  of  appearing  to  be,  enti- 
tled to  our  confidence.  We  observe,  therefore,  that  it  has  been  openly 
taught  in  works  widely  circulated  and  highly  recommended  that  self-love 
is  the  ultimate  foundation  of  moral  obligation  ;  that  the  reason  why  we 
are  bound  to  do  right  is  that  it  will  make  us  happy  ;  that  our  obligation 
to  obey  God  does  not  arise  out  of  our  relation  to  him  as  our  Creator,  nor 
out  of  his  infinite  excellence,  but  from  the  fact  that  he  knows  best  what 
will  promote  our  happiness.  How  can  a  man  have  proper  sentiments 
toward  God  who  entertains  such  views  ?  How  can  self  be  thus  made  the 
centre,  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  religion  and  morality,  and  yet  true 
piety  flourish  in  the  soul  ?  How  is  God  degraded  and  man  exalted  !  How 
is  the  eternal  distinction  between  right  and  wrong,  holiness  and  sin,  oblite- 
rated, and  all  religion  made  a  mere  calculation  of  profit  and  loss  by  sutli 
a  docttine ! 

It  has  still  more  frequently  and  undisguisedly  been  taught  that  such  is 
the  natui'e  of  free  agency  that  God  cannot  certainly  control  the  acts  of 
moral  agents ;  that  he  could  not  prevent  the  introduction  of  sin  into  a 
moral  system,  nor  even  the  present  amount  of  sin  ;  that  he  does  all  he  can 
for  the  conversion  of  all  who  hear  the  gospel.  This  doctrine  has,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Cliristian  Church,  been  the  dividing  line  between  the 
friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  doctrines  of  grace.  It  is  one  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  that  system  which  is  known  among  us  as  the  new 
divinity.  If  this  doctrine  is  true,  God  is  dependent  and  uncertain  in  his 
plans,  his  promises  are  all  precarious  and  prayer  is  a  mockery. 

The  doctrine  of  original  sin,  as  taught  in  our  Confession  of  Faith  and 
as  held  by  all  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation,  has  been  extensively  repu- 
diated. Yet  this  doctrine  not  only  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  whole 
system  of  redemption,  but  is  most  intimately  connected  with  religious  expe- 
rience. The  new  doctrine  denies  the  corruption  of  our  nature;  it  makes 
the  evil  that  is  in  our  hearts  a  light  matter,  to  be  overcome  by  volition,  by 
a  mere  change  of  purpose.  Regeneration,  therefore,  is  an  easy  work — as 
easy  as  a  change  of  determination  regarding  a  profession  or  a  journey. 
The  change  itself  is  generally  different  from  what  the  Christian  world  has 
hitherto  regarded  it.  It  is  a  mere  choice  of  a  different  source  of  happi- 
ness— a  choice  made  from  self-love,  and  for  self-gratification.  What  kind 
of  religion  is  that,  brethren,  the  very  essence  of  which  is  not  the  love  of 
God,  but  the  love  of  self? 

The  sinner,  moreover,  according  to  this  system,  is  not  dependent  on  the 
sovereign  mercy  of  God  ;  he  has,  independently  of  the  inffueuce  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  full  power  to  change  his  heart  and  perfectly  keep  the  law  of 
God.  The  work  of  the  Spirit,  though  occasionally  introduced  into  th.e 
writings  of  the  advocates  of  these  views,  seems  entirely  out  of  place  and 
heterogeneous.  Instead,  therefore,  of  having  the  proniinence  which  it  has 
in  the  word  of  God  and  in  the  writings  of  the  Reformers,  it  is  subordinate, 
secondary  and  unimportant. 

The  Assembly  would  further  remind  you  that  radical  error  regarding 
the  priestly  office  of  Christ,  and  our  justification  through  him,  has  beeu 
and  is  extensively  taught.  Our  standards  of  doctrine  teach  that  Christ, 
as  a  priest,  "  offered  himself  a  sacrifice  to  satisfy  divine  justice,"  and  that 
we  are  justified  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  consisting  in  his  obedience, 


310  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

and  in  offering  of  himself  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  "  imputed  to  u^,  and  received 
by  faith  alone."  The  Scriptures  declare  that  Christ,  "through  the  eternal 
Spirit,  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God.'"  Here  is  language  not  equiv- 
ocal, and  it  is  easy  of  apprehension.  Need  we  inform  you  that  there  are 
those  who  subvert  this  truth,  who  deny  that  Christ,  as  a  surety,  made  a 
legal  satisfaction  for  our  sins,  or  that  he  wrought  out  a  righteousness  which 
is  imputable  to  us  for  our  justification  in  the  sight  of  God  ?  Such  tell 
you,  in  the  face  of  the  Bible  and  of  what  you  have  been  taught,  that  jus- 
tification is  a  sovereign  act  of  pardon,  that  it  takes  place  in  every  instance 
by  a  suspension  of  the  regular  order  of  distributive  justice,  and  that  the 
death  of  Christ  was  a  mere  exhibition  of  the  desert  of  sin  in  the  abstract, 
producing  no  other  efiect  than  that  of  changing  the  moral  feelings  and 
character  of  the  sinner.  Thus  divine  truth  and  justice  are  dishonored  in 
our  salvation.  We  are  not  mistaken  when  we  say  to  you  that  this  most 
unreasonable  and  pernicious  error  is  extensively  propagated.  Let  it  pre- 
vail, and  God  is  dishonored,  the  only  hope  of  a  convinced  sinner  is  taken 
away,  and  there  remains  for  him  nothing  but  the  wrath  of  incensed,  uu- 
appeased  justice.  As  your  friends  we  warn  you  to  be  guarded  against 
such  departures  from  the  faith  of  Jesus  to  another  gospel — a  gospel  which 
subverts  the  foundation  of  all  your  hopes;  which  denies  "that  Christ  died 
for  our  sins,  according  to  the  scriptures;"  that  "he  hove  our  sins  in  his  own 
body  on  the  tree ;"  "  that  the  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all ;" 
that  "  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a 
curse  for  us;"  and  that  he  is  thus  "set  forth"  in  the  blessed  gospel,  "a 
propitiation,  through  faith  in  his  blood  to  declare  God's  righteousness,  in 
the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past,"  that  he  might  be  just,  "  and  yet  the 
justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus."  Such  truth  as  the  Saviour's 
actual  substitution  for  sinners  is  fundamental  to  the  plan  of  our  salvation, 
and  cannot  be  surrendered  without  an  entire  subversion  of  the  gospel 
system. 

This  whole  system,  in  making  self-love  the  ground  of  all  moral  obliga- 
tion, in  denying  the  corruption  of  our  nature,  in  exalting  the  power  of 
man,  in  depreciating  the  necessity  of  the  Spirit's  influence,  in  misrepre- 
senting the  nature  of  the  work  of  Christ,  is  in  direct  hostility  to  evangeli- 
cal religion,  and  as  this  Assembly  solemnly  believes,  cannot  prevail  with- 
out bringing  death  and  desolation  upon  the  churches.  We  therefore  warn 
all  our  ministers  and  members  against  this  system  of  error,  and  enjoin  on 
all  our  Presbyteries  to  be  firm  and  faithful  in  resisting  its  approaches. 
The  Assembly  lays  claim  to  no  new  powers,  it  prescribes  no  new  tests,  it 
lays  down  no  new  terms  of  ministerial  communion.  It  bears  its  testimony 
against  prevailing  errors,  and  it  requires  that  those  who  are  set  as  teachers 
and  guides  over  the  churches  committed  to  its  care  should  preach  the  doc- 
trines which  they  profess  to  believe. 

e.  Let  our  churches  and  judicatories,  then,  in  humble  dependence  upon 
God,  and  in  a  spirit  of  meekness  and  love,  adhere  faithfully  to  the  great 
principles  of  our  ecclesiastical  compact,  never  demanding  more  than  the 
Constitution  requires,  and  never  being  contented  with  less. 

In  order  to  secure  doctrinal  purity  in  our  churches,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  Presbyteries  be  faithful  in  guarding  with  sedulous  care  the 
entrance  into  the  ministry  in  regard  to  the  piety,  the  orthodoxy  and  the 
learning  of  the  candidates.  These  three  grand  qualifications  are  not  inde- 
pendent of  each  other,  but  intimately  connected.  Our  Book  of  Discipline 
requires  that  before  any  person  is  received  as  a  candidate  he  should  be 
subjected  to  an  examination  in  regard  to  his  piety  and  his  motives  for 
seeking  the  sacred  office.     There  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  this  ex- 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  311 

aminatioii,  in  many  Presbyteries,  is  slight  and  little  more  than  a  form,  as 
we  seldom  hear  of  any  persons  rejected  or  kept  back  for  want  of  evidence 
that  they  are  truly  converted.  Unless  Presbyteries  pay  a  special  attention 
to  this  subject,  the  Church  will  be  overrun  and  ruined  by  unconverted 
ministers ;  and  such  are  not  only  incapable  of  guiding  inquirers  in  the 
way  to  heaven,  but  possessing  no  sincere  love  to  the  distinguishing  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible,  they  will  be  constantly  inclined  to  conceal  them,  to  set 
them  aside  or  to  reject  them  altogether.  On  this  subject  the  General  As- 
sembly would  solemnly  admonish  all  the  ministers  and  elders  in  our  com- 
munion to  exercise  a  faithful  care,  and  also  to  be  thorough,  in  the  exam- 
ination into  the  theological  opinions  of  candidates.  It  has  been  found  by 
sad  experience  that  it  is  not  sufficient  for  candidates  in  the  general  to  an- 
swer the  questions  proposed  in  our  discipline;  this  they  will  often  do,  while 
they  entertain  opinions  diametrically  repugnant  to  some  plainly  expressed 
articles  of  faith,  and  will  go  on  and  inculcate  their  erroneous  opinions. 
This  arises  from  a  false  notion  respecting  the  true  principles  on  which  our 
formularies  should  be  adopted,  of  which  w^e  have  already  spoken.  Few 
young  men  are  so  lost  to  honesty  that  they  will  before  Presbytery  avow 
opinions  which  they  do  not  believe,  although  they  will  often  conceal  their 
real  opinions  unless  they  are  elicited  by  a  searching  examination. 

The  General  Assembly  feel  it  to  be  of  unspeakable  importance  that 
weak,  ignorant  and  imprudent  men  should  not  be  introduced  into  the  min- 
istry. Such  men,  though  incapable  of  doing  much  good,  even  if  pious, 
yet  may  do  immense  mischief  to  the  cause  of  true  religion,  and  only  serve 
to  bring  the  holy  ministry  into  contempt — a  result  against  which  we  are 
repeatedly  admonished  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  It  is  not  enough  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  the  clergy.  The  Church's  wants  cannot  be  supplied 
by  merely  multiplying  the  number  of  ministers  unless  they  are  well 
qualified  for  the  duties  of  the  sacred  office.  Indeed,  the  greater  the 
number  of  unsound  or  ignorant  ministei's,  the  greater  the  injury  to  the 
Church. 

/.  Another  thing  of  great  importance  in  securing  and  promoting  purity 
of  doctrine  is  the  election  of  suitable  men  to  the  office  of  ruling  elders. 
Frequently  it  is  found  that  men  of  intelligence  and  influence,  who  are 
members  of  the  Churcii,  -hrink  from  this  office,  on  account  of  the  difficul- 
ties which  attend  the  performance  of  its  duties.  This  disposition  to  avoid 
the  responsibilities  of  the  office  the  Assembly  cannot  but  consider  as  a 
dereliction  of  duty  deserving  censure.  A  sound,  intelligent  and  faithful 
eldership  is  essential  to  the  successful  operation  of  our  system.  Every 
effort  should  be  made,  therefore,  to  make  this  class  of  office-bearers  what 
the  plan  of  Presbyterian  Church  government  contemplates. 

g.  The  General  Assembly  feel  it  to  be  important  to  enjoin  upon  all 
pastors  the  more  frequent  and  diligent  use  of  our  formularies  of  doctrine. 
They  would  recommend  that  the  sessions  of  our  churches  hold  frefjuent 
meetings  for  free  conversation,  and  for  the  study  of  our  doctrinal  formu- 
laries as  well  as  our  discipline.  They  also  reiterate  the  injunction,  so  often 
given,  that  great  care  be  taken  in  every  chui'ch  to  have  the  Shorter  Cate- 
chism taught  to  all  the  youth,  except  that,  if  a  class  can  be  formed  for 
learning  the  Larger  Catecliism,  such  young  persons  should  be  encouraged 
to  commit  this  excellent  summary  of  Christian  doctrine.  It  would  be  sat- 
isfactory to  the  people,  and  would  confirm  them  in  the  belief  of  the  doc- 
trines of  our  Church,  if  ministers  would  more  frequently  refer  to  the  lan- 
guage of  our  Confession  and  Catechisms,  and  would  occasionally  adopt  the 
very  words  of  our  formularies  in  their  sermons  and  lectui'es.  They  also 
recommend  that  with  the  Catechisms  the  Scripture  proofs  ought  to  be 


312  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT, 

carefully  learned,  that  the  people  may  have  their  faith  founded,  not  on  the 
authority  of  men,  but  of  God. 

li.  The  General  Assembly  also  feel  it  to  be  incumbent  on  them  to  give 
a  warning  against  false  teachers.  The  Scriptures  abound  with  solemn  ad- 
monitions on  this  subject,  and  such  admonitions  have  always  been  needed, 
and  are  at  this  time  peculiarly  seasonable.  Those  in  every  age  who  have 
propagated  error  have  been  characterized  by  various  insidious  arts,  bv 
which  the  truth  has  either  been  subverted  or  so  adulterated  as  to  have  its 
beauty  disfigured  and  its  efficacy  destroyed  or  diminished.  These  false 
teachers  are  numerous  and  cunning  and  bold.  They  beguile  unstable 
souls.  If  it  were  possible,  they  would  deceive  the  very  elect.  It  was  a 
commendable  feature  in  the  character  of  one  of  the  churches  of  Asia  that 
she  had  tried  certain  false  teachers  Avho  said  that  they  were  apostles,  and 
had  found  them  liars.  Remember,  brethren,  that  though  an  angel  from 
heaven  should  bring  to  you  any  other  doctrine  than  that  ye  have  already 
received  from  the  inspired  writers,  he  is  accursed;  and  if  any  come  to  you 
and  bring  not  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  receive  him  not  into  your  houses, 
neither  bid  him  Godspeed,  lest  ye  be  partakers  with  him  in  his  evil  deeds. 
Beware,  then,  of  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing.  Beware  of  those  who  by  good 
words  and  fair  speeches  beguile  unstable  souls. 

i.  The  Assembly  cannot  refrain  from  a  solemn  warning  to  all  their 
churches  against  books  containing  erroneous  doctrines,  however  they  may 
come  recommended  by  men  in  high  places.  The  Assembly  is  fully  con- 
vinced that  all  our  ministers  and  members  ought  with  the  greatest  care  to 
guard  this  subject,  and  see  that  they  become  not  the  patrons  of  books 
already  published,  or  proposed  to  be  published,  unless  they  are  well  certi- 
fied of  their  character. 

The  Assembly,  moreover,  feel  constrained  to  admonish  the  churches  of 
the  great  importance  of  taking  and  reading  only  such  periodical  papers  as 
have  the  character  of  being  sound  in  doctrine  and  advocate  the  genuine 
principles  of  Presbyterian  government  and  order.  It  is  by  no  means  our 
wish  to  interfere  in  the  least  with  the  liberty  of  the  people  to  buy  and  read 
such  publications  as  they  judge  best,  but  it  is  our  privilege  and  duty,  in  all 
cases  where  the  truth  of  God,  or  the  order  of  his  house,  is  concerned,  to 
admonUh  and  toarn  all  those  who  in  the  providence  of  God  are  placed 
under  our  watch  and  care ;  and  when  but  one  religious  paper  is  taken  by 
a  family  in  our  connection,  it  is  surely  not  unreasonable  to  advise  and 
expect  that  it  be  one  which  can  be  recommended  by  the  ministers  and 
judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  We  are  convinced  that  the  dif- 
ficulties in  which  our  beloved  Church  has  been  involved  have  been  in  no 
small  degree  owing  to  the  periodical  press,  and  we  confidently  believe 
that  unless  more  care  be  taken  to  guard  against  the  circulation  of  unsuit- 
able papers  in  our  churches,  the  same  evils  from  which  we  have  escaped 
will  again  come  in  upon  us,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  the  ])ulpit  to 
counteract  them.  But  the  only  efi'ectual  remedy  for  the  evil  of  which  we 
complain  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Let  every  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  resolve  to  introduce  at  least  one  weekly  paper  into  his 
house,  and  let  that  be  such  an  one  as  will  in  all  respects  have  a  salutary 
influence  on  those  who  peruse  it. 

It  would  be  invidious  to  designate  particular  })eriodicals,  and  this  is  en- 
tirely unnecessary.  Let  the  ])erson  who  wishes  to  subscril)e  for  a  religious 
newspaper  take  the  advice  of  his  pastor  or  of  some  judicious  friend  on 
whose  honesty  and  judgment  he  can  depend.  The  General  Assembly 
would  press  this  subject  on  the  attention  of  their  people.  It  has  hitiierto 
been  too  much  overlooked,  but  it  is  becoming  evidently  of  primary  im- 


OF  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  313 

pnrtance.  It  is  in  vain  that  the  pastor  inculcates  sound  doctrine  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  if  through  t!ie  week  the  people  are  occupied  with  books, 
tracts  and  papers  which  insinuate,  and  even  inculcate,  a  contrary  doctrine. 

j.  In  conclusion,  the  General  Assembly  would  solemnly  inculcate  on 
all  classes  of  persons  a  profound  reverence  for  the  holy  Scriptures.  These 
are  the  oracles  of  the  living  God.  "  To  the  law  and  testimony,  if  they 
speak  not  according  to  these,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them." 
There  are  few  things  more  alarming,  as  it  relates  to  purity  of  doctrine, 
than  the  bold  and  unauthorized  interpretations  put  on  certain  portions  of 
the  word  of  God  by  serious  persons  in  order  to  maintain  some  favorite 
principle  adopted  by  them,  and  which,  before  they  begin  their  inquiries, 
they  confidently  presume  cannot  be  contrary  to  the  word  of  God.  Instead, 
therefore,  of  humbly  submitting  their  own  opinions  to  the  divine  author- 
tiy,  speaking  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  they  have  the  audacity  to  wrest  the 
truth  of  God  and  bend  everything  to  suit  their  own  preconceived  senti- 
ments. Against  all  such  profane  handling  of  the  word  of  God  the  Assem- 
bly lifts  up  its  voice  of  warning. 

And,  finally,  as  the  Holy  Spirit  was  promised  to  be  a  guide  into  all  truth, 
and  as  this  most  precious  gift  is  still  granted  to  the  Church  in  answer  to 
prayer,  let  ail  who  love  the  truth,  and  desire  to  see  it  universally  prevail, 
never  cease  to  pray  for  this  blessing,  which  is  indeed  the  rich  source  of  all 
good  things.  The  strenuous  defenders  of  the  truth  have  been  charged 
with  holding  and  being  contented  with  "  a  dead  orthodoxy."  Let  us  roll 
away  this  reproach  as  far  as  there  is  any  foundation  for  it.  While  the 
truth  may  be  held  in  unrighteousness,  there  is  surely  no  natural  connec- 
tion between  orthodoxy  and  dead  formality.  The  importance  of  truth  is 
such  that  there  can  be  no  right  feeling  without  it;  and  although  ignorance 
or  error  in  regard  to  some  truths  may  be  consistent  with  a  state  of  grace — 
for  otherwise  who  could  be  saved  ? — yet  every  truth  of  revelation  is  pre- 
cious and  important,  so  that  if  any  portion  of  it  is  never  brought  to  bear 
on  the  mind  and  heart,  just  so  far  there  will  be  a  defect  in  the  Christian 
character.  Just  as  if  a  seal  on  which  is  engraved  a  certain  image  or  in- 
scription, if  it  be  ever  so  little  marred  or  mutilated,  in  the  same  degree 
leaves  an  imperfect  impression  on  the  wax. 

Dear  brethren,  receive  in  good  part  our  exhortation.  We  sincerely  aim 
to  promote  your  spiritual  welfare.  Our  lot  is  cast  in  an  eventful  and  crit- 
ical period  as  it  relates  to  our  ecclesiastical  affairs.  After  much  and  long 
agitation,  a  great  schism  has  occurred.  A  large  number  of  those  recently 
comprehended  in  the  same  denomination  with  us  have  now  gone  out  from 
us.  In  this  whole  transaction  the  providence  of  God  has  been  very  re- 
markable. Let  us  now  endeavor,  as  becomes  the  sincere  disciples  of  the 
meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  while  we  contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,  to  be  careful  not  to  strive  about  words  to  no  profit  or  with  a  s])irit 
unbecoming  the  Christian  character.  Faith  and  Charity  are  twin  sisters, 
and  should  never  be  separated.  See  that  ye  love  one  another  with  a  pure 
heart  fervently.  Brethren,  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with 
you  all.— 1839,  p.  183,  O.  S. 

13.  Pastoral  Letter  on  Revivals  of  Religion. 

Dear  Brethren:  With  pious  delight  your  fathers  have  often  told  you 
of  the  wonders  which  God  wrought  in  their  day  when  he  poured  out  his 
Spirit  on  ministers  and  people.  Yea,  many  of  you  have  been  eye-wit- 
nesses of  his  majesty  and  grace  in  his  visits  to  the  churches.  You  can 
remember  the  time  when  well-authenticated  accounts  of  glorious  revivals 
40 


314  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

were  found  in  almost  every  number  of  our  best  religious  journals.  It  has 
caused  deep  sorrow  to  lively  Christians  that  for  sevei-al  years  past  compar- 
atively few  extensive  and  powerful  revivals  of  religion  have  been  reported 
to  the  Assembly.  With  gratitude  to  God  we  acknowledge  that  he  has  not 
utterly  forsaken  us,  nor  left  us  to  an  entirely  fruitless  ministry  and  barren 
ordinances;  but  still  the  ways  of  Zion  have  mourned,  and  few  have  come 
to  her  solemn  feasts.  We  are  happy  to  say  that  for  a  few  months  jiast 
tokens  for  good  have  appeared  in  various  quarters.  Some  of  the  Presby- 
teries report  that  God  is  with  them  of  a  truth.  These  mercies,  so  rich 
and  so  seasonable,  have  turned  our  attention  with  renewed  hope  to  the 
exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  of  God.  They  recall  to  our  mind 
those  gracious  chidings  of  our  heavenly  Father :  "  O  thou  that  art  named  the 
house  of  Jacob,  is  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  straitened  ?  Are  these  his  doings  ? 
Hast  thou  not  known,  hast  thou  not  heard  that  the  everlasting  God,  the 
Lord,  the  Creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary? 
He  giveth  power  to  the  faint,  and  to  them  that  have  no  might  he  increas- 
eth  strength."  We  doubt  not  that  these  and  similar  admonitions  of  God's 
word,  together  with  some  recent  revivals,  were  designed  to  rebuke  our 
unbelief  and  to  encourage  in  us  the  hope  of  more  copious  blessings.  This 
is  the  numner  of  God  with  his  people,  as  may  be  seen  in  many  })arts  of 
Scripture.  Thus  he  said  to  the  Jewish  Church,  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God, 
which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  open  thy  mouth  wide,  and 
I  will  fill  it."  Thus,  too,  when,  by  examining  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah, 
Daniel,  then  a  captive  in  Babylon,  learned  that  God  had  purposes  of  mercy 
to  his  people,  and  was  about  to  deliver  them,  he  was  greatly  encouraged, 
and  "  set  his  face  unto  the  Lord  God,  to  seek  by  prayer  and  supplications, 
with  fasting  and  sackcloth  and  ashes." 

In  like  manner,  we  live  in  a  time  Avhen  there  is  much  to  deplore,  and 
yet  much  to  hope  for.  The  very  dispensation  under  which  we  live  is  by 
inspired  men  called  "the  ministration  of  the  Spirit."  Under  it  the  Church 
may  well  pray  in  hope  for  blessed  effusions  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Avho  is  by 
Christ  himself  called  "  the  promise  of  the  Father."  Many  large  prophe- 
cies concerning  the  latter-day  glory  are  now  fulfilling,  and  others  yet  more 
ample  must  soon  be  fulfilled.  After  a  long  period  of  coldness  a  renewed 
warmth  of  love  and  zeal  and  activity  has  been  granted  to  some.  We 
hope  it  will  soon  be  extended  to  many.  For  God  has  said,  "  I  will  assem- 
ble her  that  halteth,  and  I  will  gather  her  that  is  driven  out  and  her  that 
I  have  afflicted."  It  was  specially  to  the  Gentile  Church  that  God  said, 
"  Thy  Maker  is  thy  husband  ;  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name ;  and  thy 
Redeemer  the  holy  One  of  Israel.  For  a  small  moment  have  I  forsaken 
thee,  but  with  great  mercies  will  I  gather  thee.  In  a  little  wrath  I  hid  my 
face  from  thee  for  a  moment,  but  with  everlasting  kindness  will  I  have 
mercy  on  thee,"     In  view  of  these  things  we  now  address  you. 

You  will  not  misunderstand  us  as  exhorting  you  to  do  anything  by 
which  a  spirit  of  fanaticism  should  sjircad  among  us.  Kothing  is  farther 
from  our  wishes.  A  wild  enthusiasm,  just  so  far  as  it  i)revails,  will  mar  or 
ruin  the  interests  of  vital  piety.  It  begets  the  very  worst  state  of  things. 
It  finally  induces  skepticism,  laxity  of  morals,  a  forsaking  of  the  house  of 
God  and  general  irreligion.  We  therefore  hope  that  you  will  do  and  seek 
nothing  inconsistent  with  the  sobriety  of  the  gos])el,  the  decorum  of  pub- 
lic worship  and  the  gravity  and  gentleness  which  the  word  of  God  every- 
where enjoins.  We  seek  to  ])romote,  not  confusion,  but  order,  not  blind 
and  V)itter,  but  wise  and  benevolent,  zeal.  A  pure  revivaf  will  always  be 
marked  by  "  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above,  which  is  first  pure,  then  peace- 
able, gentle  and  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  with- 


OF   THE   GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  315 

out  partiality  and  witliout  hypocrisy."  "The  fruit  of  righteousness  is 
sown  in  peace  of  them  that  make  jieace."  If  the  King,  most  mighty, 
shall  "ride  prosperously"  in  the  earth,  it  will  be  "because  of  truth  and 
meekness  and  righteousness." 

Having  thus  guarded  against  misconstruction,  we  beseech  you,  brethren, 
to  remember  that  a  state  of  indifierence  to  spiritual  things  is  a  great  offence 
in  the  sight  of  God.  It  is  indeed  the  very  core  of  depravity.  Not  to  be 
greatly  affected  by  divine  things  may  be  consistent  with  a  decent  profes- 
sion of  religion  in  a  low  state  of  the  Church,  but  it  is  a  great  sin  against 
God.  How  terrible  are  the  rebukes  of  the  Almighty  to  the  lukewarm ! 
He  says  he  "will  spew"  them  out.  He  says:  "Woe  to  them  that  are  at 
ease  in  Zion."  All  persons  who  promote  this  state  of  things  in  the  Church 
are  very  offensive  to  God.  He  says:  "Woe  unto  the  women  [certain 
prophetesses]  that  sow  pillows  to  all  armholes."  Deplorable  indeed  is  the 
state  of  any  people  whose  watchmen  cry  Peace,  peace,  when  there  is  no 
peace.  Deadness,  negligence,  earthly  mindedness  and  vanity  in  ministers, 
elders,  deacons  or  private  Christians,  are  extremely  abominable  to  God. 
A  supine  carelessness  and  a  vain,  carnal,  worldly  spirit  in  ministers  or 
people  is  the  worst  madness  and  distraction  in  the  sight  of  God.  Sound, 
sober  discretion  is  always  to  be  sought,  but  \vorldiy  policy  is  the  bane  of 
godliness.  Carnal  prudence  is  the  plague  of  any  church  into  which  it 
gains  admission.  When  there  is  none  that  "  stirreth  himself  up  to  take 
hold  of  God,"  he  hides  his  face  and  consumes  us  because  of  our  iniquities. 
Proper  means  are  therefore  to  be  used,  and  in  a  proper  spirit  too  ;  espe- 
cially— 

Prayer. — How  full  are  the  Scriptures  on  this  point!  "  Call  upon  me  in 
the  day  of  trouble;  I  will  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  me."  "  Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you,  seek,  and  ye  shall  find,  knock,  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you."  It  is  as  true  now  as  in  the  days  of  Elijah  or  of  James 
that  "  the  effectual  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much." 
"If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how 
much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that 
ask  him."  Here  "  the  Holy  Spirit,"  the  very  blessing  which  we  need  in 
all  our  bounds  to  enlighten,  renew,  sanctify  and  comfort,  is  sweetly  and 
assuredly  promised  to  them  that  ask.  Let  us  humbly,  fervently,  impor- 
tunately and  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  cry  to  God  for  so  great  a  mercy. 
Yea,  let  us  all  thus  pray.  The  apostles  devolved  the  actual  distribution 
of  alms  on  deacons  chosen  for  the  purpose,  but  they  no  more  thought  of 
giving  up  prayer  than  preaching.  Indeed,  the  very  i-eason  they  assign  for 
wishing  to  be  i*elieved  from  serving  tables  is  that  they  may  "  give  them- 
selves continually  to  prayer  and  to  the  ministry  of  the  word."  If  any 
man  ceases  to  pray  fervently,  he  ought  to  lay  aside  all  other  functions  in 
the  Church  of  God,  for  he  is  wholly  unfit  for  any  of  them.  We  do  not 
deem  it  for  edification  to  designate  any  particular  days  or  times  when  spe- 
cial prayer  shall  be  made,  but  we  beseech  you  in  your  ejaculations,  in  your 
closets,  in  your  families,  in  your  social  meetings  and  in  your  large  assem- 
blies, to  make  unceasing  prayer  to  God  for  seasons  of  merciful  visitation. 
Should  any  times  of  special  prayer,  in  addition  to  those  already  agreed 
upon,  be  deemed  proper,  you  will  appoint  them  yourselves.  But  we  entreat 
you  not  to  permit  anything  to  prevent  your  daily  and  earnest  cries  to  God 
for  mercy  and  salvation  to  descend  on  all  our  churches.  "Ye  that  make 
mention  of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence,  and  give  him  no  rest,  till  he  estab- 
lish and  till  he  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth."  To  prayer  it  is 
proper  to  add — 

Fasting. — When  our  Lord  was  yet  with  us,  he  said  that  when  he  should 


316  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

be  taken  away  his  disciples  should  fast.  Pious  men  in  every  age  have 
united  fasting  with  prayer  in  times  of  distress,  even  if  speedy  deliverance 
was  hoped  for.  So  did  Daniel  in  the  case  already  cited.  So  did  Ezra  and 
all  the  Jews  at  the  river  Ahava,  on  their  return  from  Babylon,  and  just 
before  the  great  revival  of  God's  work  among  them.  Like  prayer,  fast- 
ing has  been  a  part  of  every  system  of  religion  known  among  men.  Some, 
indeed,  even  in  Christian  countries,  have  carried  it  to  the  length  of  super- 
stition, and  have  thereby  impaired  their  health.  Others  who  pretended  to 
■^ast  only  exchange  one  kind  of  sumptuous  eating  for  another,  and  thus 
mock  God.  We  commend  not,  but  rather  reprove,  all  such  practices. 
Yet  we  fear  that  some  among  us  seldom  if  ever  fast  at  all.  We  trust  this 
matter  will  be  inquired  into,  and  if  there  has  been  a  departure  from  divine 
teachings,  there  will  be  a  speedy  return  to  this  scriptural  duty.  The 
nature  of  an  acceptable  fost,  and  the  blessings  attending  it,  are  clearly 
stated  in  the  Scriptui-es,  and  especially  in  the  fifty-eighth  chapter  of  Isa- 
iah.    To  prayer  and  fasting  add — 

Almsgiving. — "  The  poor  ye  have  always  with  ye,  and  w'hensoever  ye 
will  ye  may  do  them  good."  If  they  need  not  shelter,  they  may  need  fuel 
or  food  or  clothing  or  medicine.  If  they  have  all  these,  they  or  their  chil- 
dren may  need  instruction,  warning  or  encouragement.  If  there  be  no  poor 
near  you,  think  of  those  who  are  perishing  elsewhere,  if  not  in  a  famine 
of  bread,  yet  in  a  famine  of  the  word  of  God,  whether  written  or  preached. 
Help  them.  Be  both  liberal  and  systematic  in  your  charities.  "  Remem- 
ber the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he  said.  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive."  It  was  when  the  prayers  of  Cornelius  were  united  with 
his  alms  that  they  came  up  for  a  memorial  before  God.  Separate  not 
prayer  and  fasting  from  almsgiving.  God  has  joined  them  together. 
One  benefit  of  fiisting  is  that  it  affords  or  increases  the  means  of  giving 
to  those  who  are  more  needy  than  ourselves.  Beware  of  covetousness. 
Beware  of  the  spirit  of  hoarding.  Many  in  our  day  think  they  do  well  if 
they  give  even  one-tenth  of  their  increase.  But  the  ancient  Jewish  Church 
gave  far  more  than  that.  The  gospel  settles  nothing  as  to  the  proportion 
to  be  given,  but  it  says :  "  As  ye  abound  in  everything,  in  faith  and  utter- 
ance and  knowledge  and  in  all  diligence  and  in  your  love  to  us,  see  that  ye 
abound  in  this  grace  also."  The  motives  it  urges  are  of  the  highest  kind. 
Every  believer  must  feel  their  force.  "  Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor, 
that  ye  through  his  poverty  might  be  rich."  Surely,  with  superior  privi- 
leges. Christians  should  have  a  higher  standard  of  liberality  than  those 
who  lived  under  a  darker  dispensation.  Yet  even  to  the  Jewish  Church 
God  said  :  "  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse  that  there  may  be 
meat  in  mine  house,  and  prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
if  I  will  not  open  the  windows  of  heaven  and  pour  out  a  blessing  that 
there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it." 

Brethren,  will  you  not  "prove"  the  Lord?  You  shall  find  him  faith- 
ful. If  from  right  motives  you  practice  proper  liberality,  "  all  nations 
shall  call  you  blessed,  for  ye  shall  be  a  delightsome  land,  saith  the  Loud 
of  hosts."     To  these  things  unite — 

Praise. — This  duty  is  much  insisted  on  in  Scripture.  If  we  had  praised 
God  more  for  favors  received,  we  should  have  received  more  favors  to 
praise  God  for.  In  heaven  there  is  joy  over  one,  even  one,  sinner  that 
repenteth.  It  should  be  so  on  earth.  "  Whoso  offereth  praise  glorifieth 
me."  Even  in  the  jail  at  Philipjn,  Paul  and  Silas  to  prayer  added  the 
"singing  of  jiraises."  It  has  long  been  observed  that  precious  revivals  are 
not  only  accompanied,  but  preceded  also,  by  an  increased  disposition  to 


OF   THE   GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  317 

make  thankful  mention  of  God's  mercies.  Thus  the  time  that  elapsed 
between  the  ascension  of  oui'  Saviour  and  the  day  of  Pentecost  was  in 
some  respects  a  dark  season.  Yet  blessings  had  been  received,  and  greater 
ones  were  expected.  In  tlie  first  chapter  of  Acts,  Luke  tells  us  that  dur- 
ing this  time  the  disciples  "all  continued  with  one  accord  in  prayer  and 
supplication."  But  in  his  gospel  Luke  says,  "  They  were  continually  in 
the  temple  praising  and  blessing  God."  There  is  no  contrariety  between 
these  statements,  because  there  is  no  conti-ariety  between  prayer  and  praise. 
So  when  the  glorious  revival  commenced  in  Jerusalem,  and  many  thou- 
sands were  converted  to  God,  "  they  continuing  daily  with  one  accord  in 
the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  from  house  to  house,  did  eat  their  meat 
with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  praising  God  and  having  favor  with 
all  the  people,  and  the  Lord  added  to  the  Church  daily  such  as  should  be 
saved."  When  a  church  finds  itself  but  little  inclined  to  the  work  of 
praise,  it  is  certain  that  the  work  of  God  is  not  likely  to  prosper  greatly. 
It  must  have  forgotten  much  of  its  obligations  to  Christ.  "  By  him,  there- 
fore, let  us  offer  the  sacrifice  of  praise  to  God  continually — that  is,  the 
fruit  of  our  lips — giving  thanks  to  his  name."  Thus  shall  we  at  least  be  pre- 
pared to  own  and  profit  by  any  new  mercy  which  the  Head  of  the  Church 
may  vouchsafe  to  us.     Besides  these  things  let  us  call  your  attention  to — 

Patient  waiting  for  the  Lord. — Hardly  anything  is  more  insisted  on  iu 
Scripture  as  requisite  to  a  right  state  of  mind  and  heart.  It  is  true  that 
some  who  give  great  prominence  to  other  duties  of  religion  seldom  speak 
of  this.  But  the  Scriptui-es,  and  not  the  example  of  even  good  men,  are 
our  rule  of  faith  and  life.  The  word  of  God  dwells  much  on  this  subject. 
Thus  says  one  :  "  I  wait  for  the  Lord  ;  my  soul  doth  wait,  and  in  his  word 
do  I  hope.  My  soul  waiteth  for  the  Lord  more  than  they  that  watch  for 
the  morning  :  I  say,  more  than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning."  Again, 
"  As  the  eyes  of  servants  look  unto  the  hand  of  their  masters,  and  as  the 
eyes  of  a  maiden  unto  the  hand  of  her  mistress ;  so  our  eyes  wait  upon 
the  Lord  our  God,  until  he  have  mercy  upon  us."  The  same  state  of 
mind  is  beautifully  described  by  the  Church  iu  Solomon's  Song,  where  she 
says:  "I  charge  you,  O  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  by  the  roes  and  the 
hinds  of  the  field,  that  ye  stir  not  up  nor  awake  my  love  till  he  pleases." 
Let  us  not,  therefore,  suppose  that  we  shall  please  God  by  a  tumultuous, 
much  less  by  an  imperious,  state  of  mind.  A  judicious  parent  gives  noth- 
ing to  a  child  when  in  a  turbulent  state  of  mind,  however  loudly  and 
earnestly  it  may  call  for  it.  Neither  will  our  heavenly  Father  hear  our 
cries  unless  our  spirits  be  subdued  and  submissive.  The  Psalmist  says : 
"Surely  I  have  behaved  and  quieted  myself  as  a  child  that  is  weaned  of 
his  mother :  my  soul  is  even  as  a  weaned  child."  Nor  does  he  regard  this 
as  a  ground  of  discouragement,  but  rather  of  hope,  for  his  next  words  are, 
"  Let  Israel  hope  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth  and  for  ever."  So  also, 
whether  we  apply  the  fortieth  Psalm  to  Christ  or  to  his  people,  it  teaches 
liie  same  thing:  "I  waited  patiently  for  the  Lord,  and  he  inclined  unto 
niii,  and  heard  my  cry."     We  also  call  your  attention  to — 

Religious  Conversation. — Has  not  a  sad  decline  in  this  respect  been  man- 
ifest of  late  years?  Many  speak  much  of  some  things  concerning  religion, 
hut  how  few  delight  in  speaking  of  the  great  things  of  God,  and  particu- 
larly of  experimental  religion!  We  would  be  very  flir  from  encouraging 
an  ostentatious  display  of  personal  feelings.  But  proper  conversation  is 
as  much  opposed  to  ostentation  as  to  coldness.  It  was  an  inspired  man 
who  said,  "  Come  and  hear,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I  will  declare  what  he 
hath  done  for  my  soul."  Many  of  the  Psalms,  such  as  the  thirty-second, 
the  forty-second  and  the  fifty-first,  are  full  of  declarations  of  religious  ex- 


318  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

perience.  The  seventh  chapter  of  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  most 
precious  to  the  saints,  chiefly  because  it  reveals  the  internal  conflicts  of 
that  servant  of  God.  Nor  should  pious  conversation  be  confined  to  times 
of  prosperity  in  the  Church.  The  prophet  Malachi  lived  in  times  of  open 
wickedness  and  sad  apostasy.  But  few  remained  steadfast.  Yet  even 
then  "they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to  another;  and  the  Lord 
hearkened  and  heard  it,  and  a  book  of  rememl)rance  was  written  before 
him  for  them  that  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  thought  upon  his  name. 
And  they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord,  in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my 
jewels ;  and  I  will  spare  them  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son  that  servetli 
him."  Indeed,  he  who  would  condemn  a  truthful  and  motlest  recital  of 
the  dealings  of  God  with  one's  soul  must  not  only  condemn  such  works 
as  Augustine's  Confessions,  Bunyan's  Grace  Abounding,  Newton's  Authen- 
tic Narrative  and  Scott's  Force  of  Truth,  but  also  the  conduct  of  Paul, 
who  often  declared  the  particulars  of  his  conversion,  and  the  conduct  of 
very  many  of  the  inspired  writers  also.  We  do,  therefore,  commend  this 
matter  to  your  serious  attention. 

They  who  would  enjoy  extensive  and  powerful  revivals  of  religion  must 
also  put  a  high  estimate  upon  them. — The  Holy  Spirit,  no  less  than  the 
Father  or  the  Son,  says :  "  Them  that  honor  me  will  I  honor ;  and  they 
that  despise  me  shall  be  lightly  esteemed."  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  sole 
author  of  genuine  revivals.  Would  we  secure  his  gracious  presence? 
Let  us  prize  it  above  all  earthly  good.  His  love  is  better  than  wine.  He 
is  the  true  oil  of  gladness.  Only  when  he,  like  the  wind,  blows  on  his 
gai'den,  do  the  spices  thereof  flow  out.  Nothing  that  man  can  do  is  any 
substitute  for  his  gracious  presence.  And  no  labors  that  man  can  perform 
are  a  substitute  for  a  high  estimate  of  the  value  and  glory  of  the  Spirit's 
presence. 

If  our  estimate  of  such  blessings  be  really  high,  it  ivill  lead  to  a  forsaking 
of  all  that  might  in  our  judgment  displease  God. — It  will  produce  great 
heart-searchings,  it  will  lead  us  to  remove  every  stumbling-block  out  of 
the  way  and  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord.  Dear  brethi-en,  let  us  lay 
aside  all  malice,  and  all  guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and  envies,  and  all  evil 
speakings.  Let  us  heal  every  breach  of  charity.  The  visible  form  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  on  our  Saviour  was  that  of  a  dove,  the 
very  emblem  of  gentleness,  a  bird  that  never  dwells  with  birds  of  prey, 
nor  amidst  noise  and  strife.  Paul  says,  "  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God,  whereby  ye  are  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption  ;"  and  immedi- 
ately adds,  "Let  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  anger,  and  clamor,  and  evil 
speaking  be  put  away  from  you,  with  all  malice ;  and  be  ye  kind  one  to 
another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even  as  God,  for  Christ's 
sake,  hath  forgiven  you."  If  our  churches  are  in  a  cold  state,  it  is  by 
reason  of  sin.  "  Your  iniquities  have  separated  between  you  and  your 
God."  How  solemn  are  these  words  of  God  to  his  ancient  Church  ! — "  I 
will  go  and  return  to  my  place  till  they  acknowledge  their  offence,  and 
seek  my  face ;  in  their  afttictioji  they  will  seek  me  early."  Let  us  prove 
that  we  are  his  people  by  confessing  and  forsaking  all  our  offences. 

We  suggest  whether  the  practice  of  assembling  the  people,  for  sereral  con- 
secutive days,  for  prayer  and  praise  and  preaching  might  not  he  happily  re- 
vived.— In  some  places  it  has  been  continued,  and  with  good  effect;  but  in 
others,  we  fear,  it  has  fallen  into  general  disuse.  Prudence  should  be  ex- 
ercised as  to  the  time  wiien  and  how  long  such  meetings  should  be  held. 
That  they  are  not  novelties  is  plain  from  the  Directory  for  Worship,  chap, 
viii.,  sec.  6.  A  favorite  method  of  noticing  the  preacliing  of  the  gospel 
in  the  New  Testament  is  that  of  bearini«;  testimonv.     And  we  all  know 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  319 

how  mightily  the  power  of  testimony  over  the  human  mind  is  increased 
by  two  or  more  agreeing  witnesses ;  so  that  by  the  mouth  of  two  or  three 
witnesses  every  word  is  established.  This  principle  of  our  nature  was  con- 
sulted by  our  Lord  in  sending  out  his  apostles,  and  by  the  apostles  them- 
selves. Under  the  divine  blessing  on  their  united  testimony  borne  to  the 
same  people,  the  great  work  of  grace  on  and  after  the  day  of  Pentecost 
Avas  accomplished. 

We  have  no  new  expedients  to  commend  to  you. — We  fear  all  such.  The 
Bible  indicates  all  the  means  to  be  used.  We  have  noticed  the  chief  of 
them.  We  beseech  you  to  use  with  zeal  and  perseverance  all  such  means 
as  God  has  appointed  for  reviving  his  work.  Brethren,  be  not  slothful, 
but  be  ye  filled  with  the  Spirit.  Be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable,  always 
abounding  in  the  Avork  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor 
is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 

The  necessity  of  copious  effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit  unll  not  he  questioned. 
— In  vain  are  all  our  etibrts  until  the  Spirit  be  poured  from  on  high.  No 
improvements  in  agriculture  can  render  the  dew  and  the  rain  unnecessary 
to  the  growth  of  grain.  No  amount  of  canvas  will  give  speed  to  a  vessel 
unless  the  wind  blows.  So  no  endeavors  of  man  unaided  by  divine  influ- 
ence can  save  a  Church  from  spiritual  death.  If  we  are  not  mistaken, 
there  is  a  loud  call  at  this  time  on  all  of  us  to  look  away  from  instru- 
ments and  means  to  God  alone.  The  number  of  candidates  for  the  min- 
istry, though  really  considerable,  is  very  small,  compared  with  the  present 
and  prospective  wants  of  even  our  own  country.  Our  country  is  growing 
at  a  rate  that  almost  staggers  belief.  More  than  a  million  of  souls  were 
added  to  her  population  the  last  year;  a  still  larger  number  will  probably 
be  added  this  year.  Many  foreigners,  both  ignorant  and  superstitious, 
come  amongst  us.  But  many  are  also  the  excellent  of  the  earth.  Let  us 
receive  all  with  kindness,  and  seek  to  do  them  good.  If  God  will  but 
pour  out  his  Spirit  on  the  least  instructed  among  them,  they  will  be  incal- 
culable blessings  to  us.  In  some  places,  where  once  existed  churches 
faujous  for  their  piety,  the  things  that  remain  are  ready  to  die.  What 
shall  we  do  but  go  to  God,  with  whom  is  the  residue  of  the  Spirit?  He 
has  said:  "Fear  not,  O  Jacob,  my  servant;  and  thou,  Jesurun,  whom  I 
have  chosen.  For  I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods 
upon  the  dry  ground  ;  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and  my  bless- 
ing upon  thine  offspring:  and  they  shall  spring  up  as  among  the  grass,  as 
willows  by  the  watercourses.  One  shall  say  I  am  the  Lord's;  and  an- 
other shall  call  himself  by  the  name  of  Jacob  ;  and  another  shall  sub- 
scribe with  his  hand  unto  the  Lord,  and  surname  himself  by  the  name 
of  Israel."  "Then  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be  opened,  and  the  ears  of 
the  deaf  shall  be  unstopped.  Then  shall  the  lame  man  leap  as  an  hart, 
and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb  sing:  for  in  the  wilderness  shall  waters  break 
out,  and  streams  in  the  desert.  And  the  parched  ground  shall  become  a 
]M)ol,  and  the  thirsty  land  springs  of  water.  In  the  habitation  of  drag- 
on;-, where  each  lay,  shall  be  grass  with  reeds  and  rushes.  xVnd  an  high- 
Yvay  siiall  be  there,  and  a  way,  and  it  shall  be  called  the  way  of  holiness." 
The  erection  of  churches,  the  establishment  of  schools,  the  distribution  of 
tiie  word  of  God,  the  instruction  of  children,  the  settlement  of  ministers, 
and  even  the  preaching  of  tb.e  gospel,  are  not  ends.  They  are  only  means 
to  an  end.  That  end  is  the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  souls.  This 
salvation  will  never  be  effected  without  the  pouring  out  of  God's  Spirit  on 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  And  as  in  our  country  there  are  many  people, 
and  the  number  rapidly  increasing,  notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  death, 
it  is  plain  that  myriads  must  die  in  their  sins  and  for  ever  perish  unless 


320  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

God's  Spirit  be  poured  out  iu  very  large  measure  on  ministers  and  people, 
and  that  speedily. 

What  a  blessing  such  a  season  u'ordd  he!  What  blessings  it  would 
bring  Avith  it!  Such  times  are  in  Scripture  well  called  "times  of  refresh- 
ing." They  refresh  ministers.  Tiiey  refresh  older  Christians.  To  the 
young  converts  they  are  life  from  the  dead.  When  under  Phili])'s 
preaching  in  Samaria  many  were  converted  to  God,  "  there  was  great  joy 
in  that  city."  It  was  so  in  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  and  for 
some  time  after.  It  always  has  been  so.  It  always  must  be  so.  If  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  a  good  hope  through  grace,  and  seeing  sinners 
flying  as  a  cloud  to  Christ,  will  not  make  a  ministry  and  a  people  truly 
blessed,  nothing  can.  "  0  God  of  our  salvation,  tvilt  thou  not  revive  us 
again,  that  thy  people  may  rejoice  in  thee?"  "  Heturn,  return,  0  Shxdamite; 
return,  return,  that  we  may  look  upon  thee." 

We  beseech  you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that  ye 
present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  Avhich  is 
your  reasonable  service,  and  that  you  call  upon  your  souls  and  all  that  is 
within  you  to  wake  to  righteousness,  and  so  much  the  more  as  ye  see  the 
day  of  deliverance  and  triumph  approaching.  By  the  love  ye  bear  to  the 
great  Redeemer  and  the  souls  of  men,  v>-e  pray  you  to  shake  oft'  the  spirit 
of  slumber  wherever  it  rests.  One  of  the  burning  and  shining  lights  of 
the  Church  said  iu  his  day,  "  Little  do  we  know  what  many  a  soul  may 
now  be  suffering  in  hell  through  our  neglect  or  coldness."  Our  opportu- 
nities to  serve  God  in  the  Church  below  will  soon  be  past  for  ever.  Soon 
we  can  pray  no  more,  preach  no  more,  and  no  more  beseech  sinners  to  be 
reconciled  to  God.  The  time  is  short.  The  Judge  standeth  before  the 
door.  The  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work.  Brethren,  put  on 
bowels  of  mercy  and  compassion,  and  devote  your  remaining  days  to  proper 
efforts  to  save  men  from  the  coming  wrath,  and  thus  bring  glory  to  your 
divine  Kedeemer  who  is  over  all  God  blessed  for  ever. 

NICHOLAS  MURRAY,  Moderator. 

Pimhurg,  Mav,  1849. 

—1849,  pp.  424-429,  O.  S. 

14.  On  Diligence  in  Repairing  the  Wastes  of  the  AVar. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  CInirch  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  session  at  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1865,  send  to  the  Churches  under  their  care,  greeting  : 

The  terrible  calamities  which  have  befiillen  our  country  during  the  last 
four  years,  and  their  injurious  influence  on  the  material,  intellectual,  moral 
and  religious  condition  of  the  people,  render  it  peculiarly  important  for 
the  General  Assembly,  composed  of  your  representatives  from  most  of  the 
loyal  States,  to  remind  you  of  the  solenm  responsibilities  which  this  state 
of  things  devolves  upon  our  churches,  as  well  as  upon  the  other  Christian 
churches  of  this  land. 

Immense  districts  in  the  Southern  States,  now  redeemed  from  the  civil 
rebellion,  have  become,  by  the  casualties  of  war,  desolate  wastes,  the  re- 
pairing of  which  demands  immediate  and  earnest  attention.  Their  politi- 
cal status  is  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  civil  government.  Their 
desolated  fields  must  be  put  under  cultivation,  and  their  ruined  dwellings, 
villages  and  cities  rebuilt  by  individual  industry  and  enterprise.  But 
their  intellectual,  moi-al  and  religious  privileges,  by  means  of  literary 
institutions  and  gospel  ordinances,  must  be  restored  by  the  exertions  of 
Christian  philanthropy.     And  in  the  Northern  States,  though  the  war  has 


OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  321 

not  materially  diminished  their  wealth  and  prosperity,  nor  closed  their 
schools,  colleges  and  churches,  we  have  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  de- 
moralizing influences  of  the  camp  upon  the  habits  of  our  brave  and 
patriotic  soldiers  will  introduce  into  hundreds  of  neighborhoods  in  the 
North  vices  heretofore  unknown,  unless  counteracted  by  timely  and  effi- 
cient eff"orts.  "  The  patriotism  of  the  nation,  under  God,  has  saved  the 
Union,  and  it  now  remains  for  the  piety  of  the  Church  to  sanctify  the 
people." 

The  means  for  accomplishing  this  work  have  been  instituted  by  God 
himself,  viz.,  earnest  and  believing  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of  his  Holy 
Spirit,  the  faithful  preaching  of  his  word,  and  the  liberal  contribution  of 
our  substance  for  keeping  in  vigorous  operation  those  auxiliary  agencies 
which  are  adapted  to  benefit  and  save  the  souls  of  men. 

The  first  great  want  of  the  Church  and  country  is  the  effusion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  for  which  earnest  prayer  should  be  daily  offered  to  God.  The 
gift  of  the  Spirit,  descending  in  penteco.stal  showers  upon  all  our  borders, 
will  heal  the  breaches  which  have  been  made  among  us  by  this  cruel  and 
bloody  war,  reclaim  from  sin  and  ruin  the  many  thousands  who,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  war,  have  yielded  too  much  to  the  corrupting  tendencies 
of  their  depraved  appetites  and  passions,  purify  the  fountains  of  litera- 
ture, and  make  all  our  schools  and  colleges  the  sources  of  virtuous  and 
holy  influences,  impart  to  our  firesides  and  places  of  business,  to  our 
popular  assemblies  and  halls  of  legislation,  a  spirit  of  healthful  and 
happy  piety,  and  surround  our  whole  land  with  a  halo  of  celestial  light 
and  love. 

But  this  inestimable  blessing  must  be  sought  by  earnest  and  importu- 
nate supplication.  God  will  be  inquired  of  by  the  house  of  Israel  to  do 
these  things  for  them.  Brethren,  pray  without  ceasing  until  the  Lord 
shall  rain,  righteousness  upon  us,  like  the  prophet  Elijah  on  Mount  Car- 
mel,  who  cast  himself  down  upon  the  earth  in  prayer,  and  sent  his  servant 
seven  times  in  succession  to  look  toward  the  sea,  until  at  last  a  little  cloud 
appeared  like  a  man's  hand,  and  speedily  a  refreshing  and  fertilizing  rain 
covered  the  whole  land  of  Israel,  In  addition  to  daily  prayer  in  the 
closet  and  family,  the  Assembly  recommend  that  our  pastors  and  church 
sessions,  at  their  discretion,  appoint  meetings  for  prayer  in  their  respective 
congregations,  daily  if  practicable,  but  if  not,  then  once  or  twice  a  week,  to 
pray  especially  for  tiie  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  that,  like  the 
pious  and  faithful  few  who  assembled  daily  for  prayer,  for  ten  days  prior 
to  the  day  of  Pentecost,  these  praying  ones  look  and  wait  in  believing 
expectation  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  divine  promise  to  send  this  blessing 
upon  his  Church, 

In  connection  with  prayer,  the  Assembly  recommend  that,  as  often  as 
may  be  deemed  expedient  by  our  ministers  and  church  sessions,  they  also 
appoint  special  public  services  for  preaching  the  gospel.  God  has  visited 
some  of  our  congregations  with  large  outpourings  of  his  Holy  Spirit  in 
connection  with  these  extra  services.  By  these  means  the  unconverted  are 
brought  daily  under  the  influence  of  the  preached  word,  and  impressions 
produced  one  day  are  deepened  by  warnings  reiterated  on  the  next,  and 
the  result  has  often  been  a  precious  ingathering  of  souls. 

The  Assembly  further  exhort  the  churches  under  their  care  to  practice 
an  enlarged  liberality  in  sustaining  the  cause  of  Christian  benevolence. 
Not  to  mention  other  benevolent  objects  and  associations,  the  operations 
of  the  several  boards  of  our  own  Church,  and  of  the  Committee  recently 
appointed  to  benefit  the  freedraen,  are  of  the  first  importance,  and  they 
are  increasing  in  magnitude  every  year ;  and  with  regard  to  some  of  them, 
41 


322  FORM   OF   GOVEENMENT. 

owing  to  the  extraordinary  condition  of  our  country,  particularly  in  the 
Southern  States,  there  is  an  urgent  call  for  the  most  liberal  contributions. 
Our  nation  has  been  appropriating  the  public  treasure  by  hundreds  of 
millions  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and  our  citizens  have  volun- 
tarily contributed  with  remarkable  liberality  for  the  relief  and  comfort 
of  our  suffering  soldiers,  refugees  and  freedmen.  Let  our  churches  con- 
tribute with  corresponding  liberality  to  promote  their  spiritual  welfare.  A 
special  thank-offering  is  due  to  our  Saviour  God,  the  King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords,  in  view  of  the  signal  deliverance  over  which  we  now  rejoice. 

Finally,  the  Assembly  would  add  to  these  several  recommendations  that 
there  is  a  special  demand  on  all  loyal  and  Christian  men,  in  the  hopeful 
termination  of  our  national  calamities,  to  endeavor,  by  every  appropriate 
means  in  their  power,  to  bring  together  in  friendly  relations  the  discord- 
ant and  conflicting  elements  of  civil  society.  Let  all  become  good  Sa- 
maritans to  heal  the  wounds  which  have  been  made  by  this  fratricidal 
Avar,  and  to  administer  to  the  wants  of  the  distressed  and  unfortunate. 
Even  those  who  have  been  our  avowed  and  bitter  enemies,  once  defiant, 
but  now  conquered,  are  entitled  to  our  sympathy  and  kindness.  Act  with 
regard  to  them,  dear  brethren,  according  to  the  spirit  of  those  inspired 
words  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  which  were  put  on  record  for  our  instruction, 
with  the  assurance  that  the  reward  promised  will  also  be  yours :  "  Is  not 
this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen?  to  loose  the  bands  of  wickedness,  to 
undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye 
break  every  yoke?  Is  it  not  to  deal  thy  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  that 
thou  bring  the  poor  that  are  cast  out  to  thy  house?  when  thou  seest  the 
naked,  that  thou  cover  him  ;  and  that  thou  hide  not  thyself  from  thine 
own  flesh  ?  Then  shall  thy  light  break  forth  as  the  morning,  and  thine 
health  shall  spring  forth  speedily ;  and  thy  righteousness  shall  go  before 
thee ;  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy  reward.  Then  shalt  thou  call, 
and  the  Lord  shall  answer ;  thou  shalt  cry,  and  he  shall  say.  Here  I  am. 
If  thou  take  away  from  the  midst  of  thee  the  yoke,  the  putting  forth  of 
the  finger,  and  speaking  vanity ;  and  if  thou  draw  out  thy  soul  to  tlie 
hungry,  and  satisfy  the  afflicted  soul ;  then  shall  thy  light  arise  in  ob- 
scurity, and  thy  darkness  be  as  the  noonday  ;  and  the  Lord  shall  guide 
thee  continually,  and  satisfy  thy  soul  in  drought,  and  make  fat  thy  bones : 
and  thou  shaltbe  like  a  watered  garden,  and  like  a  spring  of  water  whose 
waters  fail  not.  And  they  that  shall  be  of  thee  shall  build  the  old  waste 
places ;  thou  shalt  raise  up  the  foundations  of  many  generations  ;  and 
thou  shalt  be  called.  The  repairer  of  the  breach,  The  restorer  of  paths  to 
dwell  in."  Isa.  Iviii.  6-12. 

And  now,  dear  brethren,  may  "the  God  of  peace,  that  brought  again 
from  the  dead  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through 
the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good 
work  to  do  his  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in  his 
sight,  through  Jesus  Ghrist,  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 
—1865,  pp.  600-603,  O.  S. 

On  the  Rebellion. — See  Minutes,  1866,  pp.  82-90,  O.  S. 

15.  Pastoral  Letter  on  the  Observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

Dear  Brethrp:n:  In  the  exercise  of  that  spiritual  oversight  to  which 
we  are  called  as  the  highest  court  of  our  beloved  Church,  it  has  seemed 
good  to  us  to  address  you  in  regard  to  the  observance  of  "the  Lord's 
day."  We  are  especially  moved  to  this  duty  now  by  sundry  memorials 
and  overtures  from  different  parts  of  the  Church,  which  set  forth  the  fact 


OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  323 

that  this  holy  day  is  profaned  in  our  land  in  a  variety  of  ways  and  to  an 
extent  most  alarming  to  God's  people.  And  in  these  circumstances  we 
make  an  appeal  to  you,  not  only  to  stir  up  your  minds  by  way  of  remem- 
brance, but  also  to  enlist  your  example  and  co-operation  in  every  avail- 
able form,  in  resisting  the  encroachments  of  a  wicked  world  uj)on  the 
honor  of  Zion's  King. 

Nothing  is  plainer  than  that  "the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,"  and 
therefore  that  it  is  of  universal  and  perpetual  obligation.  The  Lord  him- 
self "  blessed  "  and  "  hallowed  "  it  at  the  creation.  Its  requirements  have  a 
distinct  place  among  the  statutes  of  the  Moral  Law,  which,  being  founded 
upon  immutable  principles  and  designed  to  express  the  permanent  rela- 
tions between  God  and  man,  is  applicable  to  all  times  and  circumstances. 
The  visions  of  prophecy  looked  forward  to  the  dispensation  of  the  fullness 
of  the  times  when  the  "sons  of  the  stranger"  should  not  only  "join  them- 
selves to  the  Lord  to  serve  him,"  but  should  "keep  the  Sabbath  from  pol- 
luting it  and  take  hold  of  his  coveuant,"  and  thus  be  "brought  to  his  holy 
mountain  and  made  joyful  in  his  house  of  prayer."  Isa.  Ivi.  6,  7.  But 
most  of  all  do  we  find  our  sanction  in  the  example  of  our  blessed  Lord 
and  his  disciples.  His  resurrection  from  the  dead  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week — thenceforth  tlie  Christian  Sabbath — was  his  entrance  into  rest  after 
the  creation  of  the  "new  lieavens  and  new  earth"  was  "finished."  His 
subsequent  appearances  to  his  disciples  on  that  day  during  the  period  pre- 
ceding his  ascension,  tlie  fact  of  their  meeting  on  that  day  also  for  preach- 
ing and  prayer,  the  breaking  of  bread,  collections  for  the  saints  and  other 
acts  of  worship  (Acts  xx.  7  ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  2),  and  the  uniform  habit  of  the 
early  Christians  under  apostolic  example  and  direction  to  the  same  efiect, 
leave  no  room  for  doubt.  Whilst  in  honor  of  the  greater  work  of  redemp- 
tion the  observance  was  transferred  from  the  last  to  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  we  still  have  the  Sabbath  itself,  resting  upon  the  same  fundamental 
law,  solemnly  sanctioned  by  the  exalted  Head  of  the  Church  and  de- 
manding in  his  name  the  same  evangelical  obedience  due  to  all  his  will. 
From  all  these  sources  alike — divine  example,  divine  law,  prophecy  and 
the  gospel — the  warrant  and  duty  to  honor  God  by  the  sanctification  of 
the  Sabbath  are  clear  and  unmistakable. 

Experience  and  the  fitness  of  things  only  confirm  this  view.  The  phys- 
ical nature  of  man  and  of  inferior  animals  demands  cessation  from  toil  at 
least  one-seventh  portion  of  the  time.  The  formation  of  right  mental  and 
moral  habits,  the  proper  training  of  families,  the  general  welfare  of  soci- 
ety, the  stability  of  government,  the  necessities  of  public  worship  and  the 
interests  of  religion,  all  unite  in  requiring  the  maintenance  of  the  Sabbath 
in  its  integrity  both  against  the  infidelity  which  questions  its  divine  ap- 
pointment and  the  worldliness  which  dishonors  and  desecrates  it.  All 
history  and  experience  unite  to  testify  that  only  where  the  Lord's  day  is 
observed,  and  in  full  proportion  to  the  sacredness  attached  to  it,  does  the 
gospel  of  Christ  accomplish  its  true  mission  in  moulding  public  sentiment, 
in  conserving  sound  morality  and  in  saving  the  souls  of  men.  And  so 
it  must  ever  be,  for  the  reason  that  Jehovah  himself  has  said,  "Them 
that  honor  me  I  will  honor,  but  those  that  despise  me  shall  be  lightly 
esteemed."  Truth,  virtue,  morality  and  religion,  including  "all  spiritual 
blessings  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ,"  find  one  of  their  most  sacred 
pledges  in  this  holy  institution,  whilst  they  must  ever  fail  if  it  be  neglected 
and  polluted. 

In  view  of  these  things,  the  Assembly  looks  with  the  deepest  concern 
upon  the  tendencies  of  these  times  toward  relaxation  in  sentiment  and 
practice  upon  this  subject.     Whilst  it  may  not  be  possible  for  this  or  any 


324  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

other  body  to  discriminate  accurately  in  all  cases  between  acts  of  necessity 
and  mercy  and  those  which  are  sinful  in  themselves  or  by  reason  of  cir- 
cumstances, there  are  principles  and  rules  of  the  clearest  application  to 
this  subject  which  cannot  be  too  faithfully  repeated,  and  there  are  preva- 
lent violations  of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  which  call  for  the  most  earnest 
warnings.  It  is  a  matter  for  painful  regret  that  a  pernicious  example  is 
still  steadily  set  before  the  nation  by  one  department  of  the  government 
and  occasionally  by  others.  Although  the  excitements  of  the  war  have 
for  the  most  part  subsided,  their  effects  still  linger  in  society  in  the  care- 
lessness of  some  and  the  recklessness  of  others  concerning  sacred  time. 
In  certain  parts  of  the  country  business  is,  to  some  extent,  prosecuted  on 
the  Sabbath.  Travel  is  only  partially  suspended  in  compliance  with  its 
claims.  Multitudes,  especially  in  our  cities  and  larger  towns,  give  them- 
selves without  restraint  to  pleasure  during  its  holy  hours.  Saloons  and 
places  of  amusement  are  fearful  rivals  to  the  Lord's  sanctuaries.  Secular 
newspapers — some  of  which,  alas!  are  issued  ou  the  Sabbath — and  books 
without  religious  beariug  and  spirit,  too  often  thrust  out,  even  on  God's 
day,  his  holy  word  and  other  reading  inculcating  its  truths.  Faithful 
Sabbath  instruction  in  the  home  circle  has  to  a  large  extent  become  a 
memory  of  past  generations,  having  yielded  its  place  either  to  other  instru- 
mentalities or  total  neglect.  Even  the  supplies  of  bread  and  milk  in  cities 
and  towns  have  takeu  a  form  which,  to  say  the  least,  often,  beyond  any 
plea  of  necessity,  involves  trespass  upon  the  day  of  rest.  "Sunday  trains" 
are  run  by  many  railroad  companies,  thereby  holding  employees  to  uij- 
warranted  service  and  offering  temptation  to  business  or  pleasure  travel- 
ing which  otherwise  would  not  have  been  undertaken.  Lines  of  street-cars 
also,  now  so  generally  established  in  our  cities,  whilst  furnishing  great  ac- 
commodations through  the  secular  week,  are  to  a  lamentable  extent  em- 
ployed in  the  interest  of  pleasure  excursions  and  unnecessary  travel,  some- 
times even  by  professing  Christians,  to  the  great  detriment  of  morality 
and  religion,  whilst  also  their  noise  often  disturbs  beyond  endurance  the 
quiet  of  families  and  the  worship  of  congregations  before  whose  doors  they 
pass.  In  such  and  other  kindred  ways  are  the  Lord's  name  and  honor 
profaned ;  and  the  profanation  appears  just  where  a  divine  and  holy  jeal- 
ousy guards  that  proportion  of  our  time  which  the  INIost  High  has  reserved 
for  himself,  and  also  guards  "the  gates  of  Ziou,"  which  he  "  loves  more  than 
all  the  dwellings  of'jacob."  Its  damage  to  every  spiritual  interest  who 
can  tell? 

With  such  views,  brethren,  of  our  highest  obligations  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  peril  to  the  cause  of  our  divine  Master  on  the  other,  we  appeal  to 
your  consciences  and  hearts.  We  address  not  so  much  the  unbelieving 
world  as  you  who  profess  hearty  subjection  to  the  law  of  God  and  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ.  We  are  profoundly"  convinced  that  the  professing  Chris- 
tians of  this  hind,  both  ministers  and  people,  have  it  in  their  power,  through 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  their  fidelity,  to  rescue  from  dishonor  that  holy 
day  which,  standing  in  the  very  front  of  the  institutions  of  our  religion, 
prominently  represents  our  dearest  spiritual  rights  and  blessings.  The 
great  battles  of  the  Church  with  skepticism  and  sin  alike  must  be  largely 
fought  on  this  issue.  This  breastwork  must  at  all  hazards  be  maintained 
against  the  subtle  and  combined  enemies  of  God  and  man.  In  the  very 
way  of  divine  appointment  must  this  sacred  ordinance  be  kept  and  used  for 
the  divine  honor,  for  the  ])urhy  of  the  Church  and  for  all  the  precious  m- 
trrests  of  truth  and  righteousness  in  the  earth.  For  present  sanctificatiou 
and  future  glory  we  must  thus  maintain  our  communion  with  God,  and  so 


OF   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  325 

"enter  into  his  rest,"  whilst  we  "cease  from  our  own  works  as  God  did 
from  liis."     We  must  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy. 

We  counsel  you  to  cast  your  undivided  influence  on  the  side  of  the 
Lord's  day.  Cultivate,  we  beseech  you,  in  yourselves,  in  your  families 
and  in  all  over  whom  your  influence  extends,  just  and  scriptural  views  of 
its  sacredness.  Let  your  example,  not  in  the  spirit  of  Jewish  bondage, 
but  of  Christian  liberty  and  love,  illustrate  and  adorn  it.  In  your  cha- 
racter as  citizens,  in  harmony  with  the  largest  freedom  of  our  institutions, 
do  not  fail  to  promote  and  sustain  the  time-honored  and  wholesome  statutes 
which  have  been  enacted  to  preserve  this  essential  ])art  of  that  "  general, 
tolerant  Christianity,  without  sect  or  party,"  which  belongs  to  the  funda- 
mental law  of  the  laud.  In  every  way  calculated  to  honor  our  exalted 
Redeemer,  through  the  sacred  day  which  is  at  once  the  testimony  of  his 
resurrection  and  the  pledge  of  "  his  inheritance  In  the  saints,"  and  in  every 
way  also  likely  to  win  the  woi'ld  to  honor  it  for  his  sake,  let  your  con- 
sciences be  pure  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  let  your  faithfulness  appear  unto 
all  men.  Do  not  forget  that  "  the  Son  of  man  h  Lord  also  of  the  Sab- 
bath day." 

In  conclusion,  we  respectfully  recommend  that  all  our  pastors  and  stated 
supplies,  as  soon,  and  also  as  often,  as  may  be  convenieiit,  preach  upon  the 
observance  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  instructing  the  people  carefully  from 
God's  word  in  regard  to  its  origin,  meaning,  obligation,  privileges  and  pur- 
pose, the  true  spirit  and  manner  in  which  it  is  to  be  kept,  and  all  those 
duties,  personal  and  relative,  which  grow  out  of  it  or  are  connected  with 
it.     "  Grace  be  with  you  all.     Amen."— 1867,  p.  385-387,  0.  S. 

VI.  Before  any  overtures  or  regulations  proposed  by  the  Assembly 
to  be  established  as  constitutional  rules  shall  be  obligatory  on  the 
churches,  it  shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them  to  all  the  Presbyter- 
ies, and  to  receive  the  returns  of  at  least  a  majority  of  them,  in 
writing,  approving  thereof. 

[The  phrase  "standing  rules"  as  found  in  the  Constitution  of  1788,  was 
changed,  as  above,  to  "  constitutional  rules"  by  vote  of  the  Presbyteries,  in 
1805.— p.  332.] 

1.  Power  of  the  Assembly  to  make  Standing  Rules. 

[The  Presbytery  of  New  York  laid  before  the  Assembly  the  following 
paper,  viz. :] 

Tlie  Presbytery  took  into  consideration  the  regulations  adopted  by  the 
General  Assembly  at  their  last  meeting,  intended  to  embrace  and  extend 
the  existing  rules  respecting  the  reception  of  foreign  ministers  and  licen- 
tiates, whereupon  the  Presbytery  were  of  opinion  that  if  the  General 
Assembly  designed  these  regulations  as  a  standing  rule,  supposing  that, 
having  passed  through  their  body,  they  became  obligatory  ui)on  the  subor- 
dinate judicatories,  and  ought  to  be  carried  into  immediate  effect,  they 
therein  violated  the  sixth  section  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  our  Constitu- 
tion, which  says,  "  Before  any  overtures  or  regulations,"  etc. — 1799,  p.  172. 

[To  this  paper  the  Assembly  replied :] 

1.  That  the  first  reason  assigned  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  for 
their  request  is  founded  on  a  misinterpretation  of' an  ambiguous  expres- 
sion in  the  Constitution.  The  sixth  section  of  the  eleventh  chapter  is 
thus  expressed:  "Before  any  overtures  or  regulations  proposed  by  the 
Assembly  to  be  established  as  standing  rules  shall  be  obligatory  on  the 


326  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

churches,  it  shall  be  necessary  to  transmit  them  to  all  the  Presbyteries  and 
to  receive  the  returns  of  at  least  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries  in  writing 
approving  thereof."  Standing  rules  in  this  section  can  refer  only  to  one 
of  the  following  objects:  1st.  To  articles  of  the  Constitution  which,  when 
once  established,  are  unalterable  by  the  General  Assembly  ;  or  2d.  To 
every  rule  or  law  enacted  without  any  term  of  limitation  expressed  in  the 
act.  The  latter  meaning  would  draw  after  it  consequences  so  extensive 
and  injurious  as  forbid  the  Assembly  to  give  the  section  that  interpreta- 
tion. It  would  reduce  this  Assembly  to  a  mere  committee  to  prepare 
business  upon  which  the  Presbyteries  might  act.  It  would  undo,  with 
few  exceptions,  all  the  rules  that  have  been  established  by  this  Assembly 
since  its  first  institution,  and  would  prevent  it  for  ever  from  establishing 
any  rule  not  limited  by  the  terms  of  the  act  itself.  Besides,  standing  rules, 
in  the  evident  sense  of  the  Constitution,  cannot  be  predicated  of  any  acts 
made  by  the  Assembly  and  repealable  by  it,  because  they  are  limited  in 
their  very  nature  to  the  duration  of  a  year,  if  it  please  the  Assembly  to 
exert  the  power  inherent  in  it  at  all  times  to  alter  or  annul  them,  and  they 
continue  to  be  rules  only  by  the  Assembly's  not  using  its  power  of  repeal. 
The  law  in  question  is  no  otherwise  a  standing  ride  than  all  other  laws 
repealable  by  this  Assembly. — 1799,  p.  179, 

2.  Amendments  of  the  Constitution. — General  Principles. 

a.  Res^olved,  That  the  Eev.  Drs.  Blair,  Tennant  and  Green,  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Irwin,  Miledoler,  Potts,  Linn  and  Janeway,  be  a  Committee  to 
take  into  consideration  the  expediency  of  publishing  a  new  edition  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  etc.,  of  this  Church  ;  to  consider  whether  any,  and,  if 
any,  what,  alterations  ought  to  be  made  in  the  said  Confession  of  Faith,  etc.  ; 
to  make  such  preparatory  arrangements  on  this  subject  as  they  shall  judge 
proper,  and  report  to  the  next  Assembly. — 1803,  p.  282. 

b.  The  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Constitution,  and  having  gone  through  the  same  by  paragraphs, 
and  made  several  amendments,  adopted  it  as  follows: 

After  a  very  serious  attention  to  the  subject  committed  to  them,  your 
Committee  have  resolved  to  propose  no  alteration  whatever  in  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  Catechisms  of  our  Church,  and  are  clearly  of  opinion 
that  none  ought  to  be  attempted. 

The  creed  of  every  Church,  as  it  ought  to  be  derived  immediately  and 
wholly  from  the  word  of  God,  must  be  considered  as  standing  on  ground 
consideral)ly  different  from  that  which  supports  the  system  of  forms  and 
regulations  by  which  worship  shall  be  conducted  and  government  admin- 
istered, and  if  it  be  once  rightly  settled  can  never  be  altered  with  pro- 
priety by  any  change  of  time  or  external  circumstances  of  the  Church. 

Circumstances  indeed  may  render  it  proper,  in  deducing  a  summary  of 
faith  from  the  Scripture,  to  dwell  more  largely  and  particularly  on  some 
points  at  one  time  than  would  be  necessary  at  another,  and  ever}'  atten- 
tive and  intelligent  reader  of  our  standards  will  probably  remark  that  the 
state  of  the  Church  when  our  Confession  and  Catechisms  were  formed  was. 
in  fact,  the  cause  that  its  pious  and  learned  authors  expressed  their  senti- 
ments on  certain  topics,  especially  such  as  relate  to  the  controversies 
between  Protestants  and  papists,  more  largely  than  would  be  necessary  if 
the  whole  were  to  be  formed  anew.  But  still,  as  those  sentiments  are,  we 
conceive,  just  in  themselves,  and  as  the  particular  delineation  of  them  can 
do  no  harm,  and  will  sometimes  prove  a  guide  both  to  the  clergy  and  laity 
of  our  community,  we  cannot  wish  to  see  any  retrenchment  made.     It 


OF    THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  327 

would  give  alarm  to  many  of  our  people,  who  might  suspect  that  this  was 
but  the  iutroduction  to  iuuovations  of  more  importance.  And  your  Com- 
mittee will  take  the  liberty  to  remark  that  it  is  by  no  means  to  be  consid- 
ered as  a  vulgar  or  unfounded  prejudice  when  alarm  is  excited  by  altera- 
tions and  innovations  in  the  creed  of  a  Church.  There  are  many  reasons 
of  the  most  weighty  kind  that  will  dispose  every  man  of  sound  judgment 
and  accurate  observation  to  regard  a  spirit  of  change  in  this  particular  as 
an  evil  pregnant  with  a  host  of  mischiefs.  It  leads  the  infidel  to  say,  and 
with  apparent  plausibility,  that  there  can  be  no  truth  clearly  revealed  in 
Scripture,  because  not  only  its  friends  of  various  sects,  but  of  the  same 
sect,  pretend  to  see  truths  in  it  at  one  time  which  at  another  they  discover 
and  declare  to  be  falsehood.  It  hurts  the  minds  of  weak  believers  by 
suggesting  to  them  the  same  thought.  It  destroys  the  confidence  of  the 
people  generally  in  those  who  maintain  a  system  which  is  liable  to  constant 
fluctuations.  It  violates  settled  and  useful  habits.  It  encourages  those 
who  are  influenced  by  the  vanity  of  attempting  to  improve  what  wise  men 
have  executed,  or  by  mere  love  of  novelty,  to  give  constant  disturbance 
to  the  Church  by  their  crude  proposals  of  amendment.  And  it  is  actually 
found  to  open  the  door  to  lasting  uneasiness,  constant  altercation,  and  finally 
to  the  adoption  of  errors  a  thousand  fold  more  dangerous  and  hurtful  than 
any  that  shall  have  been  corrected.  In  a  word,  what  was  true  when  our 
Confession  and  Catechism  were  formed  is  now  true.  We  believe  that  this 
truth  has  been  most  admirably  and  accurately  drawn  into  view  in  these 
excellent  performances.  They  have  become  venerable  from  their  age. 
Our  Church  has  flourished  under  their  influence,  and  we  can  see  no  I'eason 
to  alter  them.  If  thei'e  are  a  few  things  (and  few  they  must  be,  and  of 
less  importance,  if  they  exist  at  all)  which  it  might  be  shown  could  be 
expressed  more  correctly,  and  in  a  manner  less  liable  to  objection,  it  is  not 
proper,  with  a  view  to  obtain  this,  to  expose  ourselves  to  the  great  inconve- 
niences and  injuries  that  have  been  specified. 

Leaving,  then,  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms  of  our  Church 
untouched,  your  Committee  took  into  consideration  the  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, Director}'  for  Worship  and  Forms  of  Process.  These,  as  has  already 
been  hinted,  were  considered  as  standing  on  other  ground  than  our  creeds. 
The  word  of  God  in  regard  to  these  is  much  less  specific  and  particular 
than  on  articles  of  faith.  Many  things  in  this  part  of  a  church  organiza- 
tion are,  and  must  be,  left  to  Christian  prudence,  and  modified  by  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  of  religious  societies,  guided  by  the  general  lights  which 
the  Scripture  holds  forth.  Here  churches  in  one  country  may,  and  per- 
haps ought  to,  differ  from  those  of  another.  We  have  already  differed 
very  considerably  from  the  Church  of  Scotland,  from  which  we  derive  our 
origin  ;  and  as  it  is  difficult,  perhaps  impossible,  for  any  man  or  body  of 
men  to  anticipate  all  the  circumstances  or  cases  which  may  turn  up  in 
practice  under  a  general  rule  or  law%  which  is  framed  to  provide  for  them, 
experience  will  point  out  some  errors  and  many  deficiencies,  and  thus  may 
suggest  many  real  amendments — amendments,  too,  not  liable  to  the  most 
material  objections  that  have  been  stated  in  the  former  case.  On  this  part 
of  our  ecclesiastical  polity,  then,  the  work  in  some  measure  of  our  own 
hands,  the  Committee  have  ventured  to  propose  a  considerable  immber  of 
amendments,  remarking,  however,  and  begging  that  the  remark  may  be 
particularly  regarded,  that  the  alterations  proposed  are  of  such  a  nature 
that  if  the  whole  of  them  should  be  adopted  they  would  not  alter,  but 
only  explain,  render  more  practicable  and  bring  nearer  to  perfection  the 
general  system  which  has  already  gone  into  use. — 1804,  p.  302. 

[The  following  is  inserted  as  showing,  in  the  opinion  of  the  eminent 


S28  FOEM    OF    GOVERXMEXT. 

men  who  made  the  report,  in  what  way  the  Doctrinal  Standards  may  be 
amended.  In  1843,  Kev.  Drs.  Hoge,  Hodge,  Spring,  Leland  and  N.  S. 
Kice  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  consider  the  propriety  of  ameudino- 
the  Confession  of  Faith  on  the  marriage  question  ;  inter  alia  they  say;] 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  overture  to  strike  out  tlie  last 
sentence  of  chap,  xxiv.,  sec.  iv.,  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  beg  leave  to 
submit,  in  the  first  place,  the  following  views  respecting  the  question 
whether  there  is  any  mode  i)rescribed  of  amending  or  alternig  the  Conles- 
sion  of  Faith,  as  a  preliminary  inquiry. 

The  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  vi.,  gives  power  to  the  General 
Assembly  to  propose  overtures  which,  if  approved  by  a  majority  of  the 
Presbyteries,  shall  have  the  force  of  Constitutional  Rules.  This  pro-. 
vision,  it  is  thought,  does  not  apply  to  altering  or  amending  the  Confession 
of  Faith,  1st.  Because  it  relates  to  the  powers  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  is  plainly  designed  to  limit  those  powers  in  respect  of  legislation.  2d. 
The  use  of  the  terms  "Overtures  or  Kegulations"  defines  with  sufficient 
clearness  the  meaning  of  the  expression  "Constitutional  Rules,"  and  limits 
its  application  to  rules  af  government  and  discipline,  hut  excludes  altera- 
tions of  the  doctrine  and  fundamental  principles  of  the  Church.  3d.  Un- 
less the  language  used  necessarily  and  certainly  embraces  alterations  of 
the  latter  kind,  it  would  be  unwise  to  resort  to  a  forced  construction,  and 
thus  jeopard  the  stability  of  the  great  px'inciples  of  faith  and  order  em- 
braced in  our  standards. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  contended  that  there  is  and  ought  to  be  no 
method  of  altering  our  doctrinal  formularies,  and  in  support  of  this  opin- 
ion it  is  said  that,  while  prudential  rules  may  be  changed  with  circum- 
stances, the  doctrines  of  religion  reujain  ever  the  same.  But  to  this  it  is  a 
sufficient  answer  that  although  the  Bible  and  the  truth  which  it  contains 
are  unchangeable,  yet  human  compositions,  such  as  our  Confession  of 
Faith  undoubtedly  is,  are  not  infallible,  but  may  err,  and  when  any  such 
error  in  the  expression  of  truth  is  discovered,  it  ought  to  be  corrected  in 
an  orderly  manner.  This  was  certainly  the  opinion*  of  the  Synod  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  when  they  adopted  the  Constitution  of  the 
Church. 

That  Synod,  in  the  adopting  act,  inserted  a  provision  which  allows  that 
"two-thirds  of  the  Presbyteries  may  propose  altei'ations  or  amendments 
which  shall  be  valid  if  subsequently  enacted  by  the  General  Assemblv." 
So  far  only  as  this  embraces  Constitutional  Rules,  this  provision  has  been 
changed,  but  in  every  other  respect  remains  in  full  force.  It  is  insufficient 
to  allege  that  it  has  been  forgotten  and  become  obsolete,  for  it  has  ahvavs 
been  on  the  records,  and  was  published  in  the  Digest  in  1820,  and  it  would 
be  exceedingly  unsafe  to  allow  organic  enactments  thus  to  be  overlooked 
and  lost. 

It  is  conceived,  therefore,  that  this  method  of  proceeding  is  constitu- 
tional and  is  still  in  force,  and  should  also  be  strictly  observed.  Likewise, 
this  resolution  of  the  Synod  should  be  prefixed  to  all  future  editions  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith.— 1844,  p.  422,  O.  S. 

3.  Araendments  Approved,  by  the  Presbyteries  not  Adopted. 

That  on  examining  the  proposed  amendments  of  the  Constitution  sent 
down  to  the  Presbyteries  by  the  last  General  Assemt)ly,  as  they  stand  on 
the  printed  minutes,  page  37,  it  a))pears  that  the  whole  of  them,  from  Nos. 
1  to  6  inclusive,  were  framed  with  such  reference  to  each  other  and  to  their 
common  object  as  that  they  ought  to  have  been  either  adopted  or  rejected 
altogether ;  and  further,  that  the  Presbyteries  by  rejecting  the  sixth  have 


OF   THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  329 

in  effect  defeated  the  very  end  ■which  they  must  have  intended  to  secure 
by  the  adoption  of  the  rest,  and  have  otherwise  involved  the  whole  subject 
in  difficulties  which,  from  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  case,  it  is  but  fair 
and  reasonable  to  suppose  they  could  not  have  distinctly  designed  or  fore- 
seen. In  this  state  of  things  your  Committee  beg  leave  to  submit  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  as  in  their  judgment  proper  to  be  adopted  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  viz. : 

JVhereas,  The  Presbyteries  have  failed  to  report  their  decisions  upon 
the  subject  of  the  proposed  amendments  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  as  recorded 
in  page  37  of  the  printed  minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  last  year,  in  the  full 
and  distinct  manuer  contemplated  in  the  overture  submitted  by  that  As- 
sembly, the  General  Assembly  do  not  deem  it  desirable  to  renew  the  said 
overture  at  the  present  time  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  consideration  of  the  said  proposed  amendments  be 
jind  the  same  is  hereby  indefinitely  postponed. — 1827,  p.  218. 

4.  "WTiere  all  the  Presbjrteries  do  not  Respond,  the  Votes  given 
are  to  be  Filed  as  the  Ans-wer  of  the  Voting  Presbjrteries,  unless 
Reversed  by  them. 

a.  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  which  have  not  sent  up  their  decis- 
ions on  this  subject  (a  proposed  amendment  of  the  Constitution)  be  re- 
quired to  send  them  to  the  next  Assembly,  and  that  the  stated  clerk  file 
the  decisions  reported  to  this  Assembly,  to  be  considered  by  the  next  As- 
sembly as  the  decisions  of  these  Presbyteries  respectively,  unless  they 
choose  to  send  up  a  different  decision. — 1834,  p.  429. 

h.  The  stated  clerk  reported  that  fifty-seven  Presbyteries  had  reported 
to  this  Assembly  affirmative,  and  twenty-three  negative,  answers  to  the 
Overtures  on  the  Limitation  of  Judicial  Cases.  Also,  that  twenty-eight 
Presbyteries,  who  have  made  no  report  to  this  Assembly,  reported  affirma- 
tive answers  to  the  Assembly  of  1871 ;  that  the  whole  number  thus  reply- 
ing affirmatively  is  eighty-five,  one  more  than  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  (one  hundred  and  sixty-seven). 

A  discussion  arose  on  the  propriety  of  counting  those  Presbyteries  who 
sent  their  replies  only  to  the  Assembly  of  1871,  The  whole  matter  was 
then  referred  to  a  Special  Committee,  consisting  of  Rev.  Henry  V.  D. 
Nevius,  George  W.  Musgrave,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  and  George  Junkin,  Esq. — 
1872,  p.  80. 

The  Special  Committee  on  the  Answers  to  the  Overtures,  Limiting  Ap- 
peals, sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries  in  1870,  and  again,  for  want  of  full 
action,  in  1871,  reported  that,  in  their  opinion,  it  was  competent  for  the 
Assembly  to  count  the  affirmative  vote  of  both  years,  such  vote  securing 
the  adoption  of  all  the  overtures,  and  their  incorporation  into  the  funda- 
mental law  of  the  Church,  by  the  required  majority  of  all  the  Presby- 
teries. 

The  following  substitute  for  the  report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  overtures  Nos.  2,  3  and  4,  of  the  Assembly  of  1870,  be 
again  sent  to  the  Presbyteries,  irrespective  of  previous  action. — 1872, 
p.  92. 

[The  overture  was  rejected;  ayes  69,  nays  43,  not  answering  62. — 1873, 
p.  526.] 

42 


330  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

5.  Of  the  -way  in  which  the  Answers  of  the  Presbyteries  are  to 
be  Attested,  and  w^hen  the  Question  shall  be  held  to  be  Deter- 
mined. 

Overture  No,  27,  being  a  paper  submitted  by  the  stated  clerk,  asking 
instructions  respecting  the  proper  form  of  reports  from  Presbyteries  enti- 
tled to  be  received  by  him  in  answer  to  overtures  sent  down  from  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

The  Committee  recommend,  1.  That  the  Assembly  enjoin  upon  all  the 
Presbyteries,  in  sending  up  responses  to  overtures,  to  have  them  duly 
signed  by  the  moderator  and  clerk,  or  at  least  one  of  them,  in  order  that 
the  full  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  vi.,  may  be  complied  with. 
2.  That  in  the  case  of  Presbyteries  in  foreign  lands  the  stated  clerk  shall 
receive  their  answers  to  overtures,  and  i^lace  them  on  file,  and  report  them 
to  the  Genei'al  Assembly  at  the  earliest  oppoi'tunity ;  and  the  answers 
from  Presbyteries  shall  not  be  deemed  as  determining  the  question  sub- 
mitted to  them  until  reasonable  time  shall  have  elapsed  to  hear  from  all 
the  Presbyteries,  or  until  it  is  clear  that  answers  which  may  have  been 
made,  but  not  received,  would  not  affect  its  final  determination. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1867,  p.  358,  O.  S. 

VII.  The  General  Assembly  shall  meet  at  least  once  in  every  year. 
On  the  day  appointed  for  that  purpose,  the  moderator  of  the  last  As- 
sembly, if  present,  or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  some  other  minister, 
shall  open  the  meeting  with  a  sermon,  and  preside  until  a  new  mod- 
erator be  chosen.  No  commissioner  shall  have  a  right  to  deliberate 
or  v^ote  in  the  Assembly  until  his  name  shall  have  been  enrolled  by 
the  clerk,  and  his  commission  examined  and  filed  among  the  papers 
of  the  Assembly. 

1.  Adjourned  Meetings  of  the  Assembly. 

[In  1846,  the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  then  meeting  triennially,  was  adjourned 
by  the  moderator,  in  accordance  with  a  previous  vote,  to  meet  in  the  city 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  third  Thursday  of  May,  1847.  On  the  consti- 
tutionality of  such  adjournment  the  opinion  of  Chancellor  Kent,  of  New 
York,  was  sought,  and  given  as  follows :] 

The  question  is,  Had  the  General  Assembly,  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  lawful  or  rightful  power  to  so  adjourn? 

ANSWER. 

In  my  opinion,  the  power  of  adjournment  rests  in  the  sound  discretion 
of  the  General  Assembly.  I  consider  the  power  to  be  necessarily  incident 
to  every  deliberative  assembly,  unless  specially  prohibited  by  its  charter 
or  constitution.  It  appertains,  of  course,  to  all  legislative  assemblies, 
and  is  occasionally  exercised.  This  is  the  case  with  the  English  Parlia- 
ment, and  with  the  legislative  assemblies  in  the  United  iStates. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  says  that  Congress  shall  assemble 
at  least  once  in  every  year,  and  on  the  first  Monday  in  December.  The 
only  inhibition  in  the  Constitution  is  that  neither  House  shall  adjourn 
without  the  consent  of  the  other  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any 
other  place.  The  Constitution  is  silent  as  to  any  other  adjournment,  and 
yet  no  (juestion  has  ever  been  raised  as  to  the  power  of  Congress  or  both 
Houses  concurrently  to  adjourn  the  session  to  a  future  time. 


OF    THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  331 

So  in  the  Constitution  of  New  York,  tlie  legislative  term  begins  on  the 
first  of  January,  and  the  Legislature  are  to  assemble  every  year  on  the 
first  Monday  in  January,  and  neither  House  without  the  consent  of  the 
other  can  adjourn  for  more  than  two  days.  No  doubt  is  raised  as  to  the 
competency  of  the  two  Houses  jointly  to  adjourn,  in  their  discretion,  to 
any  future  or  distant  day.  And  though  the  Legislature  are  to  meet  as 
prescribed,  and  are,  as  to  the  Assembly,  elected  annually,  it  is  now  in  con- 
templation at  the  present  session  to  adjourn  over  to  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember. 

Tlie  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  leaves  silently  the  same 
power  of  adjournment,  precisely  on  the  same  footing  of  discretion.  Thus 
the  General  Assembly  are  to  meet  at  least  trienuially  or  once  in  every 
third  year.  And  the  last  moderator,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  stated 
and  permanent  clerks,  may  call  a  pro  re  nata  meeting  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, in  case  of  any  emergency,  on  four  months'  notice.*  And  the 
Assembly  is  to  be  considered  as  the  same  with  the  previous  one. 

The  adjournment  preserves  the  identity  of  the  Assembly.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  upon  a  sound  construction  of  the  Constitution  the  General  As- 
sembly has  tlie  same  analogous  power  as  all  other  political  legislative  bod- 
ies to  which  I  have  alluded.  If  any  greater  restriction  had  been  intended, 
it  would  have  been  expressed.  The  language  quoted  implies  as  of 
course  the  power  of  adjournment.  It  is  a  wise  and  necessary  power  to 
guard  against  calamities  and  overruling  necessities,  such  as  a  desolating 
sickness,  or  conflagration,  or  insurrection,  etc.  It  may  be  safely  confided 
to  such  a  representation,  if  anything  may. 

Even  in  ordinary  civil  corporations,  where  powers  are  granted  very 
guardedly  and  construed  strictly,  it  is  adjudged  that  a  corporation  may 
transact  any  business  at  an  adjourned  meeting  which  they  might  have 
transacted  at  an  original  meeting  (11  Vt.  Reports,  385). 

For  these  reasons  briefly  I  conclude  that  the  power  of  adjournment  by 
the  General  Assembly  the  last  year  to  Cincinnati  was  constitutional. 

JAMES  KENT. 

New  York,  April  19,  1847. 

—1847,  p.  147,  N.  S. 

2.  The  Adjourned  Meeting  of  1869. 

The  two  Assemblies  of  1869,  meeting  in  New  York,  mutually  agreed — 

a.  Tliat  the  said  General  Assemblies  now  sitting  shall,  after  finishing 
their  business,  adjourn,  to  meet  in  tlie  city  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  on 
the  sec(md  Wednesday  of  November,  1869,  at  11  o'clock  a.m. — O.  S.,  p. 
915;  N.  S.,  p.  277. 

b.  It  was  ordered  that  when  the  Assembly  adjourns  this  afternoon  it  be 
to  meet  in  the  First  Church  of  Pittsburg,  on  Wednesday,  the  10th  day  of 
November  next,  at  11  o'clock^A.  m. — 1869,  p.  949,  O.  S."^ 

In  accordance  with  previous  action,  the  Assembly,  with  prayer  and  the 
apostolic  benediction  by  the  moderator,  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  Third 
Presbvterian  Church,  in  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  on  the  second  Wednes- 
day of  November,  A.  D.  1869,  at  11  o'clock  a.m.— 1869,  p.  304,  N.  S. 

3.  Who  may  sit  as  Commissioners  in  an  Adjourned  Assembly. 

a.  The  Committee  (Hon.  Daniel  Haines  and  Hon.  Joseph  Allison, 
LL.  D.)  on  Instructing  the  Presbyteries  concerning  their  representation 

[*  It  was  so  provided  in  the  plan  under  which  triennial  Assemblies  were  held. — ■ 
1839,  p.  27,  N.  S.] 


332  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

at  the  adjourned  meeting  of  this  Assembly  presented  a  report,  wLich  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

Whereas,  It  has  been  questioned  whether  this  Assembly  at  the  pro- 
posed adjourned  meeting,  in  November  next,  at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  can  be 
properly  constituted  of  the  principal  or  alternate  commissioners  not  in 
attendance  on  the  sessions  of  the  body  at  this  time ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  In  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  those  commissioners  only 
who  have  presented  their  commissions,  and  whose  names  have  been  placed 
on  the  roll,  will  be  entitled  to  participate  in  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly 
in  November,  except  in  case  of  a  vacancy  occasioned  by  death,  resignation, 
refusal  or  inability  of  any  such  commissioner  to  attend,  in  which  event  it 
will  be  competent  and  proper  for  the  Presbytery  to  supply  the  vacancy  by 
a  new  election  or  appointment. — 1869,  p.  290,  N.  S. 

b.  W.  E.  Schenck,  D.  D.,  permanent  clerk,  from  the  Committee  on  Com- 
missions, reported  that  several  gentlemen  were  present  with  commissions 
as  alternates,  the  principals  being  absent.  On  motion  of  G.  W.  Mus- 
grave,  D.  D.,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  all  alternates  presenting  regular  commissions  be  en- 
rolled, the  principals  being  absent.  Mr.  Henry  Day  was  requested  to 
communicate  this  action  to  the  Assembly  of  the  other  branch,  now  sitting 
in  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city,  which  he  did. 

The  alternates  present  were  enrolled  as  follows :  W.  A.  Scott,  D.  D., 
from  the  Presbytery  of  New  York;  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Hanna,  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Oregon ;  Rev.  A.  B.  Cross,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Balti- 
more ;  Ruling  Elder  Wm.  Carpenter,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Newton. — 
1869,  p.  1143,  O.  S. 

4.   The  Assembly  Excluded  Commissioners  from  Sitting  Pending- 
Investigation.— See  1866,  p.  12,  O.  S. 

VIII.  Each  session  of  the  Assembly  shall  be  opened  and  closed 

with  prayer.    And  the  w'hole  business  of  the  Assembly  being  finished, 

and  the  vote  taken  for  dissolving  the  present  Assembly,  the  moderator 

shall  say  from  the  chair — "  By  virtue  of  the  authority  delegated  to 

me  by  the  Church,  let  this  General  Assembly  be  dissolved,  and  I  do 

hereby  dissolve  it,  and  require  another  General  Assembly,  chosen  in 

the  same  manner,  to  meet  at  on  the  day  of  A.  D. 

" — after  which   he  shall   pray  and   return   thanks,   and  pro- 

uounce,  on  those  present,  the  apostolic  benediction. 

Specimen  of  the  Minute  of  Dissolution. 

The  minutes  of  this  session  were  read  and  approved. 

After  the  offering  of  solemn  praise  and  'thanksgiving,  the  business  of 
the  Assembly  having  been  completed,  and  the  vote  taken  for  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Assembly,  the  moderator,  with  prayer  and  the  apostolic  bene- 
diction, declared  the  Assembly  dissolved,  and  required  another  Assembly, 
chosen  in  the  same  manner,  to  meet  at  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  on  the  third  Thursday  of  May,  A.  D. 
1873.— 1872,  p.  96. 


of  the  general  assembly.  333 

The  Charter  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Assembly. 

a.  An  Act  for  incorporating  the  Trustees  of  the  Ministers  and  Elders  constituting  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Zhiited  States  of  America. 

Whereas,  The  ministers  and  elders  forming  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  the  United  States  of  America,  consisting  of  citizens  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  and  of  others  of  the  United  States  aforesaid,  have  by  their  petition  rep- 
resented that  by  donations,  bequests  or  otherwise  of  charitably-disposed  persons,  they 
are  possessed  of  moneys  for  benevolent  and  pious  purposes,  and  the  said  ministers  and 
elders  have  reason  to  expect  further  contributions  for  similar  uses;  but  from  the-scat- 
tered  situation  of  the  said  ministers  and  elders  and  other  causes,  the  said  ministers  and 
elders  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  manage  the  said  funds  in  the  way  best  calculated 
to  answer  the  intention  of  the  donors ;  therefore. 

Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania,  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the 
authority  of  the  same,  that  John  Rodgers,  Alexander  McWhorter,  Samuel  Stanhope 
Smith,  Ashbel  Green,  William  M.  Tennent,  Patrick  Allison,  Nathan  Irvin,  Joseph 
Clark,  Andrew  Himter,  Jared  Ingersoll,  Robeit  Ralston,  Jonathan  R.  Smith,  Andrew 
Bayard,  Elias  Boudinot,  John  Nelson,  Ebenezer  Hazard,  David  Jackson  and  Robert 
Smith,  merchant,  and  their  successors  duly  elected  and  appointed  in  manner  as  in 
hereafter  directed,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  made,  declared  and  constituted,  a  corpora- 
tion and  body  politic  and  corporate,  in  law  and  in  fact,  to  have  continuance  for  ever, 
by  the  name,  style  and  title  of  "  Trustees  of  the  Genei-al  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America ;"  and  by  the  name,  style  and  title  aforesaid 
shall  for  ever  hereafter  be  persons  able  and  capable  in  law  as  well  to  take,  receive  and 
hold  all  and  all  manner  of  lands,  tenements,  rents,  annuities,  franchises  and  other  he- 
reditaments, which  at  any  time  or  times  heretofore  have  been  granted,  bargained,  sold, 
enfeoffed,  released,  devised  or  otherwise  conveyed,  to  the  said  ministers  and  elders  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States,  or  any  other 
person  or  persons,  to  their  use,  or  in  trust  for  them ;  and  the  same  lands,  tenements, 
rents,  annuities,  liberties,  franchises  and  other  hereditaments  are  hereby  vested  and 
established  in  the  said  corporation  and  their  successors  for  ever,  according  to  the 
original  use  and  intent  for  which  such  devises,  gifts  and  grants  were  respectively 
made ;  and  the  said  corporation  and  their  successors  are  hereby  declared  to  be  seized 
and  possessed  of  such  estate  and  estates  therein  as  in  and  by  the  respective  grants, 
bargains,  sales,  enfeoffments,  releases,  devises  and  other  conveyances  thereof  is  or  are 
declared  limited  and  expressed ;  also,  that  the  said  corporation  and  their  successors, 
at  all  times  hereafter,  shall  be  capable  and  able  to  purchase,  have,  receive,  take,  hold 
and  enjoy  in  fee  simple,  or  of  lesser  estate  or  estates,  any  lands,  tenements,  rents,  an- 
nuities, franchises  and  other  hereditaments,  by  the  gift,  grant,  bargain,  sale,  alienation, 
enfeoffment,  release,  confirmation  or  devise,  of  any  person  or  persons,  bodies  politic 
and  corporate,  capable  and  able  to  make  the  same.  And  further,  that  the  said  minis- 
ters and  elders,  under  the  corporate  name  aforesaid,  and  their  successors,  may  take  and 
receive  any  sum  or  sums  of  money  and  any  portion  of  goods  and  chattels  that  have  been 
given  to  the  said  ministers  and  elders,  or  that  hereafter  shall  be  given,  sold,  leased  or 
bequeathed  to  the  said  corporation  by  any  person  or  persons,  bodies  politic  or  corpo- 
rate, tliat  is  able  or  capable  to  make  a  gift,  sale,  bequest  or  other  disposal  of  the  same; 
such  money,  goods  or  chattels  to  be  laid  out  and  disposed  of  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  aforesaid  corporation,  agreeably  to  the  intention  of  the  donors,  and  according  to 
tiie  objects,  articles  and  conditions  of  this  Act. 

Skc.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  no  misnomer  of 
the  said  corporation  and  their  successors  shall  defeat  or  annul  any  gift,  grant,  devise 
or  bequest  to  or  from  the  said  corporation,  provided  the  intent  of  the  party  or  parties 
.shall  suflieiently  appear  upon  the  face  of  the  gift,  will,  grant  or  other  writing  whereby 
any  estate  or  interest  was  intended  to  pass  to  or  from  the  said  corporation. 

Sec.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  said  corpora- 
tion and  their  successors  shall  have  full  power  and  authority  to  make,  have  and  use 
one  common  seal,  with  such  devise  and  inscription  as  they  shall  think  fit  and  proper, 
and  the  same  to  break,  alter  and  renew  at  their  pleasure. 

Sec.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  corpora- 
tion and  their  successors,  by  the  name,  style  and  title  aforesaid,  shall  be  able  and  ca- 
pable in  law  to  sue  and  be  sued,  plead  and  be  impleaded,  in  any  court,  or  before  any 
judge  or  justice,  in  all  and  all  manner  of  suits,  complaints,  pleas,  matters  and  demands, 
of  whatsoever  nature,  kind  and  form  they  may  be,  and  all  and  every  matter  and  thing 
to  do  in  as  full  and  effectual  a  manner  as  any  other  person,  bodies  politic  or  corporate, 
within  this  Commonwealth,  may  or  can  do. 


334  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Sec.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  ?aid  corpora- 
tion and  their  successors  shall  be  and  hereby  are  authorized  and  empowered  to  make, 
ordain  and  establish  by-laws  and  ordinances,  and  do  everytiiing  incident  and  needful 
for  the  support  and  due  government  of  the  said  corporation,  and  managing  the  funds 
and  revenues  thereof;  Provided,  the  said  by-laws  be  not  repugnant  to  tlie  constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States,  to  the  constitution  and  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  or 
to  this  Act. 

Sec.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  corpora- 
tion shall  not  at  any  time  consist  of  more  than  eighteen  persons,  whereof  the  said  Gen- 
eral Assembly  may  at  their  discretion,  as  often  as  they  shall  hold  their  sessions  in  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  change  one-third  in  such  manner  as  to  the  said  General  As- 
sembly shall  seem  proper.  And  the  corporation  aforesaid  shall  have  power  and  au- 
thority to  manage  and  dispose  of  all  moneys,  goods,  chattels,  lands,  tenements  and 
hereditaments,  and  other  estate  whatsoever,  committed  to  their  care  and  trust  by  the 
said  General  Assembly ;  but  in  cases  where  special  instructions  for  tlie  management 
and  disposal  thereof  shall  be  given  by  the  said  General  Assembly  in  writing,  under 
the  hand  of  their  clerk,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said  corporation  to  act  according 
to  such  instructions ;  Provided,  the  said  instructions  shall  not  be  repugnant  to  the  con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  to  the  constitution  and  laws  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, or  to  the  provisions  and  restrictions  in  this  Act  contained. 

Sec.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  six  members  of 
this  corporation,  whereof  the  president,  or,  in  his  absence,  the  vice-president,  to  be  one, 
shall  be  a  sufficient  number  to  transact  the  business  thereof,  and  to  make  by-laws, 
rules  and  regulations;  Provided,  that  previous  to  any  meeting  of  the  Board  or  corpo- 
ration for  such  purposes  not  appointed  by  adjournment,  ten  days'  notice  shall  be  pre- 
viously given  thereof  in  at  least  one  of  the  newspapers  printed  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia. And  the  said  corporation  shall  and  may,  as  often  as  they  shall  see  propei", 
and  according  to  the  rules  by  them  to  be  prescribed,  choose  out  of  their  number  a 
president  and  vice-president,  and  shall  have  authority  to  appoint  a  treasurer  and  such 
other  officers  and  servants  as  shall  by  them,  the  said  corporation,  be  deemed  neces- 
sary ;  to  which  officers  the  said  corporation  may  assign  such  a  compensation  for  their 
services,  and  such  duties  to  be  performed  by  them,  to  continue  in  office  for  such  time, 
and  to  be  succeeded  by  others  in  such  way  and  manner,  as  the  said  corporation  shall 
direct. 

Sec.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  all  questions  be- 
fore the  said  corporation  shall  be  decided  by  a  plurality  of  votes,  whereof  each  mem- 
ber present  shall  have  one,  except  the  president,  or  vice-president  when  acting  as 
president,  who  shall  have  only  the  casting  voice  and  vote  in  case  of  an  inequality  in 
the  votes  of  the  other  members. 

Sec.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  tlie  said  corpora- 
tion shall  keep  regular  and  fair  entries  of  their  proceedings  and  a  just  account  of  their 
receipts  and  disbursements  in  a  book  or  books  to  be  provided  for  that  purpose,  and 
their  treasurer  shall  once  in  a  year  exhibit  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  an  exact  state  of  the  accounts  of  the 
corporation. 

Sec.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  corpo- 
ration may  take,  receive,  purchase,  possess  and  enjoy  messuages,  houses,  latids,  tene- 
ments, rents,  annuities  and  other  hereditaments,  real  and  personal  estate  of  any  amount 
not  exceeding  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  value,  but  the  said  limitations  not  to  be 
considered  as  including  the  annual  collections  and  voluntary  contributions  made  in 
the  churches  under  the  care  of  the  said  General  Assembly. 

CADWALADER  EVANS,  JR., 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
ROBERT  HARE, 

Si)eaker  of  the  Senate. 

Approved  March  28,  1799.  THOMAS  iMIFFLIN, 

Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania. 
—1799,  pp.  173-175. 

b.   The  Charter  Accejyted. 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  to  endeavor  to  obtain  from  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania an  act  of  incorporation  authorizing  certain  trustees  to  hold  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Assembly,  etc.,  report  that  on  application  to  the  Legislature  they 
obtained  the  act  of  incorporation  for  which  they  were  directed  to  apply,  a 


OF   THE   GENEEAL   ASSEMBLY.  335 

copy  of  which  accompanies  this  report,  corresponding  exactly  with  the 
draught  which  was  hist  year  submitted  to  the  Assembly,  excepting  only 
the  sum  which  the  trustees  are  authorized  to  hold  is  somewhat  smaller 
than  was  inserted  in  that  draught. 

The  above  report,  and  act  of  incorporation  accompanying  it,  were  read 
and  approved. — 1799,  p.  173. 

c.  Mode  of  Electing  the  Trustees. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  adopt  and  recommend  the  following 
system : 

1.  That  when  this  subject  is  called  up  annually  a  vote  shall  first  be 
taken  whether  for  the  current  year  the  Assembly  will  or  will  not  make 
any  election  of  members  in  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

2.  If  an  election  be  determined  on,  the  day  on  which  it  shall  take  place 
shall  be  specified,  and  shall  not  be  within  less  than  two  days  of  the  time 
at  which  such  election  shall  be  decided  on. 

3.  When  the  day  of  election  arrives,  the  Assembly  shall  ascertain  what 
vacancies  in  the  number  of  the  eighteen  trustees  incorporated  have  taken 
place,  by  death  or  otherwise,  and  shall  first  proceed  to  choose  other  mem- 
bers in  their  places.  When  this  is  accomplished,  they  shall  proceed  to  the 
trial  wliether  they  will  elect  any,  and  if  any,  how  many  of  the  third  of  the 
number  of  the  trustees  which  by  law  they  are  permitted  to  change,  in  the 
following  manner,  viz. :  The  list  of  the  trustees  shall  be  taken,  and  a  vote 
be  had  for  a  person  to  fill  the  place  of  him  who  is  first  on  the  list.  In 
voting  for  a  person  to  fill  said  place,  the  vote  may  be  given  either  for  the 
person  who  has  before  filled  it  or  for  any  other  person.  If  the  majority 
of  votes  shall  be  given  for  the  person  who  has  before  filled  it,  he  shall  con- 
tinue in  office.  If  the  majority  of  votes  shall  be  given  for  another  person, 
this  person  is  a  trustee  duly  chosen  in  place  of  the  former.  In  the  same 
form  the  Assembly  shall  proceed  with  the  list  till  they  have  either  changed 
one-third  of  the  trustees  (always  including  in  the  third  those  who  have 
been  elected  by  the  sitting  Assembly  to  supply  the  places  become  vacant 
by  death  or  otherwise),  or  by  going  through  the  list  shall  determine  that 
no  further  alteration  shall  be  made. — 1801,  p.  217. 

d.  Rules  for  Intercourse  between  the  Trustees  and  the  Assembly. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  meet  a  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  the  Assembly  to  digest  and  prepare  a  regular  and  stated  mode  of 
intercourse  between  the  Assembly  and  the  trustees  made  a  report,  which 
was  read  and  approved,  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  the  management  and  disposal  of  all  moneys,  goods,  chattels,  lands, 
tenements,  hereditaments,  and  all  other  estate  whatever,  committed  to  their 
care  and  trust  by  tiie  General  Assembly,  is  invested  in  the  said  trustees, 
unles.-^  where  special  instructions  for  the  management  and  disposal  thereof 
shall  be  given  by  the  General  Assembly  in  writing,  under  the  hand  of  its 
clerk,  in  which  case  the  corporation  is  to  act  accoi'ding  to  said  instructions. 
That  an  exact  state  of  the  accounts  of  the  trustees  is  to  be  exhibited  by 
their  treasurer  to  the  General  Assembly  once  in  every  year  ;  whereupon  it 
is  recommended, 

1.  That  this  state  of  the  accounts  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly 
as  early  in  their  session  as  possible,  in  order  that  the  General  Assembly 
may  know  what  appropriations  it  may  be  in  their  power  to  make,  or  what 
instructions  to  give  to  their  trustees  respecting  the  moneys  in  hand. 

2.  That  when  any  appropriations  are  made  by  the  General  Assembly  a 


336  ,      FOPvM   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

copy  of  their  minute  for  that  purpose,  signed  by  the  clerk,  shall  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  trustees,  and  shall  be  their  warrant  for  the  payment  of  all 
moneys  thus  appropriated. 

3.  That  when  any  measures  are  taken  or  any  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
General  Assembly,  or  the  Board  of  Trustees,  which  it  concerns  the  other 
to  be  acquainted  with,  due  information  of  the  same  shall  be  given  as  soon 
as  possible  to  the  other. — 1801,  p.  232.  See  also  Baird's  Collection,  Rev. 
Ed.,  pp.  484-502. 

e.  Adjustment  on  the  Reunion. 

A  Committee,  consisting  of  Rev.  C.  C.  Beatty,  D.  D.,  V.  D.  Reed,  D.  D., 
Hon.  Wm.  Strong,  and  Messrs.  H.  N.  McAllister  and  George  Junkin,  were 
appointed  to  consider  and  report  what  changes,  if  any,  are  necessary  to  be 
made  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  in  order  that  there  may  be 
an  equitable  distribution  of  said  trustees  in  accordance  with  the  present 
state  of  the  reunited  Church,  and  to  report  to  this  Assembly. — 1870, 
p.  53. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  consider  and  report  on  the  changes  in  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Gc^neral  Assembly  presented  the  following  report, 
which  was  adopted :  Of  the  eighteen  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
one  was  appointed  before  1837,  and  all  the  others  since  that  time  by  the 
"  Old  School"  Assemblies  at  different  periods.  It  seemed  to  the  Commit- 
tee eminently  proper  that  at  this  Assembly  a  change  should  be  made  so 
that  what  was  formerly  known  as  the  "  New  School "  branch  of  the  Church 
should  be  represented  in  the  Board.  Hereafter  no  such  distinctions  need 
be  made. 

Under  the  charter  the  Assembly  has  the  power  at  its  discretion,  as  often 
as  it  shall  hold  its  sessions  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  to  change  one- 
third  of  the  trustees,  in  such  manner  as  it  shall  seem  proper.  In  the  exer- 
cise of  this  discretion  it  is  a  difficult  task  for  the  Committee  to  recommend 
action  in  the  premises.  In  view,  moreover,  of  all  the  circumstances,  it 
seemed  best  to  suggest  the  removal  of  six  of  the  trustees  who  were  only 
elected  at  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  at  Pittsburg  in  November  last. 
The  regret  of  the  Committee  is  that  thereby  we  lose  the  services  of  six 
gentlemen  of  the  highest  character.  But  this  course  appeared  least  open 
to  objection. 

Your  Committee,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution : 

Resolved,  That  from  and  after  this  date  Rev.  David  A.  Cunningham, 
Hon.  John  K.  Findlay,  Archibald  Mclntyre,  James  T.  Young,  Robert 
Cornelius  and  H.  Lenox  Hodge,  M.  D.,  cease  to  be  trustees,  and  in  their 
place  Hon-.  William  Strong,  Hon.  Joseph  Allison,  Alexander  Whildin, 
Rev.  Herriek  Jolinson,  H.  1).,  William  G.  Crowell  and  John  C.  Farr  are 
appointed  trustees  of  the  corjooration,  entitled  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica."—1870,  p.  98. 


OF    ELECTING   AND   ORDAINING   ELDERS    AND    DEACONS.  337 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
OF  ELECTING  AND   ORDAINING  RULING  ELDERS  AND  DEACONS. 

I.  Having  defined  the  officers  of  the  church,  and  the  judicatories 
by  which  it  shall  be  governed,  it  is  proper  here  to  prescribe  the  mode 
in  which  ecclesiastical  rulers  should  be  ordained  to  their  respective 
offices,  as  well  as  some  of  the  principles  by  which  they  shall  be  regu- 
lated in  discharging  their  several  duties. 

II.  Every  congregation  shall  elect  persons  to  the  office  of  ruling 
elder,  and  to  the  office  of  deacon,  or  either  of  them,  in  the  mode  most 
approved  and  in  use  in  that  congregation.  But  in  all  cases  the  per- 
sons elected  must  be  male  members  in  full  communion  in  the  church 
in  which  they  are  to  exercise  their  office. 

[See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  v.,  1.] 

1.  Elders  must  be  diily  Elected  and  set  Apart. 

The  following  inquiry  was  referred  to  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  by 
the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  viz. : 

In  what  point  of  light  are  the  elders  nominated  and  ordained  by  Mr. 
Balch  to  be  viewed  hereafter  in  Mount  Bethel  Congregation  ? 

It  was  determined  by  the  Assembly  that  the  "elders"  mentioned  in  the, 
inquiry  are  to  be  henceforth  viewed  as  private  church  members  only,  un- 
less they  be  duly  elected  and  set  apart  as  church  officers  hereafter. — 1798, 
p.  158. 

2.  The  Session  may  Propose  Names  to  the  Congregation. 

The  reports  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  were  taken  up 
and  read.  The  majority  report  is  as  follows,  viz. :  "  The  Committee  to 
whom  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  were  committed  would  re- 
port that  they  have  examined  the  same  and  find  them  regularly  and 
neatly  kept,  and  would  recommend  their  approval." 

The  report  of  the  minority  is  as  follows,  viz. :  "The  minority  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  recommend  that  they  be 
approved,  with  the  exception  of  the  censure  passed  on  the  Presbytery  of 
Redstone,  p.  284,  for  their  disapproval  of  the  action  of  the  session  of  Mor- 
gantown  in  nominating  two  persons  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder  in  that 
congregation,  and  recommend  that  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  be  re- 
versed, and  that  the  following  resolution  be  adopted,  to  wit ; 

Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  the  nomination  b}' 
the  session  of  persons  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder  or  deacon  is  contrary  to 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii.,  sec.  ii.,  which  says,  "  Every  congregation 
shall  elect  persons  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder  or  deacon  in  the  mode  most 
approved  and  in  use  in  that  congregation,"  and  is  inconsistent  with  the 
freedom  of  elections. 

On  motion,  the  report  of  the  majority  was  adopted  as  the  sense  of  the 
Assembly,  and  the  whole  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  minutes. — 1847,  p. 
381,  O.  S. 

43 


-iSS  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

3.  A  Meeting  for  the  Election  of  Elders  can  be  called  Regularly 

only  by  the  Session  or  by  some  higher  Court. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  reported — 

Overture  No.  1,  being  an  overture  from  two  ruling  elders  of  the  Bra- 
zeau  church,  Presbytery  of  Potosi,  Synod  of  Missouri,  as  follows:  "  Is  it 
regular  for  a  congregation,  where  there  is  no  .pastor,  and  a  session  of  two 
ruling  elders,  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  and  elect  a  new  session 
without  consulting  the  session  of  the  church  where  said  election  was  made 
by  a  small  minority  of  the  church  ?" 

The  Committee  recommend  the  following  answer :  "  The  session  of  a 
church  should  always  be  consulted  with  reference  to  calling  a  meeting  for 
the  election  of  additional  ruling  elders ;  and  it  is  irregular  to  call  a  meet- 
ing for  such  a  purpose,  and  proceed  to  an  election,  unless  the  meeting  is 
called  through  and  by  authority  of  the  session  or  some  higher  court." 

The  report  and  recommendation  were  adopted. — 1867,  p.  320,  O.  S. 

[See  6,  a,  beloiv.l 

4.  The  Remedy  in  Case  the  Session  Refuse  to  Convene  the  Con- 

gregation is  to  Complain  to  Presbytery. 

The  session  of  a  church  has  the  authority  to  convene  the  congregation 
for  all  such  purposes;  but  should  the  sessicm  neglect  or  refuse  to  convene 
the  congregation,  the  party  feeling  aggrieved  has  its  remedy  by  aj)plica- 
tion  to  Presbytery  in  the  form  of  a  complaint. — 1822,  p.  49. 

[See  10,  below,  1840,  p.  305,  0.  S.  Also  Discii)line,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii., 
sub  sec.  iv.,  ii.,  2,  c/.] 

5.  A  Superior  Judicatixre  may  Authorize  the  Meeting. 

• 

That  the  entire  Church  take  immediate  measures  to  elect  a  new  bench 
of  elders,  with  a  view  to  promote  the  peace  of  the  church,  and  to  secure 
the  permanent  settlement  of  the  gospel  ministry  among  them,  [See  under 
vii.,  below.] — 1834,  p.  453. 

6.   Irregularity  in  the   Call    does    not  Necessarily  Invalidate  the 

Election. 

a.  G.  B.  Smith  and  J.  T.  Clark  were  elected  elders  of  the  church  of 
Madison,  Wisconsin,  at  a  meeting  held  on  Sunday,  26th  August,  1855. 
David  Dennon  and  H.  J.  Davidson  were  elected  deacons.  Notice  of  the 
meeting  had  been  given  on  the  previous  Sabbath  from  the  pulpit,  and  also 
on  the  day  of  meeting.  Messrs.  G.  B.  Smith  and  J.  T.  Clark  were  or- 
dained as  elders  on  the  evening  of  that  day.  David  Dennon  was  at  the 
same  time  ordained  as  deacon.  At  the  next  meeting  of  Presbytery,  called 
pro  re  nata,  at  the  request  of  the  party  opposed  to  the  present  complain- 
ants, J.  T.  Clark  and  J.  Y,  Smith  both  claimed  seats  as  the  representatives 
of  the  Madison  church.  Mr.  Clark  had  been  appointed  by  the  session, 
the  vote  being  a  tie,  and  the  casting  vote  being  given  for  him  by  the  mod- 
erator. The  two  former  ciders  of  the  church,  one  of  whom  was  an  or- 
dained minister  and  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Dane,  withdrew, 
alleging  that  they  disputed  the  fact  that  the  other  two  were  elders.  At 
the  Presbytery,  j'  Y.  Smith  contested  the  right  of  Clark  to  a  seat  in  that 
body,  on  the  ground  that  the  meeting  to  elect  elders  had  not  been  called 
by  order  of  the  existing  session.  The  existing  or  former  session  and  their 
party  had  due  notice  of  the  meeting,  and  were  present  at  its  commence- 


OF    ELECTING    AND    ORDAINING    ELDERS    AND    DEACONS.  339 

ment.  They  attempted  to  postpone  the  election,  and  withdrew  after  the 
majority  had  voted  to  proceed  with  the  election. 

The  Presbytery  of  Dane  admitted  Mr.  Clark  to  his  seat,  thus  recog- 
nizing the  validity  of  his  election  and  ordination.  Against  this  action  of 
the  Presbytery,  J.  Y.  Smith  and  his  party  complained  to  the  Synod  of 
Wisconsin.  The  Synod  sustained  the  complaint,  thus  pronouncing  the 
election  and  the  ordination  of  the  new  elders  invalid.  Against  this  de- 
cision of  the  Synod,  Mr.  Gardiner  and  Mr.  J.  T.  Clark  complain. 

The  above  is  the  statement  of  the  case  as  agreed  upon  by  tlie  parties. 
It  is  submitted  with  a  view  of  saving  the  time  of  the  Assembly. 

The  Judicial  Committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of 
the  following  minute,  as  a  final  settlement  of  the  case,  agreed  on  by  l)oth 
parties : 

1.  That  the  complaint  be  sustained  pro  forma,  and  the  decision  of  the 
Synod  be  reversed,  so  far  as  it  pronounces  the  election  and  ordination  of 
the  elders  and  deacons  invalid,  the  Assembly  being  of  opinion  that  the 
informality  in  the  call  of  the  congregational  meeting  was  not  so  serious  as 
to  vitiate  the  election  and  ordination. 

2.  That  the  Synod  was  right  in  pronouncing  the  call  of  the  congrega- 
tional meeting  irregular. 

3.  That  although  the  Assembly  thus  recognize  the  validity  of  the  elec- 
tion and  ordination  of  the  said  elders  and  deacons,  they  yei  recommend, 
the  said  elders  having  assented  thereto  by  their  representatives,  that  in 
view  of  past  and  existing  difhculties  the  said  elders  and  deacons  cease  to 
act,  according  to  our  Form  of  Government,  until  such  time  as  in  the  esti- 
mation (jf  the  Presbytery  of  Dane  the  church  can  be  reasonably  harmo- 
nious in  receiving  them  in  their  official  capacity. — 1856,  p.  517,  0.  S. 

h.  Nor  does  Irregularity  in  the  Mode  of  Election  Invalidate  the  Ordination. 
[See  below,  12,  1835,  p.  471.] 

7.  Must  be  Members  in  Full  Ooraraunion,  Ministers  not  Eligible. 

a.  Overture  No.  10,  from  sundry  members  of  the  Assembly,  inquiring 
whether  an  ordained  minister  may  accept  and  exercise  the  office  of  ruling 
elder  in  a  church  belonging  to  the  same  Presbytery  of  which  he  is  a 
member. 

At  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  this  was  answered  in  the 
negative. — 1856,  p.  522,  O.  S. 

b.  The  Special  Committee,  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  on  the  re- 
lation of  unemployed  ministers  to  the  churches  among  whom  they  reside, 
presented  their  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

By  the  last  General  Assembly,  which  met  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  the  under- 
signed were  appointed  a  Committee  to  consider  and  x*eport  upon  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  (see  Minutes,  1864,  p.  462): 

Remlved,  That  the  subject  of  the  relation  of  unemployed  ministers  to 
the  churches  among  whom  they  reside,  and  whom  they  may  be  desired 
and  are  disposed  to  serve  as  ruling  elders,  be  referred  to  a  Committee  to 
consider  and  recommend  what  action  can  and  ought  to  be  taken  by  the 
Assembly  for  removing  the  constitutional  restriction  which  prevents  the 
employment  of  such  ministers  in  the  service  of  the  church  as  ruling  eld- 
ers, and  report  to  the  next  Assembly. 

The  "'constitutional  restriction"  referred  to  is  found  in  the  Form  of 
Government,  chap,  xiii.,  ii.,  where  it  is  said  that  persons  elected  to  the 
offices  of  ruling  elder  and  of  deacon  must  "in  all  cases"  be  male  mem- 
bers in  full  communion  in  the  church  in  which  they  are  to  exercise  their 


340  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

office.     By  the  practice  of  our  Church,  ministers  are  not  members  of  any 
particular  church,  and  therefore  cannot  be  eligible  to  the  above  offices. 

The  case  might  be  reached  constitutionally  in  one  of  two  ways.  The 
first  would  be  an  alteration  of  the  above  rule,  making  an  express  excep- 
tion in  respect  to  "unemployed  ministers;"  but  this  would  involve  the 
infelicity  and  inconvenience  of  holding  two  offices,  and  would  require  ad- 
justments of  other  parts  of  the  Constitution. 

The  other  mode  would  be  the  adoption  of  a  constitutional  provision, 
allowing,  in  certain  well-defined  cases,  the  demitting  of  the  ministerial 
office.  While  some  of  your  Committee  are  inclined  to  this  course,  yet 
they  do  not  think  it  expedient  to  recommend  it  for  adoption  without  fur- 
ther discussion  and  more  specific  instructions  from  the  Assembly. 

At  the  same  time,  your  Committee  are  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that 
auy  church  has  a  right  to  avail  itself  of  the  experience  and  wisdom  of 
such  unemployed  ministers.  While  it  cannot  directly  invest  such  minis- 
ters with  the  office  of  ruling  elder,  yet  it  may,  by  a  formal  vote,  request 
them  to  take  part  in  all  the  deliberations  of  the  session.*  What  is  desir- 
able in  the  case  may  thus  be  gained  without  any  violation  of  constitutional 
provision. — 1865,  pp.  13,  14,  N.  S. 

c.  A  minister  belonging  to  the  Presbytery  of  Grand  River  Valley,  now 
editing  a  paper  and  not  preaching  on  account  of  throat  difficulty,  was  so- 
licited to  accept  the  office  of  elder  by  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Grand  Haven,  Michigan,  was  elected  unanimously,  accepted  the  office  and 
entered  on  his  duties.  The  Presbytery  in  reviewing  the  records  declared 
it  was  irregular,  and  did  nothing  more.  The  pastor  of  said  church 
brought  the  matter  before  the  session ;  and  after  considering  the  case,  the 
session  did  nothing.  This  brother,  not  being  able  to  preach  and  over  sixty 
years  of  age,  accepted  the  office  of  ruling  elder  because  he  was  willing  to 
work  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  in  a  more  humble  capacity,  but  has  not 
resigned  the  ministerial  office,  holding  still  his  place  as  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Grand  River  Valley. 

The  Committee  recommended  for  answer  a  reference  to  the  report  of 
the  Special  Committee  on  this  subject,  made  to  the  Assembly  of  1865,  and 
found  in  the  minutes  for  that  vear,  pp.  13,  14. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1869,  p.  282,  N.  S. 

(/.  An  Exception  Allowed  in  the  Case  of  Foreign  Missionaries. 

From  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin  and  Presbytery  of  Corisco,  asking  whether 
a  minister  who  has  been  compelled  in  the  providence  of  God  to  lay  aside 
active  ministerial  duties  is  eligible  to  the  eldership. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  Synod  and  Presbytery  be  referred 
to  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  (O.  S.)  of  1856  (see  a,  above),  and 
that  that  action  be  now  reaffirmed  by  this  Assembly — That  an  ordained 
minister  cannot  be  also  a  ruling  elder  in  a  congregation. 

And  that  the  Presbytery  of  Corisco  be  also  informed  that  in  exceptional 
cases,  on  foreign  missionary  ground,  it  may  be  expedient  for  a  minister  to 
perform  temporarily  the  limctions  of  a  ruling  elder  without  having  been 
specially  set  apart  to  the  office. — 1871,  p.  546. 

*  But  see  chap,  ix.,  sees,  i.,  iii.,  wliere  it  is  affirmed  that  a  session  may  not  invite  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  to  sit  as  a  corresponding  member.  A  minister  cannot  act  as  a 
ruling  elder,  since  he  is  not  a  "representative  of  the  people"  nor  elected  by  the  Church 
for  that  service. 


OF   ELECTING   AND   OEDAINING   ELDERS   AND   DEACONS.  341 

8.  Uniformity  in  the  Mode  of  Election  deemed  Impracticable. 

The  Committee  on  Overture  No.  9,  relating  to  au  amendment  in  the 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii.,  see.  ii.,  reported,  and  their  report  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  consideration  of  the  Overture 
No.  9,  relating  to  an  alteration  of  that  part  of  the  Constitution  of  our 
Church  which  gives  the  right  of  choosing  ruling  elders  and  deacons  to  the 
congregation,  in  the  way  most  approved  and  in  use  in  the  congregation, 
reported,  that  after  deliberating  on  the  subject  they  find  themselves  unable 
to  devise  any  method  by  which  a  uniformity  of  practice  can  be  established 
in  this  interesting  concern  throughout  the  different  sections  of  our  Church, 
and  believe  that  any  alteration  effected  in  the  Constitution,  with  a  view  to 
relieve  the  difficulties  in  one  section,  would  produce  difficulties  in  another 
section  of  the  Church.  The  Committee  therefore  judge  it  inexpedient  to 
propose  any  alteration,  and  recommend  that  the  Assembly  dismiss  this 
subject  from  any  further  consideration. 

[See  10,  below.]— 1826,  p.  187. 

9.  The  Mode  most  Approved  and  in  Use  may  be  Changed  by  the 

Congregation. 

And  while  the  Assembly  would  recognize  the  undoubted  right  of  each 
congregation  to  elect  their  elders  in  the  mode  most  approved  and  in  use 
among  them,  they  would  recommend  that  in  all  cases  where  any  dissatis- 
faction appears  to  exist,  the  congregation  be  promptly  convened  to  decide 
on  their  future  mode  of  election.  And  they  are  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  spirit  of  our  Constitution  would  be  most  fully  sustained  by  having  iu 
all  cases  a  direct  vote  of  the  congi-egation  in  the  appointment  of  elders. — 
1827,  p.  215. 

10.  The  Right  of  the  Superior  Judicatory  to  Interfere  -with  the 
Mode  in  Use  Disavo'wed. 

The  Assembly  deem  it  proper,  in  sustaining  the  complaint  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Blairsville,  to  declare  that  they  do  it  on  the  ground  that  the  de- 
cision of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  disapproving  of  the  act  of  the  Presbytery, 
if  carried  into  effect,  would  render  it  necessary  for  the  churches  in  that 
Presbytery,  and  any  other  within  the  bounds  of  that  Synod  whose  practice 
may  be  the  same,  to  change  their  usage  as  to  the  manner  of  electing  ruling 
elders,  which  by  the  Constitution  is  left  to  be  regulated  by  "  the  mode  most 
approved  and  in  use  in  each  church."  At  the  same  time,  tlie  Assembly, 
in  coming  to  this  result,  have  no  design  to  establish  a  uniform  mode  of 
electing  elders  throughout  the  Church,  which  is  designedly  left  by  the 
Constitution  to  be  regulated  by  the  usage  of  each  particular  church. 

And  it  may  be  added  that  in  those  churches  in  which  the  usage  has 
prevailed  for  the  existing  eldership  to  determine  when  and  how  large  an 
addition  shall  be  made  to  the  session,  the  Church  has  an  effectual  security 
against  the  abuse  of  that  power,  in  the  right  of  appeal  or  complaint  secured 
by  the  Constitution.— 1840,  p.  305,  O.  S. 

11.  Who  are  the  Electors  of  Ruling  Elders  and  Deacons? 

a.  Members  not  Communicants,  where  such  is  the  Usacje. 

The  General  Assembly,  having  gone  fully  into  the  consideration  of  the 
appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  by  Messrs.  Lowerie  and 
Kelso,  and  hiving  seen  witii  deep  regret  the  appearance  of  much  disorder 


342  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

in  the  'R-hoIe  business,  -which  they  disapprove,  believing,  as  the  Assembly 
do,  that  the  election  of  elders  should  be  conducted  with  all  due  delibera- 
tion, according  to  the  letter  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  in  the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  gospel,  and  although  the 
Assembly  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  most  desirable  to  have  the 
communicants  only  as  the  electors  of  ruling  elders,  yet,  as  it  appears  to 
be  the  custom  in  some  of  the  churches  in  the  Presbyterian  connection,  to 
allow  this  privilege  to  others,  they  see  no  reason  why  the  election  be  con- 
sidered void,  nor  any  reason  why  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  should 
not  be  affirmed.     Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  be  and  it  is  hereby 
affirmed.— 1822,  p.  49. 

h.   Only  baptized  Persons  alloived  to  Vote. 

Ought  an  uubaptized  person,  Avho  yet  pays  his  proportion  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  congregation,  to  be  permitted  to  vote  for  ruling  elders  ? 

The  office  of  ruling  elder  is  an  office  in  the  Church  of  Christ ;  that 
ruling  elders  as  such,  according  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Book  I.,  on 
Government,  chap,  v.,  are  "  the  representatives  of  those  by  whom  they  are 
chosen,  for  the  purpose  of  exercising  government  and  discipline,"  in  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  that  the  discipline  lawfully  exercised 
by  them  is  the  discipline  exercised  through  them  by  their  constituents,  in 
whose  name  and  by  whose  authority  they  act  in  all  that  they  do.  To  sup- 
pose, therefoi'e,  that  an  unbaptized  person,  not  belonging  to  the  visible 
kingdom  of  the  Redeemer,  might  vote  at  the  election  of  ruling  elders, 
would  be  to  establish  the  principle  that  the  children  of  this  world  might 
through  their  representatives  exercise  discipline  in  the  Church  of  God, 
which  is  manifestly  unscriptural  and  contrary  to  the  standards  of  our 
Church ;  and  your  Committee  would  therefore  recommend  that  the  ques- 
tion in  the  said  overture  be  answered  in  the  negative. — 1830,  p.  284. 

e.  Most  consonant  to  our  form  of   Government  thai  Communicants  only  be 

the  Electors. 

Are  others  than  communicants  entitled  to  vote  for  ruling  elders? 

The  Assembly,  in  accordance  w'ith  the  decision  of  former  Assemblies, 
judges  it  most  consonant  to  our  Form  of  Government  that  communicants 
only  should  vote  in  the  election  of  ruling  elders. — 1855,  p.  299,  O.  S. 

d.  No  Distinction  to  be  made  as  to  the  Age  of  Electors. 

As  to  the  right  of  minors  to  vote  in  the  election  of  elder  and  deacon. 

That  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  principles  and  usages  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  to  distinguish  between  members  of  the  Church  as  to  their 
ages,  in  voting  for  officers  of  the  Church. — 1859,  p.  18,  N.  S. 

12.  Mode  of  Electing  for  a  Term  of  Years  supposed  to  be  Irregular. 

a.  Your  Committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  mode  of  electing  elders  in 
the  congregation  of  Wheatland  for  a  term  of  years  was  irn'gular,  and 
ought  in  future  to  be  abandoned,  but  cannot  invalidate  the  ordination  of 
persons  thus  elected  and  ordained  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder. — 1835,  p. 
471.     [See  1867,  p.  320,  O.  S.] 

b.   Overture  to  limit  the  Term  of  Service  declined. 

The  overture  on  limiting  the  term  of  service  of  ruling  elders  was,  on 
motion,  taken  up  for  consideration.     The  report  of  the  Committee  was 


OF    ELECTING    AXD    ORDAINING    ELDERS    AND    DEACONS.  ^43 

adopted,  and  is  as  follows :  Whereas,  sundry  memorials  have  been  pre- 
sented to  the  Assembly,  asking  for  a  change  of  the  Constitution  respect- 
ing the  term  of  service  in  the  office  of  ruling  elder : 

Besolved,  That  while  the  Assembly  sympathize  with  those  churches, 
which  are  more  especially  tried  by  the  present  rule,  yet  believing  that 
the  evils  of  a  change  would  far  outweigh  those  of  the  present  system, 
they  are  not  prepai'ed  to  recommend  any  overture  ou  the  subject. — 
1849,  p.  182,  K  S. 

c.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Pennsylvania,  asking  "  whether 
the  Constitution  of  our  Church  shall  be  so  altered  as  to  make  the  term  of 
office  of  ruling  elder  temporary  in  such  churches  as  prefer  it,"  was  taken 
up  and  answered  as  follows  : 

The  Assembly  do  not  deem  it  expedient,  or  for  the  edification  of  the 
Church,  to  send  down  to  the  Presbyteries  such  an  overture ;  the  most  ob- 
vious and  natural  construction  of  our  Form  of  Government  does  not  con- 
template a  rotary  eldership ;  and  while  such  an  organization  of  a  session 
is  not  Anti-presbyterial,  yet  the  Assembly  would  discourage  the  adoption 
of  the  principle  in  our  Church,  from  respect  to  the  plain  meaning  of 
our  rule ;  but  nothing  in  this  resolution  is  intended  to  disturb  the  relation 
of  those  churches  which  have  adopted  the  principle  of  a  limited  period  in 
the  services  of  elders. — 1852,  p.  177,  N.  S. 

d.  Is  it  contrary  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  elect 
elders  for  a  definite  period  ? 

Answered  in  the  words  above,  "the  most  obvious,"  etc. — 1862,  p.  34, N.  S. 

e.  Overture,  asking  the  Assembly  to  take  the  proper  measures  for  hav- 
ing the  Constitution  changed  in  regard  to  ruling  elders,  so  as  to  make 
the  office  temporary. 

Besolved,  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  send  down  to  the  Presbyteries  the 
proposed  alterations. — 1857,  p.  45,  O.  S. 

/.  Judicial  case.  The  vote  was  taken,  and  the  complaint  was  not  sus- 
tained. This  vote  condemned  the  following  plan  adopted  by  the  church 
of  Greenville  Presbytery  of  Kaskaskia : 

Art.  1.  The  members  of  this  church  will  meet  on  the  day  of 

,  A.  D. ,  and  at  said  meeting  the  following  question  shall  be 

submitted  for  their  vote  and  decision  :  "  Is  it  your  pleasure  that  any  change 
or  increase  of  number  shall  be  made  in  the  acting  eldership  of  this 
Church?" 

2.  If  the  vote  on  the  above  question  shall  be  in  the  negative,  the  matter 
shall  there  end. 

3.  If  the  vote  on  the  aforesaid  question  shall  be  in  the  affirmative,  then 
the  church  shall  proceed  to  cast  their  ballots  for  ruling  elders  to  represent 
them  in  the  session  of  the  church. 

4.  If  any  of  the  members  of  the  existing  session  shall  receive  a  major- 
ity of  the  votes  thus  cast,  they  shall  continue  to  be  and  act  as  ruling  elders 
in  that  congregation. 

5.  If  any  of  the  acting  elders  of  the  church  shall  not  receive  a  major- 
ity of  the  votes  thus  cast,  then  they  shall,  upon  their  consent,  and  the 
required  record  to  made  by  the  session  (Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii., 
sec.  vii. ),  cease  to  be  acting  elders. 

6.  If  any  acting  elder  shall  fail  to  receive  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast 
at  said  election,  and  shall  not  concur  in  the  will  of  the  church  thus  ex- 
pressed, then  the  matter  shall  be  referred  to  the  Presbytery  for  its  advice 
in  the  premises. 

7.  If  any  person  or  persons,  not  pre\'iously  acting  as  ruling  elders, 
shall  receive  a  majority  of  votes  cast  at  said  election,  then  such  per 


344  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

son  or  persons  shall  be  installed,  or  ordained  and  installed,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

8.  Triennially,  after  the  meeting  above  provided  for,  or  as  nearly  trien- 
nially  as  the  session  shall  judge  to  be  suitable  to  the  convenience  and 
wishes  of  the  congregation,  there  shall  be  a  similar  meeting  of  the  church, 
to  be  called  by  order  of  the  session,  after  jiublic  notice  from  the  pulpit,  at 
which  the  same  question  shall  be  proposed  and  voted  upon  by  the  church, 
and  the  same  proceedings  had  as  are  provided  for  in  the  foregoing  arti- 
cles.—1869,  p.  911,  912,  O.  S. 

g.  Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  jNIuncie,  asking  the  Assembly  to 
jirovide  for  such  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  as  that  any  church 
may  elect  both  deacons  and  ruling  elders  for  a  limited  term  of  years.  The 
Committee  recommend  that  it  is  inexpedient  at  this  time  to  take  any  action 
on  the  subject.     Adopted. — 1871,  p.  592. 

13.  The  Right  of  a  Congregation  to  Elect  Elders  to  Serve  for  a 
Term  of  Years  Affirmed. — A  Judicial  Case. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  Case  No.  1,  being  a  complaint  of  Rev. 
Alfred  Nevin,  D.  D.,  and  others  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia relative  to  the  term  of  the  eldership ;  the  report  was  received  and 
placed  on  the  docket. — 1872,  p.  15. 

a.  The  history  of  the  "Ca.«e  No.  1"  is  as  follows:  The  church  of  Great  Yallev,  in 
the  Presbytery  of  Chester,  had  elected  two  elders  to  serve  for  a  term  of  three  years 
each,  their  usage  heretofore  having  been  to  fix  no  limit.  On  review  of  their  records, 
the  Committee  reported  a  censure  and  affirmed  tiie  action  of  the  church  to  be  uncon- 
stitutional. The  Presbytery  refused  to  sustain  the  censure,  and  approved  the  records. 
Against  this  action  of  tlie  Presbytery  a  complaint  was  made  to  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia.    In  the  Synod,  Oct.  20,  1871,  the  proceedings  were  as  follows: 

Judicial  Case  No.  1  was  tlien  taken  up,  being  a  complaint  of  certain  ministers  and 
elders  of  the  Presbytery  of  Chester  of  the  action  of  said  Presbytery  in  approving  the 
minutes  of  the  session  of  the  Great  Valley  church,  that  churcli  having  elected  ruling 
elders  for  a  term  of  years,  which  the  complainants  believed  to  be  unconstitutional. 

The  papers  were  read — -viz.,  the  complaint,  and  the  record  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Chester  in  the  case.     The  original  i)arties  were  heard — viz.,  the  complainants,  and  the 
Rev.  W.  E.  Moore  and  the  Rev.  Orr  Lawson — on  beiialf  of  tiie  Presb\'tery  of  Chester. 
The  roll  was  then  called,  and  opportunity  given  for  every  member  to  express  his 
opinion  on  the  case.     The  final  vote  was  as  follows : 

To  sustain  ...........        2G 

Not  to  sustain 40 

The  complaint,  therefore,  was  not  sustained. 

Mr.  .John  F.  Templeton  gave  notice  for  himself  and  others  of  iiis  intention  to  com- 
plain of  this  decision  of  the  Synod  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  E.  Moore  and  the  Rev.  B.  L.  Agnew  were  appointed  a  Committee 
to  defend  the  action  of  the  Synod  before  the  Assembiv. — Minnies  Synod  of  Philadel- 
pkia,  1871,  p.  28. 

b.  In  the  Assembly  of  1872. 

Judicial  Case  No.  1  was  taken  up.  The  moderator  called  upon  the 
Assembly  to  remeniber  and  regard  their  solemn  duty  as  a  court  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  case  was  conducted  according  to  the  Book  of  Discipline, 
chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.     (The  case  was  continued  from  day  to  day.) 

The  unfinished  business  was  resumed.  The  parties  having  been  hoard, 
and  the  members  of  the  Assemhly  having  had  an  opportunity  to  express 
their  views,  the  final  vote  was  taken,  145  to  173,  so  the  complaint  was  not 
sustained. — 1872,  pp.  51,  68. 

The  following  Committee  was  appointed  to  bring  in  a  minute  with  ref- 
erence to  the  case  just  decided:  Rev.  Charles  S.  Robinson,  D.  D.,  Rev. 


OF   ELECTING   AND   ORDAIXING   ELDERS   AND   DEACONS.  345 

Iryon  Edwards,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Elliott  H.  Payson,  Hon,  James  E.  Brown 
and  Hon.  Lawsou  A.  Parks. — 1872,  p.  69. 

c.  The  Committee  to  report  a  minute  on  Judicial  Case  No.  1  presented 
the  following  report,  w^hich  was  adopted  : 

The  case  seemed  to  present  in  a  judicial  form  the  question  of  the  inter- 
pretation of  our  Constitution  concerning  the  election  of  elders  and  dea- 
cons, and  yet  many  of  the  Assembly  do  not  regard  it  as  really  involving 
that  question.  Hence,  in  defining  its  own  action  the  Assembly  is  not  to 
be  understood  as  deciding  that  in  any  case  the  actual  service  of  the  elder- 
ship should  be  either  permanent  or  limited  ;  but  while  the  office  is  perpet- 
ual, the  time  of  its  exercise  in  each  individual  congregation  may  be  left 
to  the  decision  of  the  church  itself,  according  to  the  mode  approved  and 
in  use  in  such  church. — p.  75. 

d.  Dissent. 

[Against  the  foregoing  action  a  dissent  was  offered  by  Eev.  Messrs.  Joseph  T. 
Smith,  J.  S.  Grimes,  Geo.  S.  Bishop  and  Geo.  H.  King,  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on 
the  minutes,  viz. :] 

1.  Because  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  was  in  contravention  of  the  standards  of 
the  Church  as  uniformly  intrepreted  by  this  court. 

2.  Because  many  members  of  the  Assembly  sat  as  judges  and  voted  in  the  case 
who  confessed  themselves  guilty  of  the  offence  charged. — p.  80. 

e.  Answer:  Limitations  of  Term  of  Service  Constitutional. 

[The  Committee  appointed  to  answer  this  dissent,  Rev.  Tryon  Ed- 
wards, D.  D.,  Rev.  T.  Ralston  Smith,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Edward  D.  Morris,  D.D., 
Hon.  David  B.  Greene  and  Hon.  Royal  E.  Barber,  reported  the  follow'- 
ing,  which  w'as  adopted  :] 

Had  the  dissent  been  offered  without  reason  and  simply  as  a  record 
of  the  vote  of  the  dissenters,  it  would  have  been  entirely  proper  to  enter 
it  on  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly  without  reply.  It  would  then  have 
been  in  the  nature  only  of  a  record  in  part  of  ayes  and  nays.  But  as 
it  is  accompanied  with  reasons,  it  is  virtually  a  protest,  and  it  is  proper 
in  reply  to  say  : 

1.  That  the  Assembly  by  its  minute  adopted  in  the  case  expressly 
declares  that  it  does  not  regard  its  decision  as  contrary  to,  but  in  accord- 
ance with,  the  standards  of  the  Church,  and  that  in  the  very  language  of 
the  standards  themselves. 

2.  That  it  does  not  appear  that  any  one  sat  as  a  judge  or  voted  in  the  case 
■who  had  confessed  himself  guilty  of  the  supposed  offence,  or  of  any  offence 
against  our  standards. 

It  is  but  justice  to  say  that  the  majority  claim  and  believe  their  vote 
to  be  in  accordance  with  our  standards,  nor  does  it  appear  that  any  of 
them  has  ever  voted  for  a  limit  to  the  office  of  the  eldership,  or  otherwise 
than  in  full  accordance  with  our  standards  liberally  and  historically  inter- 
preted.—1872,  p.  85. 

14.  An  Overture  Proposing  a  Change  in  the  Forra  of  Government. 

Resolved,  That  all  overtures  and  papers  concerning  the  office  of  ruling 
elder  be  referred  to  a  Committee  of  seven,  viz. :  Rev.  A.  T.  McGill,  D.  D., 
William  E.  Moore,  D.  D.,  S.  J.  Niccolls,  D.D.,  William  Isl.  Paxton,  D.  D. 
Hon.  William  Strong,  LL.D.,  Hon.  William  E.  Dodge  and  Lewis  Cha- 
pin,  who  shall  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly  an  overture  to  the 
Presbytei'ies  proposing  a  change  in  the  Form  of  Government. — 1873, 
p.  547. 

44 


346  FORM    OF    GOVEENMEXT. 

III.  When  any  person  shall  have  been  elected  to  either  of  these 
offices,  and  shall  have  declared  his  willingness  to  accept  thereof,  he 
shall  be  set  apart  in  the  following  manner: 

IV.  After  sermon  the  minister  shall  state,  in  a  concise  manner, 
the  warrant  and  nature  of  the  office  of  ruling  elder  or  deacon,  to- 
gether M'ith  the  character  proper  to  be  sustained  and  the  duties  to  be 
fulfilled  by  the  officer  elect ;  having  done  this  he  shall  propose  to 
the  candidate,  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation,  the  following 
questions,  viz.  : 

1.  Do  you  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
to  be  the  word  of  God,  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice? 

2.  Do  you  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 
this  Church  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  ? 

3.  Do  you  approve  of  the  government  and  discipline  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  these  United  States? 

4.  Do  you  accept  the  office  of  ruling  elder  (or  deacon,  as  the  case 
may  be),  in  this  congregation,  and  promise  faithfully  to  perform  all 
the  duties  thereof? 

5.  Do  you  i^romise  to  study  the  peace,  unity  and  purity  of  the 
church  ? 

The  elder  or  deacon  elect  having  answered  these  questions  in  the 
affirmative,  the  minister  shall  address  to  the  members  of  the  church 
the  following  question,  viz. : 

"  Do  you,  the  members  of  this  church,  acknowdedge  and  receive  this 
brother  as  a  ruling  elder  (or  deacon),  and  do  you  promise  to  yield  him 
all  that  honor,  encouragement  and  obedience  in  the  Lord  to  which 
his  office,  according  to  the  word  of  God  and  the  Constitution  of  this 
Church,  entitles  him  ?" 

The  members  of  the  church  having  answered  this  question  in  the 
affirmative,  by  holding  up  their  right  hands,  the  minister  shall  pro- 
ceed to  set  apart  the  candidate,  by  prayer,  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder 
(or  deacon,  as  the  case  may  be),  and  shall  give  to  him  and  to  the  con- 
gregation an  exhortation  suited  to  the  occasion. 

V.  Where  there  is  an  existing  session  it  is  proper  that  the  mem- 
bers of  that  body,  at  the  close  of  the  service,  and  in  the  face  of  the 
congregation,  take  the  newly-ordained  elder  by  the  hand,  saying  in 
words  to  this  purpose :  "  We  give  you  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to 
take  part  of  this  office  w-ith  us." 

1.  Mode  of  Ordination.— Laying  on  of  Hands  Approved. 

a.  Our  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii.,  sec.  iv.,  declares  that  such, 
whether  elder  or  deacon,  shall  be  set  apart  to  their  respective  offices  by 


OF   ELECTING   AND    ORDAINING    ELDEE3    AND    DEACONS.  347 

prayer.  The  imposition  of  luiiids,  however,  we  are  aware,  in  many  of  our 
cliurches  is  practiced;  and  as  it  is  plainly  in  accordance  with  apostolic  ex- 
ample, it  is  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly  that  it  is  proper  and  lawful.  We 
conceive  that  every  church  in  this  respect  may  with  propriety  be  left  to  adopt 
either  of  these  two  modes  as  they  think  suitable  and  best. — 1833,  p.  405. 

b.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  South  Alabama  on  the  subject 
of  ordaining  elders  and  deacons  by  the  imposition  of  hands.  The  Com- 
mittee recommended  that  it  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  each  church  ses- 
sion to  determine  the  mode  of  ordination  in  this  respect,  which  was  adopted. 
—1842,  p.  16,  O.  S. 

c.  [The  session  of  the  Mount  Bethany  church,  having  been  censured  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Memphis  for  ordaining  deacons  with  the  laying  on  of 
hands,  memorialized  the  Assembly  "  to  determine  whether  in  the  ordina- 
tion of  elders  and  deacons  it  is  unconstitutional  or  otherwise  improper  to 
use  the  right  of  laying  on  of  hands  by  the  existing  eldership."] 

Resolved,  That  the  session  of  Mount  Bethany  church  be  referred  to  the 
minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  1842  for  an  answer  to  said  overture. — 1851, 
pp.  12,  35,  172,  and  1852,  p.  227,  O.  S. 

2.  Ordination  Essential  to  the  Validity  of  the  Judicial  Acts  of  an 

Elder. 

The  Committee  on  Church  Polity  reported  two  questions,  with  the  recom- 
mendation that  they  be  answered  in  the  negative  : 

1st.  Is  an  elder  elect  a  member  of  the  session,  and  competent  to  sit  in 
a  judicial  case  before  he  has  been  ordained  according  to  the  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment ? 

2d.  Would  a  decision  in  a  case  of  discipline,  made  by  a  session  whose 
members  have  never  been  ordained  according  to  the  Form  of  Government, 
chap,  xiii.,  be  a  valid  and  lawful  decision  and  binding  upon  the  accused? 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1868,  p.  58,  N.  S. 

3.  Installation  Required  on  Resuming'  the  OflB.ce. 

When  a  ruling  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  by  removal  or  other- 
wise, terminates  his  connection  with  the  session  by  whom  he  was  ordained, 
does  he  require  installation  before  he  can  regularly  exercise  again  the  office 
in  the  same  church  or  in  any  other  one  ?  [Answered  in  the  affirmative.] — 
1849,  p.  265,  O.  S. 

[An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Erie,  asking  whether  the  answer 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  1849  in  relation  to  the  installation  of  ruling 
elders  who  have  removed  from  one  church  to  another  has  a  retrospective 
or  only  a  prospective  bearing.] 

The  Committee  recommended  the  following  answer  to  the  question ; 
That  it  has  a  prospective  bearing. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1850,  p.  454,  O.  S. 

4.  Mode  of  Installation  of  an  Elder  already  Ordained. 

1.  Resolved,  That  any  elder  regularly  ordained  and  installed  in  one 
church  and  subsequently  elected  to  the  same  office  in  another  church,  and 
who  has  heretofore,  pursuant  to  such  election,  served  as  an  elder  in  such 
church  without  objection,  shall  be  presumed  to  have  been  duly  installed 
therein,  and  his  right  to  act  shall  not  now  be  questioned. 

2.  Resolved,  That  when  an  elder  shall  hereafter  be  elected  to  the  same 
office  in  a  church  other  than  that  in  which  he  has  been  ordained  and  in« 


348  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

stalled,  the  minister  and  session  are  hereby  enjoined  formally  to  install 
him. 

3.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  hereby  declare  that  the  existing  law 
of  the  Church  as  to  the  mode  of  such  installation  is  as  follows,  viz. :  After 
sermon  the  minister  shall  speak  of  the  ofBce  and  duties  of  ruling  elders  as 
in  case  of  ordinations,  and  shall  then  propose  to  the  elder  elect  in  the 
presence  of  the  congregation  the  following  questions :  Do  you  sincerely  re- 
ceive and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church  as  containing  the  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  taught  in  the  holy  Scriptur'es  f  Do  you  accept  the  office  of 
Tiding  elder  in  this  congregation,  and  promise  faithfully  to  perform  all  the 
duties  thereof?  Do  you  promise  to  study  the  peace  and  unity  and  pur-ity  of 
the  Church?  The  elder  elect  having  answered  these  questions  in  the  af- 
firmative, the  minister  shall  ask  the  members  of  the  church  whether  they 
accept  him,  as  in  cases  of  ordination.  The  members  of  the  church  having 
answered  in  the  afiirmative  by  holding  up  their  right  hands,  the  minister 
shall  declare  him  an  elder  of  that  church,  and  accompany  this  act  by  ex- 
hortation and  such  other  proceedings  as  he  may  deem  suitable  and  expe- 
dient.—1856,  p.  539,  O.  S. 

VI.  The  offices  of  ruling  elder  and  deacon  are  both  perpetual,  and 
cannot  be  laid  aside  at  pleasure.  No  person  can  be  divested  of  either 
office  but  by  deposition.  Yet  an  elder  or  deacon  may  become  by  age 
or  infirmity  incapable  of  performing  the  duties  of  his  office,  or  he 
may,  though  chargeable  with  neither  heresy  nor  immorality,  become 
unacceptable  in  his  official  character  to  a  majority  of  the  congregation 
to  which  he  belongs.  In  either  of  these  cases  he  may,  as  often  hap- 
pens with  respect  to  a  minister,  cease  to  be  an  acting  elder  or  deacon. 

[See  Form  of  Government,  chap.  iii.  sec.  ii.] 

1.  Perpetuity  of  tlie  OflQce  AfBrmed. 

a.  The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  1,  a  communica- 
tion from  the  session  of  AVheatlaud  congregation  in  reference  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  Freeman  Edsou  as  a  commissioner  to  this  Assembly,  beg 
leave  to  present  the  following  report : 

Agreeably  to  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  the  office  of  ruling  elder 
is  perpetual  (see  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii.,  sec.  vi.),  and  cannot  be 
laid  aside  by  the  will  of  the  individual  called  to  that  office,  nor  can  any 
congregation  form  rules  which  would  make  it  lawful  for  any  one  to  lay  it 
aside.  Your  Committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  mode  of  electing  elders  in 
the  congregation  of  Wheatland  for  a  term  of  years  was  irregular  and  ought 
in  future  to  be  abandoned,  but  cannot  invalidate  the  ordination  of  persons 
thus  elected  and  ordained  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder.  And  whereas  it 
appears  that  Mr.  Freeman  Edson  was  once  elected  to  the  office  of  ruling 
elder  in  the  church  of  Wheatland,  and  was  regularly  set  apart  to  that 
office ;  whereas,  there  seems  to  be  some  material  diversity  of  views  be- 
tween the  Presbytery  of  Rochester  and  the  church  session  to  which  Mr. 
Edson  once  belonged  as  to  the  manner  in  which,  and  the  principle  on 
which,  he  ceased  to  be  an  acting  elder  in  the  said  church,  into  which  the 
Assembly  have  no  opportunity  at  present  of  regularly  examining ;  and 
whereas,  the  Presbytery,  with  a  distinct  knowledge,  as  is  alleged,  of  all 
the  circumstances  attending  this  case,  gave  Mr.  Edson  a  regular  commis- 
sion as  a  ruling  elder  to  this  General  Assembly ;  therefore, 


OF    ELECTING    AND    ORDAINING    ELDERS    AND   DEACONS.  349 

Resolved,  That  he  retain  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  Assembly. — 1835 
p.  471.  ^ 

b.  But  the  Time  of  its  Exercise  may  be  left  to  the  Decision  of  the  Church. 

_  In  defining  its  own  action,  the  Assembly  is  not  to  be  understood  as  de- 
ciding that  in  any  case  the  actual  service  of  the  eldership  should  be  either 
permanent  or  limited ;  but  while  the  office  is  perpetual,  the  time  of  its 
exercise  in  each  individual  congregation  may  be  left  to  the  decision  of  the 
church  itself,  according  to  the  mode  approved  and  in  use  in  such  church. — 
1872,  p.  75. 

2.  Restoration  to  Church  Privileges  does  not  Restore  to  the 

Eldership. 

When  an  elder  has  been  suspended  from  church  privileges  and  again 
restored  to  the  privileges  of  the  church,  is  he  also  restored  to  his  oflfice  as 
a  ruling  elder? 

The  two  things  are  distinct;  and  since  an  elder  as  well  as  a  minister 
may  be  suspended  from  his  office  and  not  from  the  communion  of  the 
Church,  so  there  may  be  reasons  for  continuing  his  suspension  from  his 
office  after  he  is  restored  to  the  privileges  of  the  Church.  He  cannot  be 
restored  to  the  functions  of  his  office  without  a  special  and  express  act  of 
the  session  for  that  purpose,  with  the  acquiescence  of  the  Church. — 1836, 
p.  263. 

3.  An  Elder  -without  Charge  can  Sit  in  no  Church  Court. 

Resolved,  That  no  ruling  elder  who  has  retired  from  the  active  exercise 
of  his  office  in  the  church  to  which  he  belongs  can  be  admitted  as  a  mem- 
ber of  a  Presbytery,  Synod  or  General  Assembly. — 1835,  p.  489. 

VII.  Whenever  a  ruling  elder  or  deacon,  from  either  of  these 
causes  or  from  any  other,  not  inferring  crime,  shall  be  incapable  of 
serving  the  Church  to  edification,  the  session  shall  take  order  on  the 
subject  and  state  the  fact,  together  with  the  reasons  of  it,  on  their 
records ;  provided  always,  that  nothing  of  this  kind  shall  be  done 
■without  the  concurrence  of  the  individual  in  question,  unless  by  the 
advice  of  Presbytery. 

1.  Elders  "who  cannot  Acquiesce  in  the  Decisions  of  the  Superior 
Courts  should  Resign. 

A  petition  from  the  members  of  the  session  of  the  Third  Presbyterian 
Clmrch  in  this  city,  asking  advice  of  this  Synod  with  respect  to  the  execu- 
tion of  their  office  in  consequence  of  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  respecting 
that  chui'ch.  After  it  was  duly  considered,  they  returned  the  following 
answer,  viz. :  The  Synod  advise  them  to  continue  to  act  as  elders,  but  in 
case  they  cannot,  consistently  with  what  they  apprehend  to  be  their  duty, 
continue  as  such  and  act  upon  the  decisions  of  Synod,  that  they  may  resign 
their  office,  and  the  congregation  proceed  to  choose  other  elders  who  may 
have  freedom  to  act  according  to  the  determinations  of  the  Synod. — 1772, 
T).  435. 


350  FOBM   OF   GOVERXMEXT. 

2.  Ruling  Elders  may  Cease  to  Act  in  order  to  Promote  the  Peace 

of  the  Church. 

a.  The  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  the  whole  session,  including 
the  majority  and  the  minor-ity,  in  view  of  the  state  of  the  Fifth  Church, 
to  take  the  constitutional  steps  and  cease  from  acting  as  ruling  elders  iu 
that  congregation,  and  that  the  entire  Church  take  immediate  measures 
to  elect  a  new  bench  of  elders,  with  a  view  to  promote  the  peace  of  the 
Church  and  secure  the  permanent  settlement  of  the  gospel  ministry 
among  them.  And  further,  that  it  be  recommended  to  the  persons  so 
elected  not  to  accept  the  office  unless  they  shall  obtain  the  suffrages  of  at 
least  two-thirds  of  the  electors  participating  in  the  election. — 1834,  p.  453. 

3.  The  Superior  Court  directs  an  Elder  to  Cease  to  Act. 

With  the  consent  of  parties,  the  complaint  (of  Mr.  William  B.  Guild 
against  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey)  is  sustained  "  pro  forma,"  but  under  ex- 
isting circumstances  in  the  congregation  Mr.  Guild  shall  cease  to  act  as  a 
ruling  elder  in  the  Third  Church  at  Newark,  N.  J.— 1863,  p.  35,  O.  S. 

[The  complaint  was  that  the  Synod  had  by  a  Committee  visited  the 
Third  Church  to  see  if  any  member  of  the  session  was  unacceptable  to 
the  people.] 

4.  The  Presbytery,  -without  the  Request  of  the  Session  or  of 
Members  of  the  Church,  may  declare  that  an  Elder  shall  Cease 
to  Act. 

Overtui'e  No.  46,  from  the  session  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Iron- 
ton,  Missouri,  in  reference  to  the  j)ower  of  the  Presbytery  to  declare  that 
a  member  of  the  session  shall  cease  to  be  an  acting  elder  without  any  re- 
quest from  the  session  or  any  members  of  the  church. 

The  Committee  would  recommend  the  following  answer  (see  Form  of 
Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.):  Presbytery  has  power  to  visit  particular 
churches  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  their  state,  and  redressing  the 
evils  that  may  have  arisen  in  them,  and  to  order  whatever  pertains  to 
their  spiritual  welfare,  without  being  requested  by  the  session. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1869,  p.  924,  O.  S. 

6.  If  a  Member  of  Session  be  Unacceptable,  and  the  Matter  can- 
not be  Arranged  by  Consent,  the  proper  step  is  to  Memorialize 
Presbytery. 

Overture  No.  20,  from  two  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  with  the 
inquiry:  "Has  a  church  session  the  right  to  submit  to  their  church  mem- 
bers the  acceptableness  or  non-acceptableness  of  the  acting  board  of  ruling 
elders,  or  any  portion  of  the  board,  and  to  ask  the  church  to  settle  the 
question  by  a  vote  of  the  members?" 

In  case  of  unacceptableness  on  the  part  of  any  member  of  a  church 
session,  and  the  matter  cannot  be  amicably  arranged  by  consent  of  parties, 
the  proper  method  of  redress  is  by  memorializing  the  Presbytery  to  give 
such  direction  as  in  its  judgment  the  necessities  of  the  case  may  require, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Form  of  Government,  chap.  xiii. — 1867,  p. 
369,  O.  S. 

The  report  was  adopted. 


OF    ELECTING    AND    ORDAINING    ELDERS    AND    DEACONS.  351 


6.  "When  an  Elder  resigns,  the  Presbytery  is  not  Competent  to 

order  his  Restoration. 

Dr.  S.  F.  Day,  decliiiiug  to  have  his  children  baptized,  his  wife  being  a 
Baj)tist,  the  session  of  the  Wooster  church,  in  which  he  was  an  ehler,  was 
advised  by  the  Presbytery  that  in  such  a  case  (proposed  in  thesi)  the 
elder  should  be  removed  from  office.  Hereupon  Dr.  Day  gave  notice  to 
the  session  that  he  resigned  the  eldership.  At  a  subsequent  meeting  of 
Presbytery,  upon  a  memorial  from  Dr.  Day,  the  Presbytery  reconsidered 
its  action,  and  ordered  the  session  to  restore  him.  Upon  appeal  the  Synod 
sustained  the  Presbytery.  A  complaint  was  taken  up  by  the  pastor,  the 
Rev.  James  H.  Baird,  and  by  the  session.  The  following  was  the  decis- 
ion.    [See  Baird's  Digest,  p.  70.] 

Whereas,  It  appears  from  the  record  that  Dr.  Day  was  removed  from 
the  session  of  the  church  of  Wooster  by  his  own  resignation  of  his  office 
in  that  church,  and  not  by  the  judicial  action  of  the  session,  it  was  not 
competent  to  the  Presbytery  to  order  his  restoration  to  office  by  the  ses- 
sion ;  and  therefore  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  confirming  such 
action  of  the  Presbytery  was  erroneous  and  ought  to  be  and  is  hereby  re- 
versed, and  the  complaint  of  the  session,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  this  point,  is 
sustained. — 1854,  p.  33,  O.  S. 

[See  above,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  ii.,  c,  for  a  case  where  an  elder  refuses  to  act, 
and  has  left  the  church.— 18(39,  p.  912,  O.  S.] 

7.  The  OfB-cial  Relations  of  an  Elder  to  his  Church  terminate  with 

his  Dismission. 

The  Presbytery  of  Iowa  City  desire  the  Assembly  "  to  determine  when 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  ruling  elders  and  private  members  cease,  on 
their  receiving  letters  of  dismission  ;  and  whether  the  same  rule  obtains 
as  in  the  dismission  of  ministers  from  a  Presbytery." 

The  Assembly  reply : 

The  established  rule  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  relation  to  the  dis- 
mission of  a  minister  from  his  Presbytery  is  "  that  in  all  ordinary  cases 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  an  individual  in  a  Presbytery  cease  wdien 
at  his  request  his  dismission  is  granted." 

He  may,  however,  within  any  reasonable  time  befoi'e  he  has  used  his 
letter  of  dismission,  return  it  to  the  Presbytery,  and  then  claim  all  his 
former  rights  and  privileges;  but  until  he  has  used  his  letter  he  is  amenable 
to  the  Presbytery  which  has  dismissed  him. 

[See  Digest,  New,  chap,  ii.,  sec,  viii.] 

Your  C'ommittee  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  specific  rule  in  our 
Form  of  Government  or  in  the  Digest  in  relation  to  the  dismission  of 
ruling  elders  or  of  private  members  from  any  particular  church,  indi- 
cating the  y)recise  time  when  their  rights  and  privileges  in  that  church 
from  which,  at  their  own  request,  they  may  be  dismissed  cease ;  but  we 
have  no  hesitation  in  declaring  our  belief  that  the  same  guardian  care 
which  is  extended  over  dismissed  members  is,  by  the  very  genius  and 
intent  of  our  excellent  Form  of  Government,  designed  also  for  the  pro- 
tection of  regularly  dismissed  elders  and  private  members,  as  well  as  for 
the  preservation  of  the  peace  and  purity  of  the  Church. 

We  therefore  respectfully  recommend  to  this  Assembly  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolutions  :  That, 

1.  The  dismission  of  a  ruling  elder  by  letter  from  a  church  terminates 
his  official  relations  with  that  church. 


352  FORM   OF   GOVEENMENT. 

2.  A  letter  of  dismission,  whether  issued  to  a  ruling  elder  or  private 
member,  terminates  the  relations  of  the  person  dismissed  with  the  church 
giving  the  letter,  except  so  far  as  said  church  is  responsible  for  its  watch 
and  care  over  him  during  the  period  of  transition. 

3.  These  rights  and  privileges  can  be  regained  in  that  church  by  re- 
turning the  letters  of  dismission  to  the  authority  which  gave  them. 

4.  These  rights  and  privileges  can  be  secured  in  any  other  church  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  this  General  Assembly,  by  virtue  of  such  certificates, 
provided  they  are  presented  to  the  session  thereof  within  one  year  from 
their  date ;  and  until  they  are  presented  such  persons  are  amenable  to 
the  church  from  which  the  certificates  Avere  received. — 1867,  p.  512,  N.  S. 

[The  "Rights  and  Privileges"  referred  to  in  sec.  iv.  are  those  of  mem- 
bei'ship  only.  An  elder  can  exercise  his  office  only  by  virtue  of  an  elec- 
tion.] 

8.  The  Return  of  a  Letter  Unused.  Restores  to  Official  Position. 

The  Committee  on  Polity  reported  the  following  case  and  question : 

Mr.  C,  an  acting  elder  of  the  church  of  C,  having  taken  a  certificate 
of  dismission,  and  having  retained  it  about  three  years,  returned  it  to  the 
session  of  the  church  of  C,  giving  satisfactory  reasons  for  not  using  it, 
and  was  restored  to  the  membership  of  the  church.  Does  the  receiving 
again  by  the  session  reinstate  Mr.  C.  as  an  acting  elder  of  the  church 
ofC?  _ 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  answer  be  in  the  afiirmative. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1868,  p.  58,  N.  S. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


OF  LICENSTNG  CANDIDATES  OR  PROBATIONERS  TO  PREACH  THE 

GOSPEL. 

I.  The  Holy  Scriptures  require  that  some  trial  be  previously  had 
of  those  who  are  to  be  ordained  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  that 
this  sacred  office  may  not  be  d^raded  by  being  committed  to  weak  or 
unworthy  men ;  and  that  the  churches  may  have  an  opportunity  to 
form  a  better  judgment  respecting  the  talents  of  those  by  wdiom  they 
are  to  be  instructed  and  governed.  For  this  purpose  Presbyteries 
shall  license  probationers  to  preach  the  gospel,  that  after  a  competent 
trial  of  their  talents,  and  receiving  from  the  churches  a  good  report, 
they  may  in  due  time  ordain  them  to  the  sacred  office. 

1.  Preaching  without  Licensure  Condemned  as  Irregnlar. 

a.  Upon  information  that  David  Evan,  a  lay  person,  had  taken  upon 
hira  publicly  to  teach  or  preach  among  the  Welsh  in  the  Great  Valley, 
Chester  county,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  said  Evan  had  done 
very  ill  and  acted  irregularly  in  thus  invading  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
and  was  thereupon  censured. 

Agreed  that  the  most  proper  method  for  advancing  David  Evan  in 
necessary  literature  to  prepare  him  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  is  that 
he  lay  aside  all  other  business  for  a  twelvemonth,  and  apply  himself 


OF   LICEXSING   CANDIDATES.  353 

closely  to  learning  and  study  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Andrews,  and 
with  the  assistance  of  jNIi*.  Wilson  and  Anderson,  and  that  it  be  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  said  ministers  wlieu  to  put  said  Evan  on  trials,  and 
license  liim  publicly  to  teach  or  preach. — 1710,  p.  17. 

6.  The  Assembly  disapproves  the  conduct  of  Mr.  McCalla  iu  preaching 
the  gospel  before  he  was  regularly  licensed. — 1821,  jx  21, 

2.   On  the    Licensing    and    Ordaining    of  Women   to   Preach   the 

Gospel. 

a.  Overture  No.  39,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Brooklyn,  requesting  the 
Assembly  to  adopt  and  transmit  to  the  Presbyteries  for  their  approval 
such  rules  as  shall  forbid  the  licensing  and  ordaining  of  women  to  the 
gospel  ministry,  and  the  teaching  and  preaching  of  women  in  our  pulpits, 
or  in  the  public  and  promiscuous  meetings  of  tlie  Church  of  Christ. 

The  Committee  recommend  this  answer:  That  there  is  no  necessity  for 
a  change  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  touching  this  question  ;  and 
the  memorialists  are  referred  to  the  deliverance  of  the  Assembly  of  1832^ 
which  expresses  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly. 

Adopted.— 1872,  p.  89. 

b,  [The  deliverance  referred  to  is  as  follows,  viz. :] 

Meetings  of  pious  women  by  themselves  for  conversation  and  prayer, 
whenever  they  can  conveniently  be  held,  we  entirely  approve.  But  let 
not  the  inspired  prohibitions  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  as- 
found  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  and  to  Timothy,  be  violated.  Tc 
teach  and  exhort  or  to  lead  iu  prayer,  in  public  and  promiscuous  assem- 
blies, is  clearly  forbidden  to  women  in  the  holy  oracles. — Pastoral  Letter, 
1832,  p.  378. 

[See  under  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v.,  Letter  No.  11.] 

3.  Education  for  the  Ministry. 

[For  a  full  history  of  the  early  efforts  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
to  enlarge  her  ministry  by  aiding  pious  vouth  needing  assistance,  see 
Baird's  Digest,  Revised  Edition,  pp.  388-399.]  In  1819  the  Assembly 
resolved  to  establish  a  General  Board  of  Education. — Minutes,  1819,  p. 
712,  viz. : 

a.   The  Board  of  Education  Established. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  draught  a  Constitution  for  establishing  a 
General  Board  of  Education,  agreeably  to  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
Assembly  on  the  subject,  reported  one,  which  being  read  and  amended, 
was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

I.  There  shall  be  a  General  Board  of  Education,  known  by  the  name 
of  The  Board  of  Education,  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

II.  The  Board  shall  consist  of  thirty-six  members,  of  whom  there  shall 
be  twenty  ministers  and  sixteen  elders,  one  minister  and  one  elder  to  be 
chosen  from  each  Synod,  and  the  remainder  from  Philadelphia  and  from 
a  distance  convenient  to  it.  Seven  members,  including  the  President  or 
Vice  President,  shall  be  a  quorum  to  transact  business. 

III.  The  whole  number  of  members  shall  be  divided  into  four  classes, 
one-fourth  to  be  annually  elected. 

IV.  The  election  of  the  members  of  the  Board  shall  be  made  by  nomi- 
nation and  ballot  by  the  General  Assembly. 

V.  The  officers  shall  be  a  President,  three  Vice  Presidents,  a  Recording 

45 


354  FORM   OF   GOVERNMEXT. 

and  a  Correspondiug  Secretary,  and  a  Treasurer,  to  be  annually  elected  by 
the  Board. 

VI.  The  objects  of  this  Board  shall  be — 

1.  To  recognize  such  Presbyteries  and  other  associations  as  may  form 
themselves  into  education  societies,  as  auxiliary  to  the  General  Board. 

2.  To  assist  sucli  Presbyteries  and  associations  in  educating  pious  youth 
for  the  gospel  ministry,  both  in  their  academical  and  theological  course. 

3.  To  assign  according  to  their  best  discretion  to  the  several  auxiliary 
societies  a  just  proportion  of  the  whole  disposable  funds  under  their  con- 
trol. 

4.  To  concert  and  execute  such  measures  as  they  shall  judge  to  be 
proper  for  increasing  their  funds  and  promoting  the  general  object. 

VII.  No  young  man  shall  be  patronized  or  assisted  by  any  auxiliary 
society  unless  he  shall  produce  a  testimonial  of  his  hopeful  piety  and  tal- 
ents from  some  Presbytery  under  whose  care  he  shall  have  been  taken. 

VIII.  Auxiliary  societies  may  make  such  arrangements  and  selection 
of  a  seminary  for  the  young  men  under  their  patronage  as  in  their  opin- 
ion shall  be  most  eligible  for  the  prosecuting  of  their  education,  whether 
classical  or  theological. 

IX.  The  auxiliary  societies  shall  send  to  the  Board  all  the  surplus 
funds  in  their  hands  which  shall  not  be  necessary  for  the  accommodation 
of  those  immediately  depending  on  them  for  support. 

X.  Every  auxiliary  society  shall  annually  forward  a  report  of  their 
proceedings  to  the  Board,  sufficiently  early  to  enable  the  Board,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be,  to  report  to  the  General  Assembly. 

XI.  The  Board  shall  have  power  to  make  such  by-laws  to  regulate  their 
own  proceedings  and  efiectually  to  accomplish  the  great  objects  of  their 
appointment  as  shall  not  be  inconsistent  with  this  Constitution. 

XII.  The  Board  may  propose  to  the  General  Assembly  from  time  to 
time  such  plans  as  they  may  consider  useful  and  necessary  for  the  success 
of  this  institution,  to  be  recommended  to  the  several  societies  or  churches 
as  the  Assembly  may  think  proper. 

XIII.  No  addition  or  amendment  to  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution 
shall  be  made  unless  by  the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  present  at  any  of  their  sessions,  of  whii-h  notice  shall 
be  given  at  least  one  day  previous. — 1819,  p.  714. 

[With  such  amendments  as  experience  showed  to  be  necessary,  the  above 
plan  was  used  by  the  O.  S.  branch  of  the  Church  from  1838  to  the  Re- 
union.] 

In  1841  was  obtained  the  following  : 

6.  CHARTER  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 

T<i  all  to  u'hovi  these  Presents  shall  come  : 

Know  ye,  That  whereas  the  General  Assembly  of  tlie  Presbyterian  Cluirch  in  tlie 
United  States  of  America  have  a  Board  of  Education,  composed  of  ministers  and  lay- 
men, members  of  the  Presbyterian  Chnrch,  the  design  of  whicii  is  to  aff'ord  aid  to  poor 
and  pious  young  men  of  good  talents  to  procure  a  liberal  education,  as  pre[):tiatory  for 
the  gospel  ministry  in  the  Presbyterian  Chiu'cli ;  and  whereas,  the  aforesaid  Board  of 
Education  labors  under  serious  disadvantages  as  to  receiving  donations  and  Ijcipu'st-:, 
and  as  to  the  management  of  funds  entrusted  to  them  for  the  purpose  designated  in 
their  Constitution,  anil  in  accordance  with  the  benevolent  intentions  of  those  from 
whom  such  bequests  and  donations  are  received  ; 

Therefore,  Matthew  L.  Ik'van,  Stephen  Colwell,  Joseph  B.  Mitchell,  Joel  Jones, 
Alexander  W.  Mitchell,  .John  McDowell,  Francis  McFarland,  Henry  A.  Boardman 
and  Thomas  L.  Janeway,  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  tlieir  successors,  are  hereby  constituted  and  declared  to  be  a  body 
politic  and  corporate,  which  shall  henceforth  be  known  by  the  name  of  "  The  Trustees 


OF    LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  355 

of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  tlie  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica," and  as  sucii  sliall  have  perpetual  succession,  and  be  able  to  sue  and  be  sued  in 
all  courts  of  record  and  elsewhere;  and  to  purchase  and  receive,  take  and  hold,  to 
them  and  their  successors  for  ever,  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments,  money,  goods  and 
chattels,  and  all  kinds  of  estate  whicii  may  be  demised,  bequeatiied  or  given  to  them, 
and  the  same  to  sell,  alien,  demise  and  convey;  also  to  make  a  common  seal,  and  the 
same  to  alter  and  renew  at  their  pleasure;  and  also  to  make  such  rules,  by-laws  and 
ordinances  as  may  be  needful  for  the  government  of  the  said  corporation,  and  not  in- 
consistent with  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  this  State;  Pro- 
vided always,  that  the  clear  yearly  value  of  the  real  and  personal  estate  held  by  the 
said  corporation  sliall  not  at  any  time  exceed  the  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars. 

The  trustees  above  named  sliall  bold  tlieir  ofKees  for  one  year  from  tiie  date  of  this 
incorporation  and  until  their  successors  are  duly  (jualified  to  take  their  places,  who 
sliall  be  chosen  by  the  aforesaid  Board  of  Education  at  such  times  and  in  such  way 
and  manner  as  shall  be  provided  by  tlie  said  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Cliurch  of  America;  Provided,  that  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  trustees  shall  be 
removed  in  any  one  year. 

The  trustees  hereby  incorporated  and  their  successors  shall,  subject  to  the  direction 
of  the  said  Board  of  Education,  iiave  full  power  to  manage  the  funds  and  property 
committed  to  their  care  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  deemed  most  advantageous,  not 
being  contrary  to  law. 

Pennsylvanin,  ss.  Secretary's  office. 

Enrolled  in  Charter  Book  No.  6,  pages  442,  443  and  444,  containing  a  record  of 
acts  incorporating  sundry  religious,  literary  and  other  charitable  institutions. 

Witness  mv  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  said  office  at  Harrisburg,  this  18th  dav  of  Feb- 
ruary, A.  D.  1841.  (Signed)  FKANCIS  K.  SHUNK,' 

Secretary  of  Commonwealth. 

AMENDMENT  TO  THE  CHARTER. 

2.  That  the  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  take, 
receive  and  hold  to  them  and  their  successors  for  ever,  lands,  tenements,  heredita- 
ments, moneys,  goods  and  chattels,  and  all  kinds  of  estate  which  may  be  devised,  be- 
queathed or  given  to  them  for  tiie  purpose  of  aiding  schools,  academies  and  colleges 
or  the  cause  of  education  genei'ally;  Provided,  that  the  clear  3'early  value  of  the  real 
and  personal  estate  held  by  the  said  corporation  shall  not  at  any  time  exceed  the  sum 
of  five  thousand  dollars. 

Approved  the  tenth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-two, 
as  the  same  remains  on  file  in  this  office. 

In  testimony  whereof  1  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  Sec- 
retary's office  to  be  affixed  at  Harrisburg,  the  second  day  of  August,  A.  D.  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  fifty-two.  "       E.S.GOODRICH, 

[seal.]  Deputy  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 

c.    The  Permanent  Committee  of  Education  Established. 

From  1838  to  1854  the  N.  S.  branch  co-operated  chiefly  with  the  Amer- 
ican Education  Society  or  its  branches.  In  1854  the  "  Permanent  Com- 
mittee of  Education  for  the  Ministry"  was  established. — Minutes,  1854,  pp. 
506,  507.  By  the  Assembly  of  1856  the  plan  was  more  fully  matured. — 
pp.  222-224.  See  also  1857,  pp.  388-392.  A  charter  obtained  from  the 
Legislature  of  New  York  April  17,  1858,  was  accepted  and  approved  by 
the  Assembly. — 1858,  pp.  597,  598.     The  charter  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

d.  THE  CHARTER. 

An  Act  to  incorporate  tlie  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  Ministry  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  {)eople  of  the  State  of  New  York,  as  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do 
enact  as  follows: 

Sec.  1.  .John  J.  Owen,  Asa  D.  Smith,  George  L.  Prentiss,  William  A.  Booth,  Jo- 
seph B.  Sheffield,  Jesse  W.  Benedict,  Walter  S.  Griffith,  Anson  G.  Phelps,  William 
Hogarth,  .Jonathan  F.  Stearns,  Henry  Smith,  Harvey  Curtis,  John  .Jenkins,  William 
Darling  and  William  Jessup  (designated  for  the  pm-pose  by  the  General  Assembly  of 


356  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

the  Presbyterian  Clmrch,  which  met  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  May,  eighteen  hundred 
and  fifty-seven),  and  their  successors  in  office,  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  corporate 
and  politic,  by  the  name  of  "  The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  Minis- 
try of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,"  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  superintend  the  whole  cause  of  education  in  be- 
half of  the  said  General  Assembly,  as  said  General  Assembly  may  from  time  to  time 
direct;  also  to  receive,  take  charge  of  and  disburse  any  property  or  funds  which,  at 
anv  time  and  from  time  to  time,  may  be  entrusted  to  said  General  Assembly  or  said 
Permanent  Committee  for  educational  purposes. 

Sec.  2.  The  said  corporation  shall  possess  the  general  powers  and  be  subject  to  the 
provisions  contained  in  title  three  of  chapter  eighteen  of  the  first  part  of  the  revised 
statutes,  so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable,  and  have  not  been  repealed  or  modified. 

Sec.  3.  The  management  and  disjiosition  of  the  aflPairs  and  funds  of  said  corporation 
shall  be  vested  in  the  individuals  named  in  the  first  section  of  this  act,  and  their  suc- 
cessors in  office,  wh®  shall  remain  in  office  for  such  period,  and  be  displaced  and  suc- 
ceeded by  others,  to  be  elected  at  such  time  and  in  such  manner  as  the  said  General 
Assembly  shall  direct  and  appoint. 

Sec.  4.  The  said  corporation  shall  in  law  be  capable  of  taking,  receiving  and  hold- 
ing any  real  or  personal  estate  which  has  been  or  may  hereafter  be  given,  devised  or 
bequeathed  to  it  or  to  said  General  Assembly  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  or  which 
may  accrue  from  the  use  of  the  same;  but  the  said  corporation  shall  not  take  and  hold 
real  and  personal  estate  above  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Sec.  5.  This  act  shall  take  efiect  immediately. 

Passed  April  17,  1858. 

For  a  full  history  of  the  acts  of  the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  on  the  subject  see 
New  Digest,  pp.  410-423.  For  the  plan  which  was  adopted  by  the  As- 
sembly in  1861  see  1861,  pp.  475-477  ;  1862,  p.  249  ;  1864,  p.  471. 

4.  The  Board  of  Education  of  the  Reunited  Church. 

The  Joint  Committee  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  to  adjust  the  affairs  of  the  "  Board  of  Education,"  and 
of  the  "Permanent  Committee  on  Education,"  so  as  to  adapt  them  to  the 
new  condition  of  things  in  the  now  united  Church,  met,  according  to  the 
call  of  the  chairman  of  the  respective  Committees,  in  the  rooms  of  the 
Board  of  Education  in  Philadelphia,  February  9th,  and  also  again  at  an 
adjourned  meeting  May  18th,  and  after  mature  consideration  they  have 
agreed  upon  and  recommend  the  following  Constitution  for  adoption  by 
the  General  Assembly : 

a.  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 
Article  I. 

Title.  There  shall  be  a  Board  of  Education  under  the  corporate  title  of 
"The  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America." 

Article  II. 

Olyjeds.  The  Board  of  Education  shall  be  the  oi'gau  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Church  for  the  general  superintendence  of  the  Church's 
work  in  furnishing  a  pious,  educated  and  efficient  ministry,  in  sutHcient 
numbers  to  meet  the  calls  of  its  congregations,  to  supply  the  Avauts  of  tlic 
destitute  classes  and  regions  in  our  own  country,  and  to  go  into  all  the 
world  and  i)reach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  It  shall  provide  for  the 
collection  and  judicious  distribution  of  the  funds  whicli  may  be  requisite 
in  the  proper  education  of  candidates  for  the  ministry  under  its  care,  and 
it  shall,  in  co-operation  with  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  do  whatever  may  be 
proper  and  necessary  to  develop  an  active  interest  iu  education  through- 
out the  Church, 


OF   LICENSING  CANDIDATES.  357 

Article  III. 

Members.  The  General  Assembly  shall  elect  the  members  of  the  Board. 
The  Board  shall  consist  of  twelve  men-ibers  (besides  those  who  shall  be 
members  ex  officio),  of  whom  six  shall  be  ministers  and  six  laymen  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  members  shall  be  divided  into  three  equal 
classes,  consisting  of  two  ministers  and  two  laymen  each,  to  serve  respect- 
ively for  the  terras  of  one,  two  and  three  years.  At  any  meeting  of  the 
Board,  regularly  convened,  five  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to 
transact  business.  The  Board  shall  also  have  power  to  fill  any  vacancy  by 
resignation,  death  or  otherwise  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

Article  IV. 

Officers.  Sec.  1.  The  Board  shall  elect  its  officers  annually  by  ballot. 
They  shall  consist  of  a  President,  Vice  President,  Corresponding  Secretary 
and  Treasurer.  The  corresponding  secretary  and  treasurer  shall  be  ex 
officio  members  of  the  Board.  All  other  officers  must  be  members  of  the 
Board  at  the  time  of  their  election.  The  Board  shall  have  power,  at  any 
of  its  regular  meetings,  to  fill  vacancies  which  may  have  occurred  in  any 
of  the  above  offices  by  death,  resignation  or  otherwise,  when  due  notice 
of  such  election  shall  be  given. 

Sec.  2.  The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  be  the  executive  officer  of  the 
Board.  He  shall  take  charge  of  the  office,  conduct  the  correspondence 
and  superintend  the  publications  of  the  Board,  jirepare  the  regular  busi- 
ness for  its  meetings,  and  always  be  considered  as  its  official  organ.  He 
shall,  as  far  as  he  can,  visit  the  Synods  and  Presbyteries,  for  the  purpose 
of  awakening  their  interest  and  concentrating  their  energies  in  this  work, 
visit  the  students  aided  by  the  Board,  and  exercise  a  general  supervision 
over  them,  employ  the  means  necessary  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  young 
men  the  claims  and  ends  of  the  ministry,  and  discharge  such  other  duties 
as  may  be  assigned  to  him  from  time  to  time  by  the  Board,  in  furtherance 
of  the  general  object  of  education  for  the  ministry.  He  shall  also  have 
authority  to  employ  such  assistance  as  in  the  judgment  of  the  Board  may 
be  deemed  necessary. 

Sec.  3.  The  Treasurer  shall  have  charge  of  all  the  funds  of  the  Board, 
and  shall  disburse  the  same  under  its  direction.  He  shall  keep  a  com- 
plete register  of  the  students  under  the  care  of  the  Board,  and  an  account 
with  them  individually.  He  shall  give  bonds  for  the  proper  discharge  of 
his  duties. 

Article  V. 

Functions.  Sec.  1.  The  Board  shall  act  through  the  Presbyteries  of 
the  Church.  Candidates  for  the  ministry,  when  properly  examined  and 
received  by  the  Presbyteries  and  recommended  for  aid  to  the  Board,  shall 
receive  the  amount  specified,  within  the  limits  prescribed  by  the  Assembly, 
provided  in  all  cases  that  a  discretionary  power,  necessary  to  the  general 
trust  committed,  shall  be  exercised  by  the  Board,  and  the  Board  shall  re- 
quire that  each  recommendation  shall  be  accompanied  with  such  infi)rma- 
tion  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  intelligent  and  judicious  performance  of 
its  duties. 

Sec.  2.  It  shall  exercise  a  general  supervisory  care  over  the  students, 
through  annual  renewals  of  recommendations  from  Presbyteries  and  quar- 
terly reports  from  instructors,  through  the  correspondence  of  its  secretary 
and  his  personal  visits  to  literary  and  theological  institutions  and  the  ju- 
dicatories of  the  Church,  and  by  other  appropriate  instrumentalities. 


358  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Sec.  3.  It  shall  take  all  suitable  means  to  inform  the  Church  as  to  the 
duties  and  interests  relating  to  tlie  consecration  of  her  j'oung  men  to  the 
office  of  the  ministry  and  their  sound  and  thorough  education,  and  to  urge 
the  effective  care  of  her  judicatories  over  them,  and  it  shall  make  such 
statements  and  appeals  as  are  calculated  to  secure  contributions  sufficient 
for  the  accomplishment  of  its  ends.  It  shall  make  a  full  annual  report 
of  its  -work  to  the  General  Assembly. 

Article  VI. 

Relation  of  the  Preshyteries  to  the  Board.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each 
Presbytery  to  see  that  collections  are  taken  up  annually  for  this  cause  in 
all  the  churches  under  its  care ;  to  make  the  increase  of  candidates  for 
the  ministry  a  topic  of  serious  consideration  in  its  meetings,  at  least  once 
a  year ;  to  appoint  a  standing  committee  to  act  for  the  Presbytery  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  this  cause  when  it  is  not  in  session ;  to  recommend 
to  the  Board  proper  cases  for  its  aid,  and  to  make  an  annual  report  of 
the  transactions  of  the  Presbytery  on  the  whole  subject  to  the  Board,  pre- 
vious to  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Article  VII. 

Duties  of  Synods.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Synods  to  call  up  this 
subject  annually,  to  inquire  what  the  Presbyteries  and  churches  under 
their  care  are  doing  in  relation  to  it,  and  to  adopt  such  measures  as  shall 
promote  the  interests  of  this  department  of  Christian  work. 

Article  VIII. 

By-Laws.  The  Board  shall  have  power  to  make  for  itself  all  necessary 
by-laws,  not  inconsistent  with  this  Constitution,  subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  General  Assembly. 

The  Joint  Committee  present  also  for  the  consideration  of  the  General 
Assembly  the  following  resolutions  : 

1.  That  the  secretary  shall  have  the  privilege  of  a  corresponding  mem- 
lier  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  discussion  of  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  work  of  education. 

2.  That  the  Board  of  Education  shall  be  located  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

3.  It  is  recommended  to  the  General  Assembly  to  instruct  the  Board 
of  Education  to  take  such  legal  steps  as  are  necessary  to  secure  to  it  the 
present  pro})erty  of  the  Board  of  Education  located  at  Philudeljihia,  and 
of  the  Permanent  Committee  located  at  New  York,  so  that  this  jiroperty, 
and  any  fluids  with  which  either  is  or  may  be  entrusted,  or  which  may 
hereafter  be  received  by  bequest  or  otherwise  for  purposes  of  ministerial 
education,  shall  be  managed  by  one  and  the  same  Board  and  its  succes- 
sors, as  trustees  thereof,  and  that  said  Board  have  authority  to  apply  for 
and  obtain  a  charter  of  incorporation  or  such  modification  of  the  existing 
charter  as  they  may  deem  i)ro{)er.  It  is  further  recommended  that  the 
organizations  of  the  "Permanent  Committee  on  ]''ducation"  and  the 
"Board  of  Education"  be  continued,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  for  the 
jiurpose  of  holding  and  transferring  to  the  Board  of  Education,  as  ar- 
ranged by  the  present  (iJeneral  Assembly,  such  funds  and  trusts  as  may 
have  been  or  shall  he  committed  to  them. 

Adopted.— 1870,  pp.  81-84. 


OF   LICEXSING  CANDIDATES.  359 

h.  ACT  OF  INCOEPOKATION  OF  THE  BOAED   OF  EDUCATION. 

LEGISLATURE    OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 

An  Act  to  incorporate  The  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  to  make  them  the  successors  of  The  Trustees  of  tiie 
Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  of  The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  Ministry,  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Cluirch  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
Whereas,  The  two  religious  bodies  heretofore  existing,  each  under  the  name  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  have 
united  the  congregations  under  their  care,  and  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church 
thus  united,  wiiich  met  in  Philadelphia  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  May,  Anno  Domini 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  and  which  is  the  legal  successor  of  both  the 
former  bodies,  has  directed  that  the  work  of  assisting  pious  young  men  in  their  edu- 
cation for  the  ministry  of  the  said  Church  shall  be  hereafter  carried  on  under  its  direc- 
tion by  one  Board,  the  location  of  which  has  been  fixed  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia ; 
therefore. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  authority  of 
the  same,  That  Herrick  Johnson,  Elias  R.  Beadle,  Thomas  J.  Shepherd,  Benjamin  L. 
Agnew,  Peter  Stryker,  Alexander  Reed,  Morris  Patterson,  Samuel  Field,  Benjamin 
B.  Comegys,  Henry  D.  Gregory,  Benjamin  Kendall  and  James  F.  Gayley,  who  were 
elected  at  the  said  meeting  of  the  said  General  Assembly  in  May,  Anno  Domini  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  as  The  Board  of  Education  of  the  said  Church, 
and  their  successors,  are  hereby  constituted  and  declared  to  be  a  body  politic  and  cor- 
porate, which_  shall  henceforth  be  known  by  the  name  of  The  Board"  of  Education  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  as  such  shall  have  per- 
petual succession,  and  be  able  to  sue  and  be  sued  in  all  the  courts  of  record  and  else- 
where, and  to  purchase  and  receive,  take  and  hold,  to  them  and  their  successors  for 
ever,  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments,  money,  goods  and  chattels  and  all  kinds  of 
estates  which  may  be  devised,  bequeathed,  conveyed  or  given  to  tliem,  and  the  same 
to  sell,  alien,  demise  and  convey  ;  and  also  to  make  a  common  seal  and  the  same  to 
alter  and  renew  at  their  pleasure ;  and  also  to  make  such  rules,  by-laws  and  ordinances 
as  may  be  needful  for  the  government  of  the  said  corporation,  and  not  inconsistent 
with  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  this  State;  Provided  always, 
That  the  clear  yearly  value  of  the  real  and  personal  estate  held  by  the  said  corpora- 
tion shall  not  at  any  time  exceed  the  sura  of  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

Section  2.  The  corporators  above  named  shall  hold  their  office  until  their  succes- 
sors are  duly  qualified  to  take  their  places,  who  shall  be  chosen  by  the  said  The  Gene- 
ral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  at  such 
time  and  in  such  a  manner  as  it  shall  direct;  Provided  not  more  than  one-third  of  the 
said  Board  shall  be  removed  in  any  one  year. 

Section  3.  The  Board  hereby  incorporated  and  their  successors  shall,  subject  to 
the  direction  of  the  said  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  C^hurch  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  have  full  power  to  manage  the  funds  and  property  committed  to 
their  care  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  deemed  most  advantageous,  not  "being  contrary 
to  law. 

Section  4.  That  the  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian  Cluirch 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  heretofore  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, are  hereby  authorized  to  assign,  transfer  and  convey  unto  the  corporation 
established  by  this  act  all  the  property,  estates  and  rights  of  any  and  every  descrip- 
tion now  held  or  enjoyed,  or  which  may  hereafter  be  held  or  enjoyed  bv  them,  bv  vir- 
tue of  any  grant,  gift,  bequest  or  devise,  and  the  said  The  Board  "of  p]ducation  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  hereby  established  shall  be  and 
become  the  full  legal  successor  of  all  the  corporate  rights,  franchises  and  privileges 
now  belonging  to  the  said  The  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  shall  and  may  hold,  use  and  enjoy 
all  the  property,  estates  and  rights  assigned,  transferred  or  conveyed,  so  as  aforesaid,  in 
the  same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent,  but  subject  to  tiiesamelimitations  and  trusts, 
as  the  said  The  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America  might  have  done,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  receive,  sue 
for  and  recover  all  legacies  or  devises  which  have  heretofore  been  or  may  hereafter 
be  made  to  tlie  said  The  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


360  FORM   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

Section  5.  That  in  case  the  requisite  power  slxail  be  given  by  the  proper  authority 
of  the  State  of  New  York  to  tlie  said  The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for 
tlie  Ministry  of  the  General  Assembly  of  tlie  Presbyterian  Cliurch  in  tlie  United 
States  of  America,  a  corporation  established  by  the  Legislature  of  the  said  State  of 
New  York,  to  assign,  transfer  and  conve}'  unt(j  the  corporation  established  by  this  act 
all  the  property,  estates  and  rights,  of  any  and  every  description,  now  held  or  enjoved, 
or  whicli  mny  iiereafter  be  held  or  enjoyed,  by  tiiem,  by  virtue  of  any  grant,  gift  or 
bequest  or  devise,  and  in  case  tlie  said  proper  authority  of  the  State  of  New  York 
shall  also  give  full  power  to  the  corporation  lierel)y  establislied,  thereupon  to  be  and 
become  the  legal  successors  of  all  coi-porate  rights,  francliises  and  privileges  now 
belonging  to  the  said  The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  Ministry  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  said  corporation  hereby  established  is  authorized  to 
accept  and  receive  the  assignment,  transfer  and  conveyance  made  as  aforesaid,  and 
upon  such  assignment,  transfer  or  conveyance  being  made,  and  also  upon  the  granting 
of  power  by  the  proper  authority  of  the  State  of  New  York  to  the  corporation  hereby 
established  to  become  the  full  legal  successors  as  aforesaid  of  the  said  The  Permanent 
Comnuttee  on  Education  for  the  Ministry  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Churcii  in  tlie  United  States  of  America,  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presby- 
terian Ciiurch  in  the  United  States  of  America  hereby  established  shall  be  and  become 
the  full  legal  successors  of  all  tlie  corporate  rights,  franchises  and  jirivi leges  now 
belonging  to  said  The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  Ministry  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
may  and  siiall  hold,  use  and  enjoy  all  the  jiroperly,  estates  and  rights  assigned,  trans- 
ferred or  conveyed  so  as  aforesaid  in  the  same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent,  but  sub- 
ject to  the  same  limitations  and  trusts,  as  the  said  The  Permanent  Connnittee  on 
Education  for  the  Ministry  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pre>^byteri:ui  Clnirch  in 
the  United  States  of  America  might  have  done,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  receive,  sue 
for  and  recover  all  legacies  and  devises  wliicli  have  iieretofore  been  or  may  hereafter  be 
made  to  the  said  The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  Ministry  of  the 
Presbyterian  Churcli  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

JAMES  H.  WEP,B, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
WILLL\M  H.  WALLACE. 

Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

Approved  the  twelfth  day  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  biuidrtd  and  seventy-one. 

JOHN  ^y.  GEARY',  Governor. 

c.  ACT  AUTHORIZING  THE  TRANSFER  OF  PROPERTY  OF  THE  PER- 
MANENT COMMITTEE  ON  EDUCATION  TO  THE  BOARD  OF  EDU- 
CATION. 

LEGISLATURE   OF    NEW    YORK. 

An  Act  to  enable  "The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  Ministry  of  the 
Genera!  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  L'nited  States  of  America," 
to  transfer  its  projierty  to  the  new  Board  created  by  tlie  General  Assembly,  when 
the  same  shall  have  been  incorporated,  and  to  vest  in  such  new  incorporation  tlie 
rights,  franchises  and  privileges  of  the  former  body. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York;  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as 

follows  : 

Section  1.  The  said  "Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  ^linistry  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  the  United  States  of  America,"  are  hereby  authorizeil  and  em- 
powered to  assign,  transfer  and  convey  to  the  said  The  Bonrd  of  Education  of  the 
Presbyterian  Cliurch  in  the  United  States  of  America,  whenever  liie  same  sliall  have 
become  duly  incorporated,  all  tiie  property,  estates  and  rights  of  any  and  every  de- 
scription now  held  or  enjoyed,  or  wiiich  may  liereafier  be  held  t)r  enjoyed,  by  tiiem,  by 
virtue  of  any  grant,  gifi,  l)e(jU(.st  or  devise,  and  the  said  The  Boavd  of  Ediu  alioii  df 
the  I'resbyterian  Churcii  in  the  United  Slates  of  America,  whenever  the  same  shall 
have  become  duly  incorporated  as  aforesaid,  shall  thereupon  be  and  become  the  lull 
legal  successors  of  all  tlie  corporate  rights,  francliises  and  privileges  now  belonging 
to  the  said  "The  Permanent  Committee  on  Education  for  the  Ministry  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Churcii  in  the  United  States  of  America." 

Section  2.  This  Act  shall  take  elilct  whenever  the  several  i)ersons  elected  at  the 


OF   LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  361 

meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  May,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy,  as  the  Board  of  Education,  shall  have  been  duly  incorporated. 

Approved  the  twentieth  day  of  April,  Anno  Domini  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seventy -one. 

JOHN  T.  HOFFMAN,  Governor. 

d.  EULES  OF  THE  BOAKD  OF  EDUCATION  RELATING  TO  CANDI- 
DATES  FOR  THE  MINISTRY. 

I.  Dependence  op  the  Board  of  Education  upon  the  Presby- 
teries OF  THE  Church. 

1.  The  Board  of  Education  shall  only  receive  and  aid  candidates  for 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel  upon  the  recommendation  of  a  Presbytery  of 
the  Church  ;  and  the  Presbytery  is  responsible  for  their  examination,  sub- 
sequent care,  and  the  designation  of  the  annual  amount  of  aid  to  be 
granted  to  them,  within  the  limits  set  by  the  General  Assembly. 

2.  The  Board  will  in  each  case  look  specially  to  the  Education  Com- 
mittee of  the  Presbytery  for  the  notification  of  the  recommendation  of  a 
candidate  for  aid,  and  for  the  information  required  for  fovorable  action 
upon  it;  and  is  to  regard  that  Committee  as  the  particular  agency  of  the 
Presbytery  for  the  pastoral  care  of  those  who  are  preparing  for  the  minis- 
try until  their  entrance  upon  its  duties. 

3.  As  a  general  rule,  the  Board  will  receive  any  young  man  of  whose 
examination  and  recommendation  in  conformity  with  its  requirements 
proper  notification  has  been  given,  but  it  may  exercise  discretionary 
power  to  refuse  to  receive  new  candidates  beyond  its  ability  to  support 
them. 

II.  Reception  of  Candidates. 

1.  The  encouragement  of  a  young  man  to  undertake  the  office  of  the 
ministry  is  a  matter  of  most  serious  concern  to  himself,  the  Church  and 
many  immortal  souls,  which  should  only  be  ventured  upon  by  those  who 
have  sufficient  knowledge  of  his  religious  and  mental  character  and  capa- 
bilities, with  much  counsel  and  prayer,  and  out  of  a  single  anxious  desire 
for  the  glory  of  God,  He  should  enter  the  Pi-esbytery  to  which  he  would 
naturally  belong ;  and  the  application  for  his  reception  ought  usually  to 
be  made  by  his  pastor  or  a  member  of  the  Presbyter ial  Committee  on  Ed- 
ucation. 

2.  The  Presbytery,  in  examining  students  with  a  view  to  their  recom- 
mendation for  aid,  must  embrace  such  points  as  are  indicated  by  the  fol- 
low'ing  questions,  to  which  definite  answers  by  the  direction  of  the  Assem- 
bly will  invariably  be  required  by  the  Board  :  What  is  the  candidate's 
name?  age?  residence?  Is  the  Presbytery  satisfied  as  to  his  experimental 
piety?  As  to  his  motives  for  seeking  the  ministry?  As  to  his  talents? 
As  to  his  health?  As  to  his  promise  of  practical  efficiency?  Is  he  free 
from  expensive  and  injurious  habits?  What  is  the  lowest  amount  of  pe- 
cuniary aid  required  to  supplement  his  really  necessary  expenses  till  the 
end  of  the  present  collegiate  year?  Of  what  congregation  is  he  a  mem- 
ber? How  long  has  he  been  in  the  communion  of  the  Church?  What  is 
his  stage  of  study  ?  Where  engaged  at  present  ?  Give  the  name  of  a 
responsible  person  (usually  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  institution  or 
his  pastor)  through  whom  the  appropriations  can  be  sent. 

3.  No  candidate  shall  be  received  by  the  Board  who  has  not  been  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  or  some  closely  related  body  for  at 
least  one  year,  who  has  not  been  recommended  to  the  Presbytery  by  the 

46 

I 


362  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

session  of  the  church  of  which  he  is  a  member,  and  who  is  not  suiliciently 
advanced  in  study  to  enter  college,  except  in  extraordinary  cases. 

III.  Appropriations. 

1.  The  annual  appropriations  to  candidates  shall  not  in  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances exceed  |l50  to  theological  or  6120  to  collegiate  students,  and 
not  more  than  §100  to  extraordinary  cases  in  the  preparatory  course. 

2.  These  appropriations  shall  only  be  paid  to  a  student  on  the  reception 
of  particular  and  satisfactory  reports  from  his  professors,  embracing  the 
following  points:  Do  you  know  of  anything  in  him  inconsistent  with  a 
high  Christian  character?  What  is  his  standing  as  to  scholarship — high, 
medium  or  low?  (Add  if  possible  his  grade.)  Is  he  free  from  expensive 
and  injurious  habits?  Are  you  so  satisfied  with  his  promise  of  future  use- 
fulness that  you  can  consistently  recommend  him  for  aid? 

o.  The  Board  may  increase  or  diminish,  in  a  general  ratio,  the  appro- 
priati(ms,  in  case  of  unusual  surplus  or  deficiency  of  funds. 

4.  In  order  to  suit  the  period  when  the  students  most  need  assistance, 
and  when  the  reports  from  professors  can  be  most  satisfactorily  made,  the 
reports  shall  ordinarily  be  made  on  the  first  days  of  November,  January, 
]\Iarch  and  May.  The  appropriation  of  a  student  whose  recommendation 
is  made  at  any  time  between  those  days  may  be  expected  to  commence 
with  the  date  of  it. 

5.  The  Board  will  in  no  case  be  responsible  for  debts  of  students,  but  it 
is  expected  of  them  that  its  appropriations  shall  be  first  applied  to  the 
payment  of  tuition  and  boarding. 

h.  The  appropriations  to  candidates  shall  cease  regularly  at  the  close 
of  the  ccjlk'giate  year  or  earlier ;  and  they  shall  not  be  made  in  case  of 
prolonged  ill  health  which  may  unfit  them  for  the  work  of  the  ministry; 
when  they  are  manifestly  improvident,  or  contract  debts  without  reasona- 
ble prospect  of  payment;  when  they  marry;  when  they  receive  assistance 
from  any  other  educational  board  or  society ;  or  when  from  private  cir- 
cumstances they  cease  to  need  aid. 

7.  The  sums  of  money  a])propriated  by  the  Board  shall  be  refunded  to 
it  with  interest  in  case  a  student  fail  to  enter  on  or  continue  in  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  unless  he  can  make  it  appear  that  he  is  providentially 
prevented ;  if  he  cease  to  adhere  to  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  ;  if  he  change  his  place  of  study  contrary  to  the  directions  of  his 
Presbytery,  or  continue  to  prosecute  his  studies  at  an  institution  not  ap- 
proved by  it  or  by  the  Board  ;  or  withdraw  his  connection  from  the 
Church  of  which  this  Board  is  the  organ  without  furnishing  a  satisfiictory 
reason. 

8.  The  pecuniary  assistance  aflTorded  by  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
through  her  Board  of  E<lucation,  is  not  to  be  given  or  regarded  as  a  loan 
to  be  refunded  by  those  who  comply  with  these  rules  and  regularly  enter 
tl'.e  ministry,  but  as  her  cheerful  contribution  to  facilitate  and  cx])edite 
their  prcj)arati()n  for  it;  and  they  are  only  obligated  by  it  to  wai-mer  in- 
terest in  her  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  the  Kedecmer's  kingdom,  and 
especially  to  the  use  of  the  ineans  necessary  to  instruct  and  stimulate  her 
mendjers  in  the  duty  of  multiplying  and  sending  forth  preachers  of  trie 
gospel  of  salvation  to  all  the  world. 

IV.  Care  of  Candidates. 

1.  Every  student  is  required,  except  in  unusual  circumstances,  and  with 
the  explicit  permission  of  his  Presbytery,  to  pursue  a  thorough  course  of 
study,  preparatory  to  that  of  theology,  and  when  prepared  to  pursue  a 


OF    LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  363 

three  years'  course  of  theological  studies  in  a  seminary  connected  with  the 
Presbyterian  Cluirch ;  and  no  work  of  ])reaching  is  to  be  allowed  to  inter- 
fere with  the  diligent  and  faithful  prosecution  of  their  prescribed  studies 
until  their  close. 

2.  The  Board  can  only  rely  upon  the  Education  Committee  of  each 
Presbytery  for  the  regular  care  of  its  own  candidates,  which  should  con- 
sist in  the  constant  exercise  of  a  parental  oversight  over  them  in  spiritual 
things,  and  for  the  bestowment  of  the  counsel  they  need,  as  to  their  mode 
of  preparation,  their  places  of  study,  their  trials  and  the  occupation  of 
their  time,  while  not  engaged  in  study,  in  employments  which  shall  tend  to 
qualify  them  for  effective  usefulness  as  pastors  or  evangelists. 

3.  The  Board  shall  assist  the  Presbytery  in  its  care  of  candidates,  by 
furnishing  annually  to  the  Education  Committee  information  from  the 
Professor's  reports  as  to  the  standing  of  each  student ;  and  the  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  shall  exercise  a  general  supervisory  care  over  them, 
and  visit  and  address  them,  when  practicable,  at  the  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, in  regard  to  their  duties  and  the  claims  of  the  office  which  they  have 
in  view. 

4.  The  recommendation  of  each  candidate  must  be  annually  renewed  by 
his  Presbytery,  if  possible,  at  the  fall  meeting,  in  connection  with  one  from 
the  session  of  the  church  of  which  he  is  a  member,  and  a  specification 
must  be  made  of  the  amount  needed  by  him,  and  until  the  ratification  of 
these  has  been  received  a  student  will  not  be  considered  as  upon  the  roll 
for  the  year. 

5.  Pecommendations  or  renewals  of  them  made  by  an  Education  Com- 
mittee in  the  interim  of  the  sessions  of  a  Presbytery  shall  be  received  as 
sufficient,  provided  its  action  is  reported  to  the  Presbytery  at  its  next  ses- 
sion, and  not  countermanded  to  the  Board. 

6.  If  at  any  time  there  be  discovered  in  a  student  such  defect  in  capa- 
city, diligence,  and  especially  in  piety,  as  would  render  his  introduction 
into  the  ministry  a  doubtful  measure,  it  shall  be  considered  the  sacred 
duty  of  the  Presbytery  to  cease  to  recommend  him,  and  that  of  the  Board 
to  withdraw  its  appropriations. 

7.  Special  care  should  be  exercised  by  the  Presbytery  in  the  examina- 
tion of  students  who  are  about  to  enter  upon  the  theological  course,  ac- 
cording to  the  instructions  of  the  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiv.,  sec.  iii. 
This  should  be  conducted  by  the  Presbytery,  and  be  entirely  satisfactory 
as  to  their  "real  piety,"  and  "the  motives  which  influence  them  to  desire 
the  sacred  office,"  before  they  are  allowed  to  take  this  final  step  toward 
assuming  its  great  responsibilities. 

8.  The  periodical  publications  of  this  Board  and  a  copy  of  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  shall  be  sent  gratis  to  all  students  under  its  care. 

V.  Particular  Duties  of  Candidates, 
1.  Inasmuch  as  the  great  aim  of  the  Church,  in  the  establishment  of 
its  Board  of  Education,  is  the  increase  of  holy  and  faithful  preachers  of 
the  gospel,  the  young  brethren  who  look  to  this  work  are  earnestly  and 
affectionately  reminded  that  all  intellectual  acquisitions  are  of  little  value 
without  the  cultivation  of  piety,  and  that  they  are  expected  and  required 
to  pay  special  attention  to  the  practical  duties  of  religion,  such  as  reading 
the  Scriptures ;  secret  prayer  and  meditation  ;  occasional  acts  of  special 
consecration  of  themselves  to  Christ  and  to  his  service  as  their  Redeemer 
and  as  the  Lord  of  all ;  attendance  on  regular  meetings  on  the  Sabbath 
and  during  tlie  week ;  endeavors  to  promote  the  salvation  of  others ;  and 
the  exhibition  at  all  times  of  a  pious  and  consistent  example. 


364  FOEM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

2.  As  the  appropriations  of  the  Board  necessarily  fall  short  of  the  en- 
tire wants  of  the  students,  so  the  friends  of  each,  and  the  student  himself, 
will  be  expected  to  make  all  proper  exei'tions  in  assisting  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  his  education. 

3.  When  a  student  shall  find  it  necessary  to  relinquish  study  for  a  time 
in  order  to  increase  his  means  of  support,  by  teaching  or  otherwise,  he 
shall  first  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Education  Committee  of  the  Presby- 
tery or  of  the  Board ;  and  if,  when  given,  he  shall  not  be  absent  from 
study  more  than  three  months,  his  appropriations  will  be  continued  ;  but 
if  longer,  they  will  be  discontinued  or  continued  in  part,  according  to 
circumstances. 

4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  candidate  connected  with  the  Board  to 
report  himself,  soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  the 
Education  Committee  of  his  Presbytery,  as  to  his  progress,  wants  and 
prospects ;  and  where  any  of  the  requisitions  of  the  Board  which  afiect 
him  may  not  be  carried  out  by  teachers  or  others,  it  becomes  his  duty  to 
see  that  they  are  attended  to,  that  delays  and  losses  to  himself  may  be 
prevented. 

5.  The  reception  of  an  appropriation  by  a  student  shall  be  considered 
as  expressing  a  promise  to  comply  with  all  the  rules  and  regulations  of 
the  Board. 

II.  Every  candidate  for  licensure  shall  be  taken  on  trials  by  that 
Presbytery  to  which  he  most  naturally  belongs,  and  he  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  most  naturally  belonging  to  that  Presbytery  within  the 
bounds  of  which  he  has  ordinarily  resided.  But  in  case  any  candi- 
date should  find  it  more  convenient  to  put  himself  under  the  care  of 
a  Presbytery  at  a  distance  from  that  to  which  he  most  naturally  be- 
longs, he  may  be  received  by  the  said  Presbytery  on  his  producing 
testimonials,  eitlier  from  the  Presbytery  within  the  bounds  of  which 
he  has  commonly  resided,  or  from  any  two  ministers  of  that  Presby- 
tery in  good  standing,  of  his  exemplary  piety  and  other  requisite 
Cjualifications. 

1.  The  Usage  in  the  Olden  Time. 

In  answer  to  the  third  query,  the  Synod  judge  that  any  student  in 
divinity  who  professes  a  design  to  enter  into  the  ministry  has  a  right  in 
our  present  situation  to  study  for  his  improvement  under  the  direction  of 
any  divine  of  reputation  in  the  Synod,  according  to  a  former  act;  but  that 
when  he  proposes  to  enter  upon  trials  with  a  view  to  the  ministry,  he  shall 
come  under  the  care  of  that  Presbytery  to  which  he  most  naturally  belongs, 
and  he  shall  be  deemed  most  naturally  to  belong  to  that  Presbytery  in  whose 
bounds  he  has  been  brought  up  and  lived  for  the  most  part,  and  where  he 
is  best  known.  But  if  another  Presbytery  desire  that  any  student  or  stu- 
dents should  come  into  their  bounds,  or  if  any  such  student  or  students, 
for  greater  conveniency,  or  from  any  circumstances  that  make  it  necessary, 
desire  to  enter  upon  trials  in  a  different  Presbytery,  upon  his  oflering  sat- 
isfactory reasons  he  nuiy  be  dismissed ;  but  in  either  case  the  Presbvtery 
to  which  he  removes  shall  not  receive  nor  admit  him  to  come  under  "trials 
upon  his  having  a  certificate  as  a  regular  church  member  only,  but  he 
shall  bring  a  testimonial  from  tlie  Presbytery  or  sevei'al  neighboring  min- 
isters where  he  lived,  reconimending  him  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry 


OF    LICE^SIXG    CANDIDA  TES.  365 

of  exemplary  piety  and  holiness  of  conversation,  nor  shall  anything  less 
be  esteemed  a  sufficient  recommendation. — 1764,  p.  337. 

2.  Licensure  by  Bodies  other  than  those  within  "whose  Bounds 

the  Candidate  expects  to  Labor  Disapproved. 

Though  the  Synod  entertains  a  high  regard  for  the  associated  churches 
of  New  England,  yet  we  cannot  but  judge  that  students  who  go  to  them 
or  to  any  other  than  our  own  Presbyteries  to  obtain  license  in  order  to 
return  and  officiate  among  us  act  very  irregularly,  and  are  not  to  be  ap- 
proved or  employed  by  our  Presbyteries,  as  hereby  we  are  deprived  of  the 
right  of  trying  and  approving  the  qualifications  of  our  own  candidates ; 
yet  if  any  case  may  happen  wherein  such  conduct  may  in  some  circum- 
stances be  thought  necessary  for  the  greater  good  of  any  congregation,  it 
shall  be  laid  before  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  congregation  belongs  and 
approved  of  by  them. — 1764,  p.  338. 

[For  action  condemning  the  licensing  of  a  candidate  of  one  Presbytery 
by  another  without  regular  dismission,  see  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.] 

3.  Candidates  should  be  Placed  under  the  Care  of  Presbytery. 

a.  It  is  recommended  to  the  agencies  and  committees  to  endeavor  to 
have  the  young  men  aided  by  tlie  Church,  especially  in  their  theological 
studies,  placed  under  the  care  of  Presbyteries,  and  that  in  all  ordinary 
cases  they  be  licensed  by  those  Presbyteries  to  which  they  naturally  be- 
long.—1854,  p.  507,  N.  S. 

6.  It  is  recommended  that  the  young  men  aided  by  the  Assembly's 
Committee  be  ordinarily  placed,  as  soon  as  possible,  under  the  care  of 
Presbyteries,  and  that  in  all  ordinary  cases  they  be  licensed,  if  convenient, 
by  the  Presbyteries  to  which  they  naturally  belong. — 1856,  p.  224,  N.  S. 

c.  Resolved,  That  candidates  should  be  required  to  put  themselves  under 
the  care  of  Presbytery  as  soon  as  possible,  and  receive  careful  supervision 
during  their  entire  course,  and  that  whatever  arrangements  the  Presby- 
teries may  deem  expedient  to  facilitate  their  training,  these  arrangements 
should  not  be  such  as  will  tend  to  shorten  the  full  term  of  study  or  induce 
an  absence  from  their  classes  at  either  the  opening  or  closing  of  the  semi- 
nary sessions. — 1857,  p.  31,  0.  S. 

See  also  1864,  p.  315,  O,  S. 

4.  CarefLil  Supervision  to  be  Exercised  in  Receiving  Candidates 
and  over  their  Studies. 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  renew  the  resolution  of  the  Assembly  of 
last  year  (minutes,  p.  524),  and  "earnestly  urge  all  our  Presbyteries  and 
Committees  ad  interim  to  guard  with  a  becoming  caution  and  a  firm  vigi- 
lance the  door  to  the  holy  office  of  the  ministry,  so  as  not  to  admit  to  that 
sacred  calling  men  wanting  in  mental  and  moral  qualifications  for  its  high 
and  holy  functions."  And  furthermore,  as  a  means  of  excluding  improper 
persons,  that  this  Assembly  enjoins  upon  every  Presbytery  which  has  not 
so  done  to  appoint  a  Committee,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  make  careful 
inquiry  as  to  the  conduct  and  progress  in  study  of  all  the  candidates  under 
its  care,  and  to  make  report  to  their  Presbytery  at  every  stated  meeting, 
or  oftener  if  presbyterial  action  is  needed. — 1860,  p.  25,  "O.  S. 


366  FOEM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

5.  No  Candidate  to  be  Received  by  the  Board  until  he  has  been 
a  Church  Member  one  year  and  pursued  Classical  Studies  for 
one  year. 

That  it  be  recommended  that  the  Board  of  Education  hereafter  receive 
no  candidate  for  the  minii«try  until  he  lias  been  a  member  of  the  Church 
at  least  one  year,  and  has  also  passed  his  classical  studies  for  an  academic 
year,  except  in  extraordinary  cases  to  be  determined  by  the  Board. 

That  increased  care  be  enjoined  upon  the  Presbyteries  in  bringing  for- 
ward or  recommending  candidates  for  the  sacred  ministry. — 1872,  p.  19. 

6.  Candidates  must   Connect  Themselves  -with  the  Presbytery  to 

"which  they  Naturally  Belong. 

That  the  candidates  of  the  Board  be  required  to  connect  themselves 
with  the  Presbyteries  to  which  they  naturally  belong,  unless  for  extraoi-- 
dinary  reasons,  of  which  the  Presbyteries  must  be  the  judge. — 1872,  p.  19. 

III.  It  is  proper  and  requisite  that  candidates  applying  to  tlie 
Presbytery  to  be  licensed  to  preach  the  gos])el  produce  satisfactory 
testimonials  of  their  good  moral  character  and  of  their  being  regular 
members  of  some  particular  church.  And  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Pres- 
bytery, for  their  satisfaction  with  regard  to  the  real  piety  of  sucli  can- 
didates, to  examine  them  respecting  their  experimental  acquaintance 
with  religion  and  the  motives  which  influence  them  to  desire  tlic  sa- 
cred office.  This  examination  shall  be  close  and  particular,  and  in 
most  cases  may  best  be  conducted  in  the  presence  of  the  Presbyterv 
only.  And  it  is  recommended  that  the  candidate  be  also  required  to 
produce  a  diploma  of  bachelor  or  master  of  arts  from  some  college 
or  university,  or,  at  least,  authentic  testimonials  of  liis  having  gone 
through  a  regular  course  of  learning. 

1.  A  Liberal  Education  Required. 

a.  Through  the  Committee  of  Overtures  it  Avas  requested  by  the  first 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  that  the  Synod  declare  to  them  their  sense  on 
this  point,  viz.,  whether  a  person  without  a  liberal  education  may  be  taken 
on  trials  or  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel.  The  question  being  put,  it  was 
carried  in  the  negative. — 1788,  p.  499. 

b.  An  overture  was  broucrht  in  in  the  following  terms,  viz.:  "Whether 
in  the  present  state  of  the  Church  in  America,  and  the  scarcity  of  minis- 
tors  to  fill  our  numerous  congregations,  the  Synod  or  Presbyteries  ought 
therefore  to  relax,  in  any  degree,  in  the  literary  qualifications  required  of 
intrants  into  the  ministry,"  and  it  was  carried  in  the  negative  by  a  great 
majority. — 1785,  p.  511. 

c.   To  keejy  Pace  with  the  Progress  of  Society  and  Letters. 

Your  Committee  recommend  to  the  General  Assembly  to  enjoin  it  uj^on 
all  their  Presbyteries  to  take  the  most  effectual  order  in  their  power  to 
increase,  if  possible,  the  qualifications  of  candidates  for  the  gospel  minis- 
try with  regard  both  to  sincere  piety  and  solid  and  extensive  learning, 
that  the  inq)rovements  of  the  pulpit  may  keep  full  pace  with  the  progress 
of  society  and  letters. — 1799,  p.  181. 


OF   LICENSING    CANDIDATES.  367 

2.  Letter  to  Rev.  David  Rice  on  Thorough  Literary  Training  for 

the  Ministry. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  tlie  18th  of  April  has  been  regularly  laid 
before  the  General  Assembly ;  and  although  it  ought  to  have  been  accom- 
panied with  an  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylva- 
nia, yet  the  Assembly,  having  perfect  confidence  in  you,  easily  waived 
that  formality. 

The  inquiry  which  you  propose  in  the  name  of  tlie  Presbytery  concern- 
ing the  propriety  in  your  present  circumstances  of  licensing  and  ordain- 
ing men  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry  without  a  liberal  education  is 
certainly  of  great  magnitude.  Considering  the  great  and  ardent  zeal  on 
the  subject  of  religion  which  has  been  awakened  throughout  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  United  States,  the  multitudes  who  are  earnestly  demanding 
of  you  the  bread  of  life,  and  the  few,  comparatively,  who  are  regularly 
ordained  to  break  it  among  them,  the  reasoning  seems  specious  at  first 
which  would  encourage  us,  in  the  instances  you  mention,  to  depart  from 
the  spirit  of  our  standards  on  this  subject,  and  some  plausible  facts  fre- 
quently occur  which  appear  to  confirm  this  reasoning  and  mislead  the 
judgments  of  many  honest  and  well-meaning  men.  On  all  subjects  on 
which  the  human  mind  is  roused  to  uncommon  exertions  and  inflamed 
with  uncommon  ardor,  men  become  eloquent  for  a  season,  and  even  the 
most  weak  and  ignorant  often  surprise  us  by  the  fluency  and  pertinency  as 
"well  as  fervor  of  their  expressions.  And  in  general  revivals  of  the  spirit  of 
religion  that  copiousness  and  pathos  in  prayer  and  exhortation  which  are 
not  uncommonly  to  be  found  among  men  who  are  destitute  of  any  liberal 
culture  of  mind,  and  often  even  of  any  considerable  natural  talents,  may 
tempt  themselves  and  lead  others  to  conclude  that  they  are  endued  with 
peculiar  and  extraordinary  gifts  for  the  service  of  the  Church  which  ought 
not  to  be  suli'cred  to  lie  useless  and  unemployed. 

An  ardent  zeal,  too  often  united  with  a  certain  spiritual  pride  and  strong 
self-love,  is  ai)t  to  inspire  some  weak  persons  of  an  enthusiastic  temper- 
ament with  vehement  impulses  to  preach  the  gospel,  which  they  flatter 
themselves  are  calls  from  heaven,  but  experience  has  repeatedly  shown  us 
that  these  inward  impulses  most  commonly  afl'ect  men  of  great  imbecility 
of  mind  or  of  strong  vanity.  Experience  further  shows  that  when  this 
fervor  is  somewhat  abated,  all  their  barrenness  and  defect  of  furniture  for 
the  holy  ministry,  and  the  sound  interpretation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
become  manifest,  and  too  many  unhappy  examples  have  occurred  of  those 
who  have  abaudi)ned  good  morals  when  deserted  by  their  zeal.  And  with 
regard  to  supposed  calls  to  preach  the  gospel,  no  man  can  be  rightly  called 
t(»  that  sacred  office  out  of  the  regular  order  which  Christ  has  established 
in  his  Church  ;  no  such  inward  call  can  be  judged  of  by  any  church  judi- 
catory, nor  distinguished  by  any  certain  criterion  from  the  visionary  im- 
pulses of  enthusiasm.  The  judicatories  of  the  Church  can  judge  only  of  the 
life  and  conversation  of  men,  their  knowledge  and  their  talents  to  teach. 

Besides,  we  know  that  the  nature  of  true  religion  is  to  render  men  hum- 
ble. And  such  is  the  solemnity  and  importance  of  the  duty  of  interpret- 
ing the  word  of  God  to  the  people,  and  speaking  in  his  name,  that  a  sincere 
penitent  will  rather  wait  to  be  sought  out  than  fbrwardly  intrude  himself 
into  so  holy  a  calling.  And  do  we  not  find  in  fact  that  they  are  not  usually 
the  most  prudent,  judicious  and  qualified  to  teach  among  the  laity  who 
are  most  solicitous  to  be  constituted  public  guides  and  instructors  in  the 
Church? 

We  do  not  say  that  a  liberal  education  is  absolutely  essential  to  a  man's 


368  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

usefulness  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  but  reason  and  experience  both 
demonstrate  its  high  importance  and  utility.  And  where  ignorant  men 
are  permitted  to  explain  the  Holy  Scriptures,  it  ought  to  be  subject  to 
the  direction  and  control  of  others  of  greater  knowledge.  But  this  is  an 
order  which  it  has  not  been  thought  proper  to  adopt  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  And  the  superior  comparative  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  our 
Church  and  that  of  our  eastern  brethren,  which  is  similarly  constituted,  is 
a  demonstration  by  no  means  equivocal  of  the  approbation  and  smiles  of 
Heaven  upon  us  in  the  exercise  of  our  present  form  of  government  and  dis- 
cipline. But  were  our  opinion  on  this  subject  different  from  what  it  is,  we 
cannot  lawfully  and  conscientiously  depart  from  our  present  standards  till 
they  be  changed  in  an  orderly  manner  by  the  consent  of  a  majoi'ity  of 
the  Presbyteries  which  compose  tiie  body  of  the  General  Assembly. 

You  express  your  apprehensions  lest,  if  certain  illiterate  and  unquali- 
fied men  should  not  be  admitted  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  among  you, 
they  may  withdraw  from  the  Church  and  become  the  promoters  of  dan- 
gerous schisms.  We  answer.  The  path  of  duty  is  a  safe  path.  Do  what  is 
right,  and  commit  the  event  to  God.  If  they  are  men  of  such  a  spirit,  it 
is  only  a  new  proof  that  they  are  most  unfit  for  the  ofiice  to  which  they 
aspire.  Parties  created  by  them  will  neither  be  important  nor  durable. 
But  if  the  gates  of  the  Church  are  opened  to  weakness  and  ignorance,  she 
will  soon  be  overflowed  with  errors  and  with  the  wildest  disorders.  We 
shall  bring  the  ministry  into  disgrace  and  contempt  which  should  be,  like 
the  priesthood  of  Aaron,  without  blemish.  If  men  are  sincerely  desirous  of 
promoting  the  glory  of  God,  let  them  first  bestow  the  necessary  pains  and 
time  to  acquire  the  requisite  qualifications  for  feeding  and  leading  the 
flock  of  Christ ;  let  them  be  regularly  initiated  in  the  priesthood,  and  not 
hasten  to  oft'er  unhallowed  fire  on  God's  altar.  If  they  are  sincerely  desir- 
ous of  doing  good,  let  them  do  it  in  that  sphere  in  which  they  appear  des- 
tined by  Providence  to  move.  In  this  every  Christian,  the  poorest  and 
humblest,  has  ample  scope  to  exercise  his  pious  and  benevolent  disposi- 
tions, and  to  exert  his  talents,  whatever  they  may  be. — 1804,  p.  299. 

3.  Liberal  Education  Waived  in  Certain  Cases. 

a.  Several  very  earnest  applications  were  made  to  the  Synod  by  Welsh 
people  in  diflerent  parts,  representing  that  many  among  them  understand 
not  the  English  tongue,  and  unless  they  have  a  pastor  capable  of  speak- 
ing in  their  own  language  they  must  live  entii'ely  destitute  of  ordinances; 
that  a  certain  INIr.  John  Griffith  came  some  years  ago  from  Wales,  with 
good  certificates  of  his  Christian  knowledge  and  piety,  though  he  has  not 
had  a  liberal  education,  and  of  being  there  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel ; 
that  he  has  preached  among  them  to  their  great  satisfaction,  and  therefore 
pray  the  Synod  to  ordain  him  to  the  ministry  that  he  may  both  i)reach 
and  also  administer  the  sacraments  among  them. 

Upon  considering  the  case,  the  Synod  find  that  several  members  have 
seen  his  certificates  from  Wales,  that  some  have  conversed  with  him  and 
were  much  satisfied  with  his  Christian  knowledge  and  acquaintance  with 
experimental  religion  ;  that  those  of  the  Welsh  here  who  testify  to  the 
Synod  concerning  his  useful  preaching  and  pious  conduct  are  known  to 
be  men  of  judgment  and  integrity;  and  as  the  circumstances  of  that  peo- 
ple are  singular,  and  no  other  way  appears  in  which  they  can  enjoy  ordi- 
nances, the  Synod  agree  that  the  said  Mr.  John  CJriffith,  though  he  has 
not  the  measure  of  school  learning  usually  required,  and  which  they  judge 
to  be  ordinarily  requisite,  be  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  ap- 


OF    LICENSIXG    CANDIDATES.  369 

point  Messrs,  Samuel  Davies,  Dr.  Allison,  Treat,  Hunter  and  Kettletas  ta 
be  a  Presbytery  "■pro  re  nata"  to  ordain  him  to-morrow  at  11  o'clock. — 
1758,  p.  289. 

[Mr.  Griffith  was  accordingly  ordained.] 

b.  Whereas,  From  the  communications  from  the  Presbytery  of  Union  it 
appears  that  the  said  John  Gloucester  has  been  for  some  time  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Union ;  that,  in  the  opinion  of  that  Presbytery, 
he  possesses  promising  talents  and  eminent  piety  ;  that  he  has  been  for  sev- 
eral years  engaged  in  the  study  of  literature  and  theology,  but  has  not  yet 
obtained  all  the  literary  qualifications  usually  required  in  candidates  for 
licensure ;  and  that  if  he  were  licensed  there  is  much  reason  to  believe  he 
might  be  highly  useful  in  preaching  the  gospel  among  those  of  his  own 
color ;  and  ivhereas,  said  Presbytery  requests  the  advice  of  the  General 
Assembly;  therefore, 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  highly  approve  the  caution  and 
prudence  of  the  Presbytery  of  Union  in  this  case.  2.  That  considering 
the  circumstances  of  this  particular  case — viz.,  the  evidence  of  unusual 
talents,  disci-etion  and  piety  possessed  by  John  Gloucester — the  good  reason 
there  is  to  believe  that  he  may  be  highly  useful  in  preaching  the  gospel 
among  those  of  his  own  color,  and  the  various  difficulties  likely  to  attend 
a  further  delay  in  proceeding  in  this  case,  the  General  Assembly  did  and 
hereby  do  authorize  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  to  consider  the  case 
of  John  Gloucester,  and  if  they  think  proper  to  license  him  to  preach  the 
gospel— 1807,  p.  387. 


4.  Theological  Instruction. 

a.   Overtures  for  the  Establishment  of  a  Theological  School. 

The  Committee  [of  Bills  and  Overtures]  laid  before  the  Assembly  an 
overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  for  the  establishment  of  a 
theological  school. 

The  overture  was  read,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  D wight*  and  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Irwin,  Hosack,  Romeyn,  Anderson,  Lyle,  Burch,  Lacy,  and  Messrs.  Bay- 
ard, Slaymaker  and  Harrison,  elders,  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  take 
the  overture  into  consideration  and  rejiort  upon  it. — 1809,  p.  417. 

The  Committee  to  which  ■was  referred  the  overture  in  relation  to  the 
establishment  of  a  theological  school  brought  in  the  following  report, 
which,  being  read,  was  adopted,  viz. : 

The  Committee  appointed  on  the  subject  of  a  theological  school  over- 
tured  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  report : 

That  three  modes  of  compassing  this  important  object  have  presented 
themselves  to  their  consideration. 

The  first  is  to  establish  one  great  school  in  some  convenient  place  near 
the  centre  of  the  bounds  of  our  Church. 

The  second  is  to  establish  two  schools  in  such  places  as  may  best  accom- 
modate the  northern  and  southern  divisions  of  the  Church, 

The  third  is  to  establish  such  a  school  within  the  bounds  of  each  of  the 
Synods.  In  this  case  your  Committee  suggest  the  propriety  of  leaving  it 
to  each  Synod  to  direct  the  mode  of  forming  the  school  and  the  place 
where  it  shall  be  established. 

The  advantages  attending  the  first  of  the  proposed  modes  are  that  it 
would  be  furnished  with  larger  funds,  and  therefore  with  a  more  extensive 

*  President  of  Yale  College,  who  sat  in  the  Assembly  as  a  delegate  from  the 
General  Association  of  Connecticut. 

47 


370  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

library  and  a  greater  number  of  professors.  The  system  of  education 
pursued  in  it  would,  therefore,  be  more  extensive  and  more  perfect;  the 
youths  educated  in  it  wouhl  also  be  more  united  in  the  same  views,  and 
contract  an  early  and  lasting  friendship  for  each  other— circumstances 
Avhich  could  not  fail  of  promoting  harmony  and  prosperity  in  the  Church. 
The  disadvantages  attending  this  mode  would  be  principally  those  derived 
from  the  distance  of  its  position  from  the  extremities  of  the  Presbyterian 
bounds. 

The  advantages  attending  the  second  of  the  proposed  modes  and  the 
disadvantages  will  readily  suggest  themselves  from  a  comparison  of  this 
with  the  other  two. 

The  advantages  which  attend  the  third — to  wit,  the  establishment  of 
theological  schools  by  the  respective  Synods — would  be  the  following:  The 
local  situation  of  the  respective  schools  would  be  peculiarly  convenient 
for  the  several  parts  of  a  countr_y  so  extensive  as  that  for  the  benefit  of 
which  they  were  designed.  The  inhabitants,  having  the  seminaries  brought 
near  to  them,  would  feel  a  peculiar  interest  in  their  prosperity,  and  may  be 
rationally  expected  to  contribute  to  it  much  more  liberally  and  generally 
than  to  a  single  school,  or  even  to  two.  The  Synods  also,  having  the  im- 
mediate care  of  them,  and  directing  either  in  person  or  by  delegation  all 
their  concerns,  would  feel  a  similar  interest,  and  would  probably  be  better 
pleased  with  a  system  formed  by  themselves,  and  therefore  2)eculiarly  suited 
to  the  wishes  and  interests  of  the  several  parts  of  the  Church  immediately 
under  their  direction.  Greater  efforts,  therefore,  may  be  expected  from 
ministers  and  ])eople  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  these  schools  than  of  any 
other.  The  (lisadvantages  of  this  mode  would  be  the  inferiority  of  the 
funds,  a  smaller  number  of  professors,  a  smaller  library  and  a  more  lim- 
ited system  of  education  in  each.  The  students  also  would,  as  now,  be 
strangers  to  each  other. 

Should  the  last  of  these  modes  be  adopted,  your  Committee  are  of  opin- 
ion that  everything  pertaining  to  the  erection  and  conduct  of  each  school 
should  be  left  to  the  direction  of  the  respective  Synods.  If  either  of  the 
first,  the  whole  should  be  subject  to  the  control  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Your  Committee  also  suggest  that  in  the  former  of  these  cases  the 
funds  for  each  school  should  be  raised  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod 
Avithin  which  it  was  stationed.  In  the  latter  they  should  be  collected  from 
the  whole  body  of  the  Church. 

Your  Committee  therefore  submit  the  following  resolution,  to  wit : 

Resolved,  That  the  above  plan  be  submitted  to  all  the  Presbyteries 
within  the  bounds  of  the  General  Assembly  for  their  consideration,  and 
that  they  be  careful  to  send  up  to  the  next  Assembly,  at  their  sessions  in 
May,  1810,  their  opinions  on  the  subject. — 1809,  p.  430. 

h.  Plans  Proposed. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  reports  of  the  several  Presby- 
teries on  the  subject  of  theological  schools,  and  to  report  to  the  Assembly 
the  opinions  expressed  by  them  severally  on  the  three  dilferent  plans  sent 
down  for  their  consideration,  reported  that  after  carefully  examining  the 
reports  of  the  several  Presbyteries  on  this  subject  they  find  the  fi)llowing 
results:  Ten  Presbyteries  have  expressed  an  opinion  in  favor  of  the  first 
plan,  viz.,  the  establishment  of  a  single  school.  One  Presbytery  has 
given  an  opinion  in  favor  of  the  second  plan,  viz..  the  establishment  of 
two  schools.  Ten  Presbyteries  have  expressed  a  judgment  in  favor  of  the 
third  plan,  viz.,  the  establishment  of  a  school  in  each  Synod.  Six  Pres- 
byteries have  expressed  an  opinion  that  it  is  not  expedient  at  present  to 


OF   LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  371 

attempt  the  establishment  of  any  school ;  and  from  the  remaining  Pres- 
byteries no  report  has  been  received. — 1810,  p.  489. 

c.  Act  Establishing  the  Seminary. 

The  Committee  appointed  further  to  consider  the  subject  of  theological 
schools  reported,  and  the  report,  being  read  and  amended,  was  adopted, 
and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  after  maturely  deliberating  on  the  subject  committed  to  them 
they  submit  to  the  Assembly  the  following  results  : 

1.  It  is  evident  that  not  only  a  majority  of  the  Presbyteries  which 
have  reported  on  this  subject,  but  also  a  majority  of  all  the  Presbyteries 
under  the  care  of  this  Assembly,  have  expressed  a  decided  opinion  in 
favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  theological  school  or  schools  in  our 
Church. 

2.  It  appears  to  the  Committee  that  although  according  to  the  state- 
ment already  reported  to  the  Assembly  there  is  an  equal  number  of  Pres- 
byteries in  favor  of  the  first  plan,  which  contemplates  a  single  school  for 
the  whole  Church,  and  in  favor  of  the  third  phm,  which  contemplates  the 
erection  of  a  school  in  each  Synod,  yet,  as  several  of  the  objections  made 
to  the  first  plan  are  founded  entirely  on  misconception  and  will  be  com- 
pletely obviated  by  developing  the  details  of  that  plan,  it  seems  fairly  to 
follow  that  there  is  a  greater  amount  of  presbyterial  suffrage  in  favor  of  a 
single  school  than  any  other  plan. 

0.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Committee  are  of  opinion  that  as 
much  light  has  been  obtained  from  the  reports  of  Presbyteries  on  this 
subject  as  would  be  likely  to  result  from  a  renewal  of  the  reference,  that 
no  advantage  will  probably  arise  from  further  delay  in  this  important 
concern,  but  on  the  contrary  much  serious  inconvenience  and  evil,  that 
the  present  Assembly  is  bound  to  attem})t  to  carry  into  execution  some 
one  of  the  plans  proposed,  and  that  the  first  plan,  appearing  to  have  on 
the  whole  the  greatest  share  of  public  sentiment  in  its  favor,  ought  of 
course  to  be  adopted. 

4.  Your  Committee  therefore  recommend  that  the  present  General 
Assembly  declare  its  approbation  and  adoption  of  this  plan,  and  immedi- 
ately commence  a  course  of  measures  for  carrying  it  into  execution  as 
promptly  and  extensively  as  jiossible ;  and  for  this  purpose  they  recom- 
mend to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  : 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  state  of  our  churches,  the  loud  and  affecting  calls 
of  destitute  frontier  settlements,  and  the  laudable  exertions  of  various 
Christian  denominations  around  us,  all  demand  that  the  collected  wisdom, 
piety  and  zeal  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  be  without  delay  called  into 
action  for  furnishing  the  Church  with  a  large  supply  of  able  and  faithful 
ministers. 

2.  That  the  General  Assembly  will,  in  the  name  of  the  great  Head  of 
the  Church,  immediately  attempt  to  establish  a  seminary  for  securing  to 
candidates  for  the  ministry  more  extensive  and  efficient  theological  in- 
struction than  they  have  heretofore  enjoyed.  The  local  situation  of  this 
seminary  is  hereafter  to  be  determined. 

3.  That  in  this  seminary,  when  completely  organized,  there  shall  be  at 
least  three  professors,  who  shall  be  elected  by  and  hold  their  offices  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  who  shall  give  a  regular  course 
of  instruction  in  divinity.  Oriental  and  biblical  literature,  and  in  ecclesi- 
astical history  and  church  government,  and  on  such  other  subjects  as  may 
be  deemed  necessary.  It  being,  however,  understood  that  until  sufficient 
funds  can  be  obtained  for  the  complete  organization  and  support  of  the 


372  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

proposed  seminary  a  smaller  number  of  professors  than  three  ma)'  be  ap- 
pointed to  commence  the  system  of  instruction. 

4.  That  exertion  be  made  to  provide  such  an  amount  of  funds  for  this 
seminary  as  will  enable  its  conductors  to  afford  gratuitous  instruction,  and 
\rhen  it  is  necessary  gratuitous  support,  to  all  such  students  as  may  not 
themselves  possess  adequate  pecuniary  means. 

5.  That  the  Rev.  Drs.  Green,  Woodhull,  Romeyn  and  Miller,  the  Rev. 
^Messrs.  Archibald  Alexander,  James  Richards  and  Amzi  Armstrong,  be  a 
Committee  to  digest  and  prepare  a  plan  of  a  theological  seminary,  em- 
l)racing  in  detail  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  institution,  together 
with  regulations  for  guiding  the  conduct  of  the  instructoi-s  and  the  stu- 
dents, and  prescribing  the  best  mode  of  visiting,  of  controlling  and  sup- 
porting the  whole  system.  This  plan  is  to  be  reported  to  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

6.  That  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Jedediah  Chapman,  Jonas  Coe,  William  Mor- 
rison, James  Carnahan  and  Mr.  Isaac  Hutton  of  the  Synod  of  Albany ; 
Rev.  Drs.  Samuel  Miller,  Philip  Milledoler,  John  B.  Romeyn  and  Aaron 
Woolworth,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  James  Richards,  Comfort  and  Isaac  Vau- 
doren  and  Col.  Henry  Rutgers  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jer- 
sey ;  Rev.  Drs.  Ashbel  Green,  John  McKnight  and  James  Muir,  the  Rev. 
^Messrs,  Nathaniel  Irwin,  John  Glendy,  Archibald  Alexander,  John  E. 
Latta,  John  B.  Slemmons,  John  B.  Patterson  and  James  luglis  and  Mr. 
Robert  Ralston  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia ;  the  Rev.  John  D.  Blair, 
"William  Williamson,  Samuel  Houston,  Samuel  Doake  and  Benjamin 
Grigsby  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia;  the  Rev.  Samuel  Ralston,  James 
Guthrie,  William  Speer  and  James  Hughes  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg ; 
the  Rev.  Robert  G.  Wilson,  James  Blythe,  Archibald  Cameron  and 
Joshua  L.  Wilson  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky ;  the  Rev.  Drs.  James  Hall, 
Henry  Kollock  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Malcolm  McNair,  James  Mcllhenny 
and  Andrew  Flinn  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  be  and  they  hereby  are 
appointed  agents  to  solicit  donations  in  the  course  of  the  current  year, 
within  the  bounds  of  their  respective  Synods,  for  the  establishment  and 
support  of  the  proposed  seminary ;  and  if  any  of  said  agents  should  be 
unable  or  unwilling  to  act  in  this  case,  it  will  be  his  or  their  duty  to  in- 
form the  moderator  of  his  or  their  Synod,  for  the  time  being,  who  is 
hereby  authorized,  if  he  think  proper,  to  appoint  a  substitute  or  substi- 
tutes, as  the  case  may  require.  These  agents  are  to  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  Assembly  generally,  and  all  the 
clergy  of  our  denomination  within  our  bounds,  do  aid  the  exertions  of 
those  who  shall  go  on  in  this  business. 

7.  That  as  filling  the  church  with  a  learned  and  able  ministry,  without  a 
corresponding  portion  of  real  piety,  would  be  a  curse  to  the  world  and  an 
offence  to  God  and  his  people,  so  the  General  Assembly  think  it  their  duty 
to  state  that,  in  establishing  a  seminary  for  training  up  ministers,  it  is 
their  earnest  desire  to  guard  as  far  as  possible  against  so  great  an  evil ; 
they  do  hereby  solemnly  pledge  themselves  to  the  churches  under  their 
care  that,  in  forming  and  carrying  into  execution  the  plan  of  the  proposed 
seminary,  it  will  be  their  endeavor  to  make  it,  under  the  blessing  of  God, 
a  nursery  of  vital  piety  as  well  as  of  sound  theological  learning,  and  to 
train  up  persons  for  the  ministry  who  shall  be  lovers  as  well  as  defenders 
of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  friends  of  revivals  of  religion,  and  a  blessing 
to  the  Church  of  God. 

8.  That  as  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  guarantees  to  every  Presby- 
tery t-he  right  of  judging  of  its  own  candidates  for  licensure  and  ordina- 


OF   LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  373 

tion,  so  the  Assembly  think  it  proper  to  state  most  explicitly  that  every 
Presbytery  and  Synod  will,  of  course,  be  left  at  full  liberty  to  countenance 
the  proposed  plan  or  not  at  pleasure,  and  to  send  their  students  to  the  pro- 
jected seminary,  or  keep  them  as  heretofore  within  their  own  bounds,  as 
they  think  most  conducive  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Church. 

9.  That  the  professors  in  the  seminary  shall  not  in  any  case  be  consid- 
ered as  having  a  right  to  license  candidates  to  preach  the  gospel,  but  thai 
all  such  candidates  shall  be  remitted  to  their  respective  Presbyteries  to  be 
examined  and  licensed  as  heretofore. 

10.  Resolved  finally.  That  Dr.  Samuel  Miller  and  Rev.  James  Richards 
be  a  Committee  to  prepare  a  draught  of  an  address  from  this  Assembly  to 
the  churches  under  our  care,  calling  their  attention  to  the  subject  of  a 
theological  school,  and  earnestly  soliciting  their  patronage  and  support  in 
the  execution  of  the  plan  now  proposed. — 1810,  p.  458. 

d.  Agreement  ivitli  the  Trustees  of  Neio  Jersey  College. 

a.  An  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  trustees  of  the  college  of  New 
Jersey,  stating  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of  their  Board  to  confer 
with  a  Committee  of  this  Assembly  on  the  establishment  of  a  theological 
school,  being  received,  was  read,  and  Drs.  Alexander  and  Nott,  the  Rev. 
John  P.  Campbell,  Messrs.  Connelly  and  Bethune,  were  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee to  confer  with  the  Committee  of  the  trustees. — 1811,  p.  466. 

b.  This  Committee  reported  among  other  things  that  they  deem  it  expe- 
dient on  the  part  of  this  Assembly  to  appoint  a  Committee,  with  ample 
pow'ers,  to  meet  a  Committee  on  the  part  of  the  trustees  of  the  college  of 
New  Jersey,  invested  with  similar  powers,  to  frame  the  ])lan  of  a  constitu- 
tion for  the  theological  seminary,  containing  the  fundamental  principles 
of  a  union  with  the  trustees  of  that  college  and  the  seminary  already  es- 
tablished by  them,  which  shall  never  be  changed  or  altered  without  the 
mutual  consent  of  both  parties,  provided  that  it  should  be  deemed  proper 
to  locate  the  Assembly's  seminary  at  the  same  place  with  that  of  the  col- 
lege.    [The  Committee  was  appointed.] — 1811,  pp.  470,  471. 

e.   Terms  of  Agreement. 

The  following  plan  of  an  agreement  between  a  Committee  appointed  by 
the  last  General  Assembly  and  a  Committee  of  the  trustees  of  the  college 
of  New  Jersey  for  the  location  and  establishment  of  a  theological  semi- 
nary, was  submitted  to  this  Assembly,  and  was  adopted: 

1.  That  the  theological  seminary  about  to  be  erected  by  the  General 
Assembly  shall  have  its  location  in  Princeton  or  its  immediate  vicinitv,  in 
the  State  of  New  Jersey,  and  in  such  connection  with  the  college  of  New- 
Jersey  as  is  implied  in  the  following  articles: 

2.  That  the  trustees  of  the  college  engage  that  the  General  Assembly 
and  directors,  to  be  by  them  appointed,  shall  carry  into  full  and  complete 
effect,  without  any  interposition,  interference,  let  or  hindrance  from  them, 
the  trustees  or  their  successors,  the  whole  plan  of  a  theological  seminary, 
as  laid  down  and  agreed  upon  at  a  meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  the  present 
year  of  our  Lord,  1811.  That  is  to  say,  that  the  said  General  Assemblv 
shall  appoint  their  directors,  choose  their  professors,  carry  on  their  instruc- 
tion, govern  their  pupils  and  manage  their  funds  as  to  them  shall  appear 
best. 

3.  That  the  trustees  of  the  college  engage  to  the  General  Assembly 
freely  to  allow  them  to  erect  at  their  own  expense,  on  the  grounds  belong- 
ing to  the  college,  such  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  pupils  and 


374  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

professors  as  they  may  judge  proper,  and  which  may  not  interfere  with  the 
buildings  and  their  conveniences  already  erected  by  the  trustees ;  and  to 
prevent  all  future  dissatisfaction  on  this  subject,  that  it  be  agreed  that 
^Yheu  the  General  Assembly  or  the  directors  of  the  tlieological  seminary 
may  wish  to  erect  any  building  on  the  college  grounds,  and  there  shall  be 
any  discordance  of  views  relative  to  the  same,  then  the  General  Assembly 
or  the  directors  aforesaid  shall  appoint  three  men  and  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees the  same  number,  and  these  six  shall  choose  one  man  not  belonging 
to  either  body;  and  these  seven  men,  by  a  majority  of  votes,  shall  deter- 
mine whether  said  building  can  be  properly  erected  on  said  grounds,  and 
if  so,  what  shall  be  the  site  and  size  of  the  same;  and  that  this  determina- 
tion shall  be  conclusive  and  final  with  both  parties.  Provided  nothing 
contained  in  this  article  shall  be  understood  to  prohibit  the  General  As- 
semblv  or  the  directors  of  the  theological  seminary  from  making  use  of 
any  other  ground,  within  the  limits  prescribed  in  article  first,  for  the  pur- 
poses aforesaid, 

4.  That  the  trustees  engage  to  the  General  Assembly  to  grant  them 
every  practicable  accommodation  in  the  buildings  now  existing,  not  only 
till  others  may  be  erected  by  the  Assembly,  but  afterward,  so  long  as  the 
same  may  be  desirable. 

5.  That  the  trustees  engage  to  endeavor  to  receive  into  the  college  all 
the  youth  whom  the  Assembly,  or  the  directors  by  them  appointed,  may 
send  to  it  for  the  purpose  of  education,  subject  to  such  examination  at 
entrance  and  to  such  discipline  during  their  residence  in  college  as  the 
other  pupils  of  the  college  are  subjected  to,  the  trustees  to  receive  for  the 
expenses  of  board,  tuition  and  room-rent  the  same  as  for  others,  and  giv- 
ing to  the  Assembly  the  assurance  that  as  pupils  increase  and  the  funds  of 
the  college  will  permit,  they  will  reduce  as  low  as  possible  all  the  expenses 
of  the  pupils  under  their  care. 

6.  That  the  trustees  agree  to  receive  and  hold  for  the  use  of  the  Assem- 
bly such  sums  of  money  as  they  may  voluntarily  choose  to  deposit  in  the 
hands  of  the  trustees  for  improvement,  so  as  to  incur  no  inconvenience  to 
such  trustees  from  the  limitation  of  their  charter,  and  that  such  sums  of 
money  be  accordingly  invested  in  such  funds  as  the  Assembly  shall  direct; 
that  the  trustees  pay  the  interest  thereof,  when  received,  to  the  order  of  the 
Assembly,  keep  it  wholly  separate  from  the  funds  of  the  college,  and  pay 
over  or  transfer  to  the  order  of  the  Assembly  the  principal  sura  wheu- 
ever  they  shall  so  direct. 

7.  That  the  trustees  grant  to  the  professors  and  pupils  of  the  theologi- 
cal seminary  the  free  use  of  the  college  library,  sul)ject  to  such  rules  as 
may  be  adopted  for  the  preservation  of  the  books  and  the  good  ortler  of 
the  same. 

8.  That  if  the  General  Assembly  shall  wish  to  establish  at  Princeton  an 
elementary  school  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  such  learning  as  usually 
precedes  their  entrance  into  college,  the  trustees  agree  to  aid  them  in  this 
undertaking  by  every  accommodation  and  all  the  patronage  in  their 
power,  so,  however,  as  not  to  engage  to  make  drafts  on  the  funds  of  the 
college  for  that  purpose. 

9.  That  if  at  any  time  the  General  Assembly  shall  find  that  the  connec- 
tion between  their  seminary  and  the  college  does  not  conduce  sutficiently 
to  the  great  purposes  contemplated  to  be  answered  by  the  said  seminary, 
they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  remove  it  to  some  other  place;  and  the  trustees 
engage  that  while  the  theological  seminary  shall  remain  at  Princeton  no 
professorship  of  theology  shall  be  established  in  the  college. 

10.  That  whereas  the  trustees  of  the  college  have  in  their  hands  a  fund, 


OF    LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  375 

the  annual  income  of  which  is  nearly  eighteen  hundred  dollars,  appropri- 
ated by  the  donors  to  the  education  of  poor  and  pious  youth  for  the  gos- 
pel ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination,  the  trustees  give  an  assur- 
ance to  the  Assembly  that  if  the  first  of  these  articles  take  effect  they  will 
pay  a  high  regard  to  the  recommendation  of  the  Assembly  or  of  their 
directors  as  to  the  youth  who  shall  receive  the  benefit  of  this  fund. 

AsHBEL  Green,  John  "NVoodhull, 

KicHAKD  Stockton, 

Committee  of  the  Trustees  of  Neiv  Jersey  College. 
Archibald  Alexander,        Robert  Ralston, 
Jacob  J.  Janeway,  John  McDowell, 

Committee  of  the  General  Assembly. 
Princeton,  June  26,  1811.  —1812,  p.  499. 

/.   TJie  Location  fixed  at  Princeton. 

The  resolution  for  locating  the  theological  seminary  was  again  resumed, 
and  after  considerable  discussion  and  special  prayer  for  direction  on  the 
important  subject,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

Resolved,  That  Princeton  be  the  site  of  the  theological  seminary,  leav- 
ing the  subject  open  as  to  its  permanency,  agreeably  to  the  stipulations 
agreed  upon  by  the  joint  Committees  of  the  last  Assembly  and  the  trustees 
of  the  college  of  New  Jersey. — 1812,  p.  497. 

Resolved,  That  the  permanent  location  of  the  theological  seminary  be 
in  the  borough  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  in  conformity  Avith  the  agree- 
ment with  the  trustees  of  the  college  signed  at  Princeton,  June  26,  1811, 
and  ratified  by  the  General  Assembly  at  their  sessions  in  May,  1812. — 
1813,  p.  533. 

5.  The  Seminaries. 

I.  PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 

[The  following  are  all  the  provisions  of  the  plan  of  the  seminary  that 
are  of  general  interest.  Such  as  relate  to  the  mere  internal  management 
are  omitted.  The  plan  was  drawn  up  by  a  Committee  (see  above,  title  2, 
sec.  V.)  and  adopted  by  the  Assembly  (Minutes,  1811,  p.  472),  and  subse- 
quently, by  occasional  amendments,  modified  to  its  present  form.  In  the 
following  articles  those  sections  which  have  no  reference  affixed  to  them 
stand  as  originally  adopted.  All  the  other  seminaries  of  our  Church  are 
organized  upon  the  same  essential  plan.  See  Baird,  Rev.  Ed.,  pp.  434- 
438.] 

Article  I. —  Of  the  General  Assembly. 

Section  1.  As  this  institution  derives  its  origin  from  the  General  As- 
sembly, so  that  body  is  to  be  considered  at  all  times  as  its  patron  and  the 
fountain  of  its  powers.  The  Assembly  shall  accordingly  ultimately  sanc- 
tion all  its  laws,  direct  its  instructions  and  appoint  its  principal  officers. 

Sec.  2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  choose  a  Board  of  Directors,  con- 
sisting of  twenty-one  ministers  and  nine  ruling  elders,  by  whom  the  semi- 
nary shall  be  inspected  and  conducted.  Of  this  number  one-third,  or  seven 
ministers  and  three  elders,  shall  be  chosen  annually,  to  continue  in  office 
three  years ;  and  if  any  vacancy  shall  occur  in  the  Board  by  death,  resig- 
nation or  incapacity  to  serve,  the  Assembly  may  annually  fill  up  such 
vacancies. — 1815,  p.  581. 

Sec.  3.  All  professors  of  the  seminary  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Assem- 
bly.    But  in  cases  of  necessity  the  Board  of  Directors  may  employ  a  suit- 


376  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

able  person  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  professor  till  a  meeting  of  the  As- 
sembly shall  take  place. 

Sec.  4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  at  all  times  have  the  power  of 
adding  to  the  constitutional  articles  of  the  seminary,  and  abrogating, 
altering  or  amending  them ;  but  in  the  exercise  of  this  power  the  contem- 
plated additions,  abrogations,  alterations  or  amendments  shall  in  every 
case  be  proposed  at  one  Assembly,  and  not  adopted  till  the  Assembly  of 
the  subsequent  year,  except  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

Article  II. —  Of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Sec.  1.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  meet  statedly  once  in  each  year 
at  the  close  of  the  session,  and  oftener  on  their  own  adjournment  if  they< 
shall  judge  it  expedient.  Nine  members  of  the  Board  shall  be  a  quorum, 
provided  always,  that  of  this  number  five  at  least  be  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  the  president,  or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  one  of  the  vice  presidents, 
be  one. — 1841,  p.  4o(>. 

Sec.  2.  The  Board  shall  choose  out  of  their  own  number  a  President, 
two  Vice  Presidents  and  a  Secretary.  In  the  absence  of  the  President 
and  Vice  Presidents  the  senior  member  shall  preside. 

Sec.  3.  The  President  of  the  Board,  or,  in  the  event  of  his  death,  ab- 
sence or  inability  to  act,  the  first  Vice  President,  shall,  at  the  request  of 
any  three  members,  expressed  to  him  in  Avriting,  call  a  special  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Directors  by  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  each  ;  in  which 
letter  notice  shall  be  given  not  only  of  the  place  and  time  of  meeting,  but 
of  the  business  intended  to  be  transacted  at  the  meeting  notified ;  and  this 
letter  shall  be  sent  at  least  twenty  days  before  the  time  of  said  meeting. — 
1812,  p.  508. 

Sec.  4.  The  Secretary  of  the  Board  shall  keep  accurate  records  of  all 
the  proceedings  of  the  directors ;  and  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  lay  these 
records,  or  a  faithful  transcript  of  the  same,  before  the  General  Assembly 
annually,  for  the  unrestrained  inspection  of  all  the  members. 

Sec.  7.  The  Board  shall  direct  the  professors  of  the  seminary  in  regard 
to  the  subjects  and  topics  on  which  they  are  severally  to  give  instruction 
to  the  pupils,  so  far  as  tiie  same  shall  not  be  prescribed  by  this  plan  or  by 
the  orders  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to  inaugurate 
the  professors  of  the  seminary,  and  to  direct  what  forms  shall  be  used, 
and  what  services  performed,  on  such  occasions. 

Sec.  9.  Every  director,  previously  to  his  taking  his  seat  as  a  member 
of  the  Board,  shall  solemnly  subscribe  the  following  formula,  viz. :  "Ap- 
proving the  plan  of  the  theological  seminary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  I  solemnly  declare  and  promise,  in  tlie 
presence  of  God  and  of  this  Board,  that  I  will  faithfully  endeavor  to  carry 
into  effect  all  the  articles  and  provisions  of  said  plan,  and  to  promote  tlie 
great  design  of  the  seminary." 

Sec.  10.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  inspect  the  fidelity  of  the  pro- 
fessors, especially  in  regard  to  the  doctrines  actually  taught;  and  if,  after 
due  inquiry  and  examination,  they  shall  judge  that'any  ])rofessor  is  either 
unsound  in  the  faith,  opposed  to  the  fundamental  principles  ui"  Pi'esby- 
terian  Church  government,  immoral  in  his  conduct,  unfaithful  to  his  trust 
or  incompetent  to  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  they  shall  faithfully  report 
him  as  such  to  the  General  Assembly.  Or  if  the  longer  continuance  of  a 
professor  be  judged  highly  dangerous,  the  directors  may  immediately  sus- 
pend him,  and  appoint  another  in  his  place,  till  the  whole  business  can  be 
reported  and  submitted  to  the  Assembly. 


OF   LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  377 

Sec.  11.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to  watch  over 
the  conduct  of  the  students ;  to  redress  grievances ;  to  examine  into  the 
whole  course  of  instruction  and  study  in  the  seminary ;  and  generally  to 
superintend  and  endeavor  to  promote  all  its  interests. 

Sec.  12.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  make  in  writing  a  detailed  and 
faithful  report  of  the  state  of  the  seminary  to  every  General  Assembly, 
and  they  may  at  the  same  time  recommend  such  measures  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  seminary  as  to  them  may  appear  proper. 

Article  III. —  Of  the  Professors. 

Sec.  1.  The  number  of  the  professors  in  the  seminary  shall  be  increased 
or  diminished  as  the  Assembly  may  from  time  to  time  direct.  But  when 
the  seminary  shall  be  completely  organized,  there  shall  not  be  less  than 
three  professors. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  shall  be  inducted  into  the  office  of  professor  of  divin- 
ity but  an  ordained  minister  of  the  gospel. 

Sec.  3,  Every  person  elected  to  a  professorship  in  this  seminary  shall, 
on  being  inaugurated,  solemnly  subscribe  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Cate- 
chisms and  Form  of  Government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  agreeably 
to  the  following  formula,  viz. :  "  In  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the  direct- 
ors of  this  seminary,  I  do  solemnly  and  ex  animo  adopt,  receive  and  sub- 
scribe the  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America  as  the  confession  of  my  faith,  or  as  a 
summary  and  just  exhibition  of  that  system  of  doctrine  and  religious  be- 
lief which  is  contained  in  Holy  Scripture,  and  therein  revealed  by  God  to 
man  for  his  salvation  ;  and  I  do  solemnly  ex  animo  profess  to  receive  the 
Form  of  Government  of  said  Church  as  agreeable  to  the  inspired  oracles. 
And  I  do  solemnly  promise  and  engage  not  to  inculcate,  teach  or  insinuate 
anything  which  shall  appear  to  me  to  contradict  or  contravene,  either  di- 
rectly or  impliedly,  aiaything  taught  in  the  said  Confession  of  Faith  or 
Catechisms,  nor  to  oppose  any  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  Presby- 
terian Church  government,  while  I  shall  continue  a  professor  in  this  semi- 
nary." 

Sec.  4.  The  salaries  of  the  professors  shall  be  recommended  by  the  di- 
rectors, but  they  shall  be  fixed  only  by  a  vote  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  6.  Each  professor  shall  lay  before  the  Board  of  Directors,  as  soon 
as  practicable  after  his  appointment,  a  detailed  exhibition  of  the  system 
and  method  which  he  proposes  to  pursue,  and  the  subjects  which  he  pro- 
poses to  discuss,  in  conducting  the  studies  of  the  youth  that  shall  come 
under  his  care,  aud  in  this  system  he  shall  make  sucli  alterations  or  ad- 
ditions as  the  Board  shall  direct ;  so  that,  eventually,  the  whole  course 
through  which  the  pupils  shall  be  carried  shall  be  no  other  than  that 
which  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  approved  and  sanctioned,  con- 
formably to  sec.  8,  art.  ii.  And  as  often  as  any  pi'ofessor  shall  think  that 
variations  and  additions  of  importance  may  be  advantageously  introduced 
into  his  course  of  teaching,  he  shall  submit  the  same  to  the  Board  of  Di- 
rectors for  their  approbation  or  rejection. 

Sec.  8.  Any  pi'ofessor  intending  to  resign  his  office  shall  give  six 
months'  notice  of  such  intention  to  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Sec.  9.  The  professors  of  the  institution  shall  be  considered  as  a  faculty. 
They  shall  meet  at  such  seasons  as  they  may  judge  proper.  In  every 
meeting  the  senior  professor  present  shall  preside.  The  faculty  shall 
choose  a  clerk,  and  keep  accurate  records  of  all  their  proceedings;  which 
records  shall  be  laid  before  the  directors  at  every  meeting  of  the  Board. 

48 


378  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

The  president  of  the  fixculty  shall  call  a  meeting  whenever  he  shall  judge 
it  expedient,  and  whenever  he  shall  be  requested  to  do  so  by  any  other 
membei*.  By  the  faculty,  regularly  convened,  shall  be  determined  the 
hours  and  seasons  at  which  the  classes  shall  attend  the  professors  severally, 
so  as  to  prevent  interference  and  confusion,  and  to  afford  to  the  pupils  the 
best  opportunities  of  improvement.  The  faculty  shall  attend  to  and  de- 
cide on  all  cases  of  discipline  and  all  questions  of  order,  as  they  shall 
arise.  They  shall  agree  on  the  rules  of  order,  decorum  and  duty  (not  in- 
consistent with  any  provision  in  the  plan  of  the  seminary,  nor  with  any 
order  of  the  Board  of  Directors)  to  which  the  students  shall  be  subjected; 
and  these  they  shall  reduce  to  writing,  and  cause  to  be  publicly  and  fre- 
quently read.  They  shall  determine  the  hours  at  which  the  whole  of  the 
pupils  shall,  morning  and  evening,  attend  for  social  worship,  and  the  man- 
ner in  which,  and  the  person  or  persons  of  their  own  number  by  whom, 
the  exercises  of  devotion  shall  be  conducted. — 18-10,  p.  293,  0.  S. 

Sec.  10.  The  faculty  shall  be  empowered  to  dismiss  from  the  seminary 
any  student  who  shall  prove  unsound  in  his  religious  sentiments,  immoral 
or  disorderly  in  his  conduct,  or  who  may  be,  in  their  opinion,  on  any 
account  whatsoever,  a  dangerous  or  unprofitable  member  of  the  institu- 
tion. 

Sec.  12.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  professors,  under  the  direction  of 
tlie  Board  of  Directors,  to  supply  the  pupils  of  the  institution  with  the 
preaching  of  the  gos})el  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  of  the 
Christian  Church,  if  this  supply  shall  not,  in  the  judgment  of  the  direct- 
ors, be  satisfactorily  furnished  by  a  church  or  churches  in  the  j)lace  where 
the  institution  shall  be  established. 

Article  IV. —  Of  Study  and  Attainments. 

Sec.  1.  Every  student,  at  the  close  of  his  course,  must  have  made  the 
following  attainments,  viz. :  He  must  be  well  skilled  in  the  original  lan- 
guages of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  must  be  able  to  explain  the  princijjal 
difficulties  which  arise  in  the  perusal  of  the  Scriptures,  either  from  erro- 
neous translations,  apparent  inconsistencies,  real  obscurities  or  objections 
arising  from  history,  reason  or  argument.  He  must  be  versed  in  Jewish 
and  Christian  antiquities  which  serve  to  explain  and  illustrate  Scripture. 
He  must  have  an  acquaintance  with  ancient  geograj^hy,  and  with  Oriental 
customs  which  throw  light  on  the  sacred  records.  Thus  he  will  have  laid 
the  foundation  for  becoming  a  sound  biblical  critic. 

He  must  have  read  and  digested  the  principal  arguments  and  writings 
relative  to  what  has  been  called  the  deistical  controversy.  Thus  will  he 
be  qualified  to  become  a  defender  of  the  Christian  faith. 

He  must  be  able  to  support  the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  Faith 
and  Cateciiisms  by  a  ready,  pertinent  and  abundant  quotation  of  Scrip- 
ture texts  for  that  purpose.  He  must  have  studied,  carefully  and  cor- 
rectly, natural,  didactic,  polemic  and  casuistic  theology.  He  must  have 
a  considerable  acquaintance  with  general  history  and  chronology,  and  a 
particular  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  the  Christian  Churcli.  Thus 
he  will  be  preparing  to  become  an  able  and  sound  divine  and  ca.suist. 

He  must  have  read  a  considerable  number  of  the  best  practical  writers 
on  the  subject  of  religion.  He  must  have  learned  to  compose  with  cor- 
rectness and  readiness  in  his  own  language,  and  to  deliver  what  he  has 
composed  to  others  in  a  natural  and  acceptable  manner.  He  must  be  well 
acipiainted  with  the  several  parts  and  the  proper  structure  of  popular 
lectures  and  sermons.  He  must  have  composed  at  least  two  lectures  and 
four  popular  sermons  that  shall  have  been  approved  by  the  professors. 


OF    LICENSING    CANDIDATES.  379 

He  must  have  carefully  studied  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  care.  Thus  he 
will  be  prepared  to  become  a  useful  preacher  and  a  faithful  })astor. 

He  must  have  studied  attentively  the  Form  of  Church  Government, 
authorized  by  the  Scriptures,  and  the  administration  of  it  as  it  has  taken 
place  in  Protestant  churches.  Thus  he  will  be  qualified  to  exercise  dis- 
cipline, and  to  take  part  in  the  government  of  the  Church  in  all  its  judi- 
catories. 

Sec.  2.  The  period  of  continuance  in  the  theological  seminary  shall  in 
no  case  be  less  than  three  years  previously  to  an  examination  for  a  certifi- 
cate of  approbation.  But  students  may  enter  the  seminary  and  enjoy  the 
course  of  instruction  for  a  shorter  time  than  three  years,  provided  they  in 
all  other  respects  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  seminary,  of  which  facts  they 
may  receive  a  written  declaration  from  the  professors. 

Sec.  3.  There  shall  be  an  examination  of  all  the  pupils  in  the  seminary 
at  every  stated  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors.  Those  pupils  who 
shall  have  regularly  and  diligently  studied  for  three  years  shall  be  ad- 
mitted to  an  examination  on  the  subjects  specified  in  this  article.  All 
examinations  shall  be  conducted  by  the  professors  in  the  presence  of  the 
directors  or  a  Committee  of  them.  Every  director  present  shall  be  at  lib- 
erty, during  the  progress  of  any  examination  or  after  the  same  shall  have 
been  closed  by  the  professors,  to  put  to  any  pupils  such  questions  as  he 
shall  deem  proper.  Every  pupil  that  shall  have  passed  his  final  exami- 
nation to  the  satisfaction  of  the  directors  present  shall  receive  a  certificate 
of  the  same,  signed  by  the  professors,  with  which  he  shall  be  remitted  to 
the  Presbytery  under  whose  care  he  is  placed,  to  be  disposed  of  as  such 
Presbytery  shall  direct.  Those  who  do  not  pass  a  satisfactory  examina- 
tion shall  remain  a  longer  space  in  the  seminary. — 1819,  p.  707. 

Sec.  4.  It  shall  be  the  object  of  the  professors  to  make  such  arrange- 
ments in  the  instruction  of  their  pupils  as  shall  be  best  adapted  to  enable 
them,  in  the  space  of  three  years,  to  be  examined  with  advantage  on  the 
subjects  specified  in  this  article. 

Article  V. —  Oj  Devotion  and  Improvement  in  Practical  Piety. 

[Omitted.] 

Article  VI. — Of  the  Students. 

Sec.  1.  Every  student  applying  for  admission  to  the  theological  semi- 
nary shall  produce  satisfactory  testimonials  that  he  joossesses  good  natural 
talents,  and  is  of  a  prudent  and  discreet  deportment;  that  he  is  in  full 
communion  with  some  regular  church  ;  that  he  has  passed  through  a  reg- 
ular course  of  academical  studj^;  or,  wanting  this,  he  shall  submit  himself 
to  an  examination  in  regard  to  the  branches  of  literature  taught  in  such  a 
course. 

Sec.  2.  The  first  six  months  of  every  student  in  the  seminary  shall  be 
considered  as  probationary;  and  if,  at  the  end  of  this  period,  any  student 
shall  appear  to  the  professors  not  qualified  to  proceed  in  his  studies,  they 
shall  so  report  him  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  who,  if  they  are  of  the  same 
opinion  with  the  professors,  shall  dismiss  him  from  the  seminary. 

Sec.  3.  The  hours  of  study  and  of  recreation  for  the  students  shall  be 
fixed  by  the  professors,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  directors,  and  every 
student  shall  pay  a  strict  regard  to  the  rules  established  relative  to  this 
subject. 

Sec.  4.  Every  student  shall  be  obliged  to  write  on  such  theological  and 
other  subjects  as  may  be  prescribed  to  him  by  the  professors  once  a  month, 
and  shall  also  commit  to  memory  a  piece  of  his  own  composition,  and 


380  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

pronounce  it  in  public  before  the  professors  and  students. — 18-40,  p.  293, 
O.S. 

Sec.  9.  Every  student,  before  he  takes  his  standing  in  the  seminary, 
shall  subsci'ibe  the  following  declaration,  viz. :  "  Deeply  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  the  importance  of  improving  in  knowledge,  prudence  and  piety 
and  in  my  preparation  for  the  gospel  ministry,  I  solemnly  promise,  in  a 
reliance  on  divine  grace,  that  I  will  faithfully  and  diligently  attend  on  all 
the  instructions  of  this  seminary,  and  that  I  will  conscientiously  and  vigi- 
lantly observe  all  the  rules  and  regulations  specified  in  the  plan  for  its 
instruction  and  government,  so  far  as  the  same  relate  to  the  students,  and 
that  I  will  obey  all  the  lawful  requisitions  and  readily  yield  to  all  the 
wholesome  admonitions  of  the  professors  and  directors  of  the  seminary 
"while  I  shall  continue  a  member  of  it." 

Sec.  10.  The  exercises  of  the  seminary  shall  be  suspended  during  four- 
teen weeks  in  every  year,  the  number  of  vacations  and  the  times  at  which 
they  shall  begin  and  end  to  be  determined  by  the  Board  of  Directors. — 
1840,  p.  293,  O.  S. 

Article  VII. —  Of  the  funds. 

Sec.  1.  The  funds  of  the  institution  shall  be  kept  at  all  times  entirely  dis- 
tinct and  separate  from  all  other  moneys  or  funds  whatsoever,  and  they 
shall  be  deposited  in  the  hands  of  such  cox'poration,  or  disposed  of  for  safe 
keeping  and  improvement  in  such  other  manner,  as  the  General  Assembly 
shall  direct. 

Sec.  2.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  from  time  to  time,  as  they  may 
see  proper,  lay  before  the  Assembly  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the 
funds,  and  propositions  for  the  appropriation  of  such  sums  as  they  may 
think  necessary  for  particular  purposes. 

Sec.  3.  No  money  shall  at  any  time  be  drawn  from  the  funds  but  by  an 
appropriation  and  order  of  the  Assembly  for  the  purpose. 

Sec.  4.  A  fair  statement  shall  annually  be  laid  before  the  Assembly  by 
the  proper  officer  of  the  amount  of  the  funds  belonging  to  the  seminary, 
of  the  items  which  constitute  that  amount,  and  of  the  expenditures  in 
detail  for  the  preceding  year. 

Sec.  5.  The  intention  and  directions  of  testators  or  donors,  in  regard  to 
moneys  or  other  property  left  or  given  to  the  seminary,  shall  at  all  times 
be  sacredly  regarded.  And  if  any  individual,  or  any  number  of  individu- 
als, not  greater  than  three,  shall  will,  or  during  his  or  their  lives  fouud  or 
endow  a  professorship  or  professorships,  a  scholarship  or  scholarships,  or 
a  fund  or  funds  destined  to  special  purposes,  said  professorships,  scholar- 
ships or  funds  shall  for  ever  afterward  be  called  and  known  by  the  name 
or  names  of  those  who  founded  or  endowed  them  ;  and  if  any  congregation, 
Presbytery,  Synod  or  Association  shall  found  a  professorsliip  or  professor- 
ships, or  scholarship  or  scholarships,  or  a  fund  or  funds,  said  jjrofcssor- 
ships,  scholar-ships  or  funds  shall  for  ever  afterward  be  called  and  known 
by  such  names  as  the  body  founding  tliem  shall  give. 

Sec.  6.  After  supporting  the  professor,  and  defraying  the  other  neces- 
sary charges  of  the  seminary,  the  funds  shall  be  ajjplied,  as  far  as 
circumstances  will  admit,  to  defray  or  diminish  the  expenses  of  those 
students  who  may  need  pecuniary  aid,  as  well  as  to  lessen  generally  the 
expense  of  a  residence  at  the  seminary. 

h.  Election  of  Directors. 

That  when  the  Assembly  shall  proceed  to  the  election  of  directors  of 
the  theological  seminary,  the  clerk  shall  call  on  the  members  severally  to 


OF    LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  381 

nomiuate  any  number  of  persons,  not  exceeding  the  number  to  be  elected, 
if  he  shall  think  it  expedient  to  make  any  nomination. 

2.  That  when  the  meml^ers  have  been  severally  called  upon  in  the  order 
of  the  roll  to  make  a  nomination  agreeably  to  the  above  rule,  the  names 
of  the  persons  nominated  sliall  be  immediately  read  by  the  clerk  for  the 
information  of  the  members,  and  that  on  the  day  following  the  Assembly 
proceed  to  elect  by  ballot  the  whole  number  of  directors  to  be  chosen. 

3.  That  two  members  be  appointed  to  take  an  account  of  the  votes 
given  for  the  candidates  nominated  for  directors  of  said  theological  semi- 
nary, and  to  report  to  the  Assembly  tlie  number  of  votes  for  each  of  the 
said  candidates  who  have  a  plurality  of  votes,  who  shall  be  declared  duly 
elected;  but  if  the  whole  number  to  be  elected  should  not  be  elected,  and 
two  or  more  of  the  candidates  should  have  an  equal  number  of  votes, 
then  in  that  case  the  house  shall  proceed  to  elect  from  the  nomination  a 
sufficient  number  to  complete  the  Board,  and  shall  continue  to  vote  in  this 
manner  until  the  full  number  specihed  by  the  constitution  of  the  theolo- 
gical seminary  be  completed. 

4.  When  the  votes  shall  have  been  counted,  and  the  requisite  number 
of  directors  shall  have  been  elected  in  the  manner  above  specified,  the 
moderator  shall  announce  to  the  Assembly  the  names  of  those  persons 
who  shall  appear  to  have  the  highest  number  of  votes  and  are  thus 
elected.— 1812,  p.  503. 

c.  Manner  of  Electing  Professors. 

That  whenever  a  professor  or  professors  are  to  be  elected,  the  Assembly 
by  a  vote  shall  determine  the  day  when  said  election  shall  be  held,  which 
day  shall  be  at  least  two  days  after  the  above  determination  has  been 
made.  Immediately  after  the  vote  fixing  the  day  has  passed,  the  Assem- 
bly shall  have  a  season  for  special  prayer  for  direction  in  their  choice. 
The  election  in  all  cases  shall  be  made  by  ballot.  The  ballots  having  been 
counted  by  two  members  previously  appointed,  they  shall  report  a  state- 
ment of  said  votes  to  the  moderator,  and  in  case  there  shall  appear  to  be 
an  equal  number  of  votes  for  any  two  or  more  candidates,  the  Assembly 
shall  proceed  either  immediately  or  at  some  subsequent  period  of  their 
sessions  to  a  new  election.  The  choice  being  made,  it  shall  be  announced 
to  the  Assembly  by  the  moderator. — 1812,  p.  503. 

d.  Plan  as  Amended  by  the  Assembly  of  1870. 

The  Committee  on  Theological  Seminaries  presented  a  report  on  the 
memorial  of  the  directors  of  Princeton  seminary,  with  the  following  reso- 
lutions, which  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

Itesohed,  1.  That  the  plan  of  the  theological  seminary  at  Princeton  be 
changed  as  follows,  viz. : 

In  Article  I. —  Of  the  General  Assembly. 

Section  1  shall  hereafter  read  as  follows:  "As  this  institution  derives  its 
origin  from  the  General  Assembly,  that  body  is  to  be  considered  its  patron 
and  the  fountain  of  its  powers." 

Section  2  shall  hereafter  read  as  follows :  "  The  Board  of  Directors 
appointed  by  the  Assembly  shall  have  the  immediate  control  of  the 
seminary." 

Section  3  shall  be  omitted. 

Section  4  shall  remain  as  it  is. 


382  FORM   OF   GOVERXMENT. 

In  Article  II. —  Of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

*  Section  1  shall  hereafter  be  as  follows:  "The  Board  of  Directors  shall 
consist  of  twenty-one  ministers  and  nine  ruling  elders,  and  shall  have 
power  to  fill  any  vacancies  which  may  hereafter  occur  in  its  body,  subject 
always,  however,  to  the  veto  of  the  General  Assembly." 

Section  2  shall  hereafter  be  as  follows:  "The  Board  of  Directors  shall 
have  power  to  elect  the  professors  and  to  remove  them  from  office,  such 
election  and  renioval  to  be  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  General  Assembly. 
The  said  Board  shall  also  have  power  to  suspend  temporarily  a  professor, 
preliminary  to  and  pending  an  investigation  of  charges  against  his  life  or 
doctrine." 

Sections  1,  2,  3,  4,  7,  8,  9,  11,  12  of  this  article  shall  hereafter  be  respect-*" 
ively  Sections  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10  and  11. 

Section  10  of  this  article,  as  it  stands,  shall  hereafter  be  omitted. 

Article  III.  —  Of  the  Professors. 

Section  1  shall  hereafter  be  as  follows :  "  The  number  of  professors  in 
the  seminary  shall  be  increased  or  diminished  as  the  Board  of  Directors 
shall  from  time  to  time  direct." 

Section  2  shall  remain  as  it  is. 

Section  3  shall  remain  as  it  is. 

Section  4  shall  hereafter  be  as  follows :  "  The  salaries  of  the  professors 
shall  be  fixed  by  the  Board  of  Directors." 

Sections  6,  8,  9,  10  and  12  of  this  article  shall  hereafter  be  respectively 
Sections  5,  6,  7,  8  and  9. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  salary  of  each  professor  be  increased  to  three 
thousand  dollars  per  annum  from  May  1,  1809,  the  increase  to  be  paid 
out  of  any  unappropriated  funds  of  the  seminary  in  the  hands  of  its 
trustees. 

The  following  changes  in  Article  VII.,  on  the  suggestion  of  the  Com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Princeton  theological 
seminary  to  examine  Article  VII.  of  the  plan  of  the  seminary,  and  to  pro- 
pose to  the  Assembly  such  alterations  as  may  bring  that  article  into  har- 
mony with  the  other  alterations  ])roposed  in  the  report  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  to  the  Assembly,  were  adopted,  viz.: 

Omit  Sections  1,  2,  3  and  4,  and  in  lieu  thereof  insert  the  follow- 
ing, viz. : 

Sec.  1.  The  Board  of  Directors  are  authorized  to  exercise  all  the  con- 
trol of  the  funds  belonging  to  this  institution,  hitherto  exercised  by  the 
General  Assembly,  as  far  as  this  can  be  done  consistently  with  the  will  of  the 
testators  and  donors,  such  as  fixing  the  salary  of  the  professors,  regulat- 
ing the  amount  required  for  endowment  of  scholarships  or  professorships, 
and  keeping  sacred  and  distinct  the  difierent  funds  already  created,  or  to 
be  hereafter  created,  for  the  specific  objects  for  which  they  are  given. 

Sec.  2.  All  matters  relating  to  the  finances,  fixing  the  salaries  of  profes- 
sors, the  extent  of  endowment  and  the  aid  of  students  shall  be  by  the  Board 
of  Directors  submitted  to  the  trustees  of  the  seminary  for  their  aj)proval. 

Sec.  3,  Fair  statements  shall  bo  annually  presented  to  the  Assembly 
by  the  Board  of  Directors  and  ))y  the  trustees  of  the  amount  of  funds 
belonging  to  the  seminary,  of  the  items  which  constitute  that  amount, 
and  of  the  expenditures  in  detail  for  the  preceding  yi'ar. 

Sections  5  and  6  to  remain  as  heretofore,  and  to  be  numbered  respect- 
ively 4  and  5. — 1870,  pp.  Q>o,  GG. 

*  See  c,  below. 


OF    LICENSING    CANDIDATES.  383 

e.  Substitute  for  Article  2,  Section  1,  of  the  Plan  above. 

That  to  prevent  a  possible  ambiguity,  this  Committee,  Avith  the  appro- 
Ijatiou  of  the  directors  and  professors  of  Princeton  seminary,  propose  the 
following  as  a  substitute  for  Section  1,  Article  2,  of  the  plan  of  that  insti- 
tution, viz. :  "The  Board  of  Directors  shall  consist  of  twenty-one  ministers 
and  nine  ruling  elders,  of  whom  one-third,  or  seven  ministers  and  three 
elders,  shall  be  chosen  by  said  Board  annually,  to  continue  in  office  three 
years;  and  the  Board  shall  also  have  power  to  fill  all  vacancies  which 
niay  occur  in  its  body;  all  of  these  elections,  however,  shall  be  subject  to 
the' veto  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  whom  they  shall  be  reported  at  the 
next  meeting  thereafter."     Adopted. — 1871,  p.  579. 

[The  following  report  made  to  the  Assembly  in  1870  gives  in  detail 
the  origin  of  the  several  seminaries,  and  their  relations  to  the  Assembly 
at  the  time  of  the  reunion.] 

Report  on  Theological  Seminaries,  1870. 

The  Committee  on  Theological  Seminaries  presented  a  report,  which  was 
adopted,  as  follows  : 

The  number  of  theological  seminaries  connected  with  the  General  As- 
sembly, directly  or  indirectly,  is  seven. 

These  were  founded  after  different  methods  and  at  different  epochs, 
thus  representing  more  or  less  important  changes  of  sentiments  and  events 
in  the  history  of  the  ('hurch  and  the  country. 

I.  The  seminary  at  Princeton  was  founded  by  the  General  Assembly  it- 
self in  the  year  1812.  Coming  into  existence  in  the  early  part  of  this  cen- 
tury, immediately  after  the  organization  of  the  American  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions  and  the  seminary  at  Andover,  when  there  was  a  very  general 
unity  and  co-operation  of  good  men  throughout  the  land,  it  must  be  re- 
garded and  lujnored  as  the  firsc  of  those  great  movements  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church  which  looked  to  the  spreading  of  the  kingdt)m  of  Christ  at 
home  and  abroad. 

II.  The  seminary  at  Auburn  was  founded  in  the  year  1819,  for  the 
purpose  of  training  up  a  ministry  in  what  was  then  known  as  "the  West- 
ern countiy." 

III.  The  seminary  at  Allegheny  was  established  in  1825.  Lane  Semi- 
nary, at  Cincinnati,  in  1829. 

IV.  Those  three  seminaries  are  associated  with  two  things  :  1.  The 
beginning  of  that  tide  of  emigration  from  the  East  to  the  West  which  has 
been  rolling  and  surging  onward  ever  since;  and  2.  That  spirit  of  active 
evangelism  which  most  happily  was  simultaneous  with  westward  emigra- 
tion, a  new  power  and  life  of  religion  distinguishing  that  memorable 
period. 

V.  Union  theological  seminary,  in  New  York,  was  founded  in  the  year 
18o6,  one  year  preceding  the  disruption  of  the  Church.  Coming  into 
existence  at  that  extraordinary  time,  the  design  of  its  founders,  who  were 
then  largely  members  of  churches  known  after  the  division  as  Old  School, 
was,  in  their  own  language,  "to  provide  a  seminary  which  might  commend 
itself  to  all  men  of  moderate  views  and  feelings  desiring  to  live  free  from 
party  strife,  and  to  stand  aloof  from  all  extremes  of  doctrine  and  of 
practice." 

VI.  The  seminary  at  Danville,  Ky.,  w'as  founded  in  the  year  1853. 

VII.  That  now  at  Chicago,  111.,  was  established  in  that  city  in  the  year 
1859  by  removal  from  New  Albany — dates  sufficiently  distinct  to  repre- 


384  FORM   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

sent  advanced  stages  in  those  conflicts  of  opinion  which  subsequently 
convulsed  the  countiy  and  the  Church,  and  which  have  not  as  yet  entirely 
passed  away. 

The  seminaries  now  enumerated  were  founded  not  only  at  different 
times,  but  after  different  methods.  Those  at  Princeton,  Allegheny,  Dan- 
ville and  Chicago  were  established  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  are 
under  its  direct  supervision  and  control. 

The  seminary  at  Auburn  is  controlled  by  a  Board  of  Commissioners, 
elected  by  certain  Presbyteries  in  Central  and  "Western  New  York,  and 
a  Board  of  Trustees  elected  by  the  commissioners.  Its  faculty,  appointed 
by  the  Commissioners,  report  to  the  General  Assembly. 

Lane  semina'-y,  at  Cincinnati,  and  Union  seminary,  at  New  York,  were 
founded  by  individuals,  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  by 
their  charters,  most  cautiously  prepared,  are  made  Presbyterian  institu- 
tions, recognizing  our  standards  of  doctrine  and  polity,  though  not  under 
any  ecclesiastical  control. 

The  administration  of  these  seminaries  is  after  different  methods,  though 
in  some  cases  the  difference  is  more  in  name  and  form  than  in  essential 
fact. 

Princeton  seminary  is  administered  by  two  boards,  known  as  the  Board 
of  Directors  and  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The  former  are  elected  by  the 
General  Assembly  in  annual  classes.  The  latter,  having  control  of  the 
property,  is  a  dose  corporation,  filling  its  own  vacancies.  In  like  manner, 
the  seminaries  at  Allegheny,  Danville  and  Chicago  have  each  two  ad- 
ministrative boards — a  Board  of  Directors  and  a  Board  of  Trustees. 

Lane  and  Union  seminaries  have  each  but  one  board — a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees at  Lane,  a  Board  of  Directors  at  Union — by  which  the  property  is 
held  and  the  general  control  of  the  seminary  is  administered,  certainly 
a  simpler  method,  by  which  all  differences  of  opinion  are  avoided,  such 
as  have  arisen  and  are  likely  to  arise  in  other  seminaries  between  two 
separate  Boards,  one  of  trust  and  the  other  of  direction. 

That  the  relations  of  these  sevei-al  theological  seminaries,  differing  in 
origin  and  administration,  to  the  reunited  Church  should  be  regarded  as 
a  matter  of  no  little  delicacy  and  difficulty,  was  inevitable.  On  the  one 
hand,  it  is  obvious  that  a  matter  so  important  as  the  education  of  its  min- 
istry should  in  some  way  be  under  the  supervision  and  control  of  the 
Church,  so  as  to  secure  the  entire  and  cordial  confidence  of  the  Church. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  liberty  and  flexibility  in  the  matter  which 
must  be  respected  and  allowed.  If  individuals  or  associations  are  dis- 
posed to  found  and  endow  seminaries  of  their  own,  there  is  no  power 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  forbid  it. 

The  difficult  task  of  undertaking  to  reconcile  these  ideas  and  principles 
received  the  early  and  careful  attention  of  the  joint  Committee  on  Re- 
union, as  app(!ars  from  one  of  the  concurrent  declarations  adopted  by 
both  Assemblies,  providing  for  the  transfer  of  those  seminaries  now  under 
the  control  of  the  Assembly  to  the  care  and  control  of  one  or  more 
adjacent  Synods,  if  they  should  so  elect.  The  object  was  to  allay 
the  apprehensions  of  any  who  might  imagine  that  the  sudden  acces- 
sion and  intermingling  of  great  numbers  might  overbear  those  who 
had  hitherto  administered  those  seminaries  which  had  been  under  the 
control  of  one  branch  of  the  Church.  It  was  intended  as  a  measure 
for  the  maintenance  of  confidence  and  harmony,  and  not  as  indicating 
the  best  method  for  all  future  time. 

As  to  any  project  by  which  the  entire  control  and  administration  of  all 
our  theological  seminaries — for  example,  as  to  the  election  of  trustees — 


OF   LICEXSING   CAXDIDATES.  385 

can  be  transferred  to  the  General  Assembly,  on  any  princi}  le  of  complete 
uniformity,  your  Committee  regard  it  as  wholly  impracticable,  and  the 
attempt  to  accomplish  it  altogether  undesirable.  To  bring  it  about, 
should  it  be  undertaken,  would  require  an  amount  of  legislation,  in  six 
or  seven  different  States,  which  would  be  portentous. 

In  some  cases  alterations  of  existing  charters  are  impossible,  by  reason, 
as  in  Ohio,  of  changes  in  the  constitution  enacted  subsequently  to  the 
granting  of  that  charter  upon  which  Lane  seminary  was  incorporated. 
Surely  it  would  be  to  the  last  degree  unwise  to  attempt  such  alterations 
in  so  many  charters,  putting  in  jeopardy  so  large  an  amount  of  property, 
when  the  object  contemplated  may  be  secured  in  another  and  better 
way, 

]3esides,  the  intentions  and  wishes  of  benevolent  men,  who  have  founded 
and  endowed  some  of  these  seminaries,  and  aided  others  on  their  present 
footing,  should  be  honorably  and  zealously  protected. 

Your  Committee,  therefore,  would  recommend  no  change,  and  no  at- 
tempt at  change,  in  this  direction,  save  such  as  may  safely  and  wisely  be 
eflected  under  existing  charters. 

For  example,  the  directors  of  the  seminary  at  Princeton  have  memo- 
rialized this  Assembly,  with  the  request  that  the  Assembly  would  so  far 
change  its  "plan"  of  control  over  that  institution  as  to  give  the  Board 
of  Directors  enlarged  rights  in  several  specified  particulars,  subject  to  the 
veto  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Your  Committee  are  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that  the  changes  asked 
for  are  eminently  wise  and  proper.  If  it  were  within  the  power  of  the 
General  Assembly  to  remit  the  entire  administration  of  this  venei'able 
institution  to  its  Board  of  Directors,  without  any  of  the  restrictions  they 
have  mentioned  as  to  the  supply  of  their  own  vacancies,  they  would  cor- 
dially recommend  it.  But  inasmuch  as  the  endowments  of  this  seminary 
are  held  on  the  condition  that  it  should  be  the  property  and  under  the 
control  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,  that  trust  cannot  be  vacated  nor  transferred  to  any  other 
body.  The  method  desired  and  proposed  by  the  directors  themselves  is 
open  to  no  such  objection,  and  is  believed  to  be  quite  within  the  pro- 
visions of  the  law  as  now  defined,  being  only  a  convenient  and  wise- 
mode  of  executing  by  the  General  Assembly  itself  the  trust  which  it 
now  holds. 

A  memorial  has  been  presented  to  this  Assembly  from  the  directors  of 
Union  theological  seminary,  in  New  York,  bearing  upon  the  point  of 
uniformity  as  to  a  certain  kind  and  amount  of  ecclesiastical  supervision. 

It  had  appeared  to  them — many  of  them  having  taken  an  active  part 
in  founding  that  seminary  thirty-three  years  ago,  in  a  time,  as  already 
noticed,  of  memorable  excitement — that  there  were  great  disadvantages 
and  perils  in  electing  professors  and  teachers  by  the  Assembly  itself,  with- 
out sufficient  time  or  opportunity  for  acquaintance  with  the  qualifications 
of  men  to  be  appointed  to  offices  of  such  responsibility. 

It  is  self-evident,  as  your  Committee  are  agreed,  that  a  body  so  large  as 
the  General  Assembly,  and  composed  of  men  resident,  most  of  them,  at  so 
great  a  distance  from  the  several  seminaries,  is  not  so  competent  to  arrange 
for  their  interests  and  usefulness  as  those  having  local  and  personal  inti- 
macy with  them.  Desirous  of  bringing  about  as  much  uniformity  as  was 
possible  in  the  relation  of  the  seminaries  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church,  the  directors  of  Union  seminary  have  memorialized  this  Assem- 
bly to  the  effect  that  the  Assembly  would  commit,  so  far  as  practicable, 
the  general  administration  of  all  seminaries  now  under  the  control  of  the 
49 


386  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Assembly  to  their  several  Boards  of  Directors,  proposing,  if  this  be  done, 
to  give  to  the  General  Assembly  what  it  does  not  now  possess — the  right 
of  veto  in  the  election  of  professors  at  Union.  In  this  generous  otter, 
looking  solely  to  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  Church,  the  memorialists 
did  not  include  the  same  veto  in  regard  to  the  election  of  their  own  direct- 
ors, inasmuch  as  these  directors  hold  the  property  of  the  seminary  in 
trust.  The  trustees  of  Princeton  seminary,  being  one  of  two  Boards,  are 
a  close  corporation.  The  directors  of  Union  seminary  in  New  York, 
being  but  one  Board,  are  the  trustees. 

Leaving  all  the  diversities  of  method  and  administration  in  the  several 
seminaries  intact,  save  in  the  particulars  hereinafter  provided  for,  your 
Committee  are  happy  to  report  that  there  is  one  mode  of  unifying  all  the 
seminaries  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  as  to  ecclesiastical  supervision,  so  far 
as  unification  is  in  any  way  desirable.  It  is  the  mode  suggested  in  the  seve- 
ral memorials  of  the  directors  of  Union  and  Princeton,  and  approved,  or 
likely  to  be  approved,  from  information  in  our  possession,  by  the  directors 
of  Auburn  and  Lane.  This  is  to  give  to  the  General  Assembly  a  veto 
power  upon  the  appointment  of  professors  in  all  these  several  institutions. 
This  seems  to  your  Committee  to  secure  all  the  uniformity,  as  to  the  rela- 
tion of  these  seminaries  to  the  Church,  which  can  be  necessary  to  ensure 
general  confidence  and  satisfaction.  Less  than  this  might  excite  jealousy, 
more  than  this  is  cumbersome  and  undesirable. 

Your  Committee,  in  accordance  with  these  views,  report  the  following 
plan  and  resolutions: 

1.  Accepting  the  offer  so  generously  made  by  the  directors  of  the  Union 
theological  seminary,  in  New  Yoi'k — a  seminary  independent  hitherto  of 
all  direct  ecclesiastical  control — to  invest  the  General  Assembly,  with  the 
right  of  a  veto  in  the  election  of  professors  in  that  institution,  this  Assem- 
bly would  invite  all  those  theological  seminaries  not  now  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  General  Assembly  to  adopt  at  their  earliest  convenience  the 
same  rule  and  method,  to  the  end  that,  throughout  the  whole  Presbyterian 
Church,  there  may  be  uniform  and  complete  confidence  in  those  entrusted 
■with  the  training  of  our  candidates  for  the  ministry. 

2.  That  the  several  Boards  of  Directors  of  those  seminaries  which  are 
now  under  the  control  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  authorized  to 
elect,  suspend  and  displace  the  professors  of  the  seminaries  under  their 
care,  subject  in  all  cases  to  the  veto*  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  whom 
they  shall  annually  make  a  full  report  of  their  proceedings,  and  to  whom 
their  minutes  shall  be  submitted  whenever  the  Assembly  shall  require 
them  to  be  produced.  These  Boards  shall  further  be  authorized  to  fix 
the  salaries  of  the  professors,  and  to  fill  their  own  vacancies,  subject  in  all 
cases  to  the  veto  of  the  General  Assembly. 

3.  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  Assembly  to 
propose  such  alterations  in  the  "plans"  of  the  seminaries  now  under  the 
control  of  the  Assembly  as  shall  be  deemed  necessary  to  carry  into  efiect 
the  principles  above  stated,  and  that  said  Committee  report  to  this  or  to 
the  next  succeeding  Assembly. 

4.  In  case  the  Board  of  Directors  of  any  theological  seminary  now 
under  the  control  of  the  General  Assembly  should  i)refer  to  retain  their 
present  relation  to  this  body,  the  plan  of  such  seminary  shall  remain 
unaltered. — 1870,  pp.  50-G4. 

The  following  report  details  the  progress  of  the  plan  for  uniformity  in 
the  relations  of  the  seminaries  to  the  Assembly : 

*  For  time  within  which  the  veto  may  be  exercised,  see  below,  7,  1871,  p.  581. 


OF   LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  387 

II.  AUBURN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  trustees  and  commissioners  of  the  theo- 
logical seminary  at  Auburn,  May  11,  1871,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Boards  of  commissioners  and  trustees  of  the  Auburn 
theological  seminary  are  anxious  to  comply  with  the  proposal  of  the  last 
General  Assembly  to  submit  the  election  of  professors  in  this  institution 
to  the  concurrence  of  that  body,  and  that  a  joint  Committee  be  appointed 
to  consider  whether  the  proposal  of  the  General  Assembly  can  be  complied 
with  without  a  change  of  the  charter  of  this  seminary;  and  if  in  the  judg- 
ment of  this  Committee  such  a  change  in  the  charter  is  necessary,  the 
Prudential  Committee  is  hereby  authorized  to  apply  to  the  coming  Legis- 
lature in  the  name  of  these  two  Boards  to  make  it. 

They  further  intimate  that  one  of  the  embarrassments  in  their  action 
was  that  no  time  was  fixed  for  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the 
exercise  of  their  proposed  veto  power. — 1871,  p.  579. 

III.  THE  WESTERN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Western  theological  sem- 
inary, October  14,  1870,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  we  accept  the  powers  and  authority  offered  by  the  action 
of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  theological  seminaries  now  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  General  Assembly,  as  contained  in  the  second  resolution  of  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Theological  Seminaries,  recorded  on  page  63 
of  the  minutes  of  1870. — 1871,  p.  579. 

Plan  of  the  Western  Seminary. 
Introduction. 

With  alterations,  as  in  Baird's  Digest,  p.  427,  Rev.  Ed.,  p.  434.  See 
above,  under  Princeton  seminary,  xiv.,  sec.  iii. 

Article  I. —  Of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  1.  As  this  institution  derives  its  origin  from  the  General  Assembly, 
that  body  is  to  be  considered  its  patron  and  the  fountain  of  its  power. 

Sec.  2.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  the  immediate  control  of  the 
seminary. 

Sec.  3.  (Now  Section  4.) 

Article  II. —  Of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Sec.  1.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  consist  of  forty  members — twenty- 
eight  ministers  and  twelve  ruling  elders — one-fourth  to  be  chosen  annually, 
and  shall  have  power  to  fill  any  vacancies  which  may  hereafter  occur  in 
the  body,  subject  always,  however,  to  the  veto  of  the  General  Assembly, 
the  election  to  be  at  the  regular  annual  meeting. 

Sec.  2.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  power  to  elect  the  professors 
and  to  remove  them  from  office,  such  election  and  removal  to  be  subject  to 
the  veto  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  said  Board  shall  also  have  power 
to  suspend  temporarily  a  professor  preliminary  to  and  pending  an  investi- 
gation of  charges  against  his  life  or  doctrine. 

Secs.  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10  and  11  to  consist  of  Sections  1,  2,  3,  4,  7,  8,  9, 
11  and  12,  as  in  Baird's  Digest,  pp.  413  and  414;  except. 

Sec.  3.  Strike  out  the  clause  requiring  the  president  or  one  of  the  vice 
presidents  to  be  necessary  to  constitute  a  quorum. 

Sec.  5.  Strike  out  "twenty  days,"  and  insert  "ten  days." 


388  FOEM   OF   GOVERXMEXT. 

Sec.  6.  Strike  out  "annually,"  and  insert  "when  required." 
Sec.  7.  Strike  out  "  or  by  the  order  of  the  General  Assembly." 
Sec.  11.  Strike  out  the  last  clause. 

Article  III. —  Of  the  Professors. 

Sec.  1.  The  number  of  pi-ofessors  in  the  seminary  shall  be  increased  or 
diminished  as  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  from  time  to  time  direct. 

Secs.  2  and  3.  (As  now.) 

Sec.  4.  The  salaries  of  the  professors  shall  be  fixed  by  the  Board  of 
Directors. 

Secs.  5,  6,  7,  8  and  9  to  consist  of  6,  8,  9,  10  and  12. — Bawd's  Digest, 
pp.  415  and  416. 

Article  IV. —  Of  Study  and  Attainments. 

Article  V.—  Of  Devotion  and  Improvement  in  Practical  Piety. 

Article  VI. —  Of  the  Students. 

Article  VII. —  Of  the  Funds. 

Sec.  1.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  exercise  all  the  control  of  the 
funds  belonging  to  this  institution  hitherto  exercised  by  the  General  As- 
sembly, as  far  as  this  can  be  done  consistently  with  the  will  of  the  testa- 
tors and  donors,  such  as  fixing  the  salaries  of  the  professors,  regulating 
the  amount  required  for  the  endowment  of  scholarships  and  professorships, 
and  keeping  sacred  and  distinct  the  different  funds  already  created,  or  to 
be  hereafter  created,  for  the  specific  objects  for  which  they  are  given. 

Sec.  2.  All  matters  relating  to  the  finances,  except  the  fixing  the  sala- 
ries of  the  professors,  the  extent  of  endowment  and  the  aid  of  students, 
shall  be  by  the  Board  of  Directors  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  seminary  for  their  approval. 

Sec.  3.  Fair  and  full  statements  shall  be  annually  presented  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  by  the  Board  of  Directors  or  by  the  trustees  of  the  amount 
of  funds  belonging  to  the  seminary,  of  the  items  which  constitute  that 
amount,  and  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  in  detail  for  the  i^receding 
year. 

Secs.  4  and  5  to  consist  of  sections  5  and  6  (Baird's  Digest,  p.  418),  ex- 
cepting to  insert  "unless  otherwise  directed"  after  the  words  "endowed 
them,"  in  Section  4. 

Article  VIII. —  Of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Sec.  1.  The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Western  theological  seminary,  as 
incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  consists  of 
thirtv  members,  to  be  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  Avhen  meeting  in 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  no  more  than  one-third  to  be  changed  in 
any  one  year. 

Sec.  2*.  To  the  trustees  is  committed  the  custody  and  disbursement  of 
the  funds  of  the  institution  for  the  purposes  for  which  appropriated  by 
the  donors,  or  according  to  the  plan  of  the  seminary. 

Sec.  3.  The  ]5oai-(l  of  Trustees  shall  meet  twice  in  each  year,  in  April 
and  November,  at  such  times  as  may  be  designated,  and  oftener  on  their 
own  adjournment  or  the  call  of  the  president. 

Sec.  4.  The  officers  of  the  Board  shall  consist  of  a  President,  Vice 
President,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  to  be  chosen  annually  at  the  spring 
meeting  of  the  Board,  to  continue  in  office  till  their  successors  are  elected. — 
1872,  pp.  113-115. 

Adopted  by  the  Assembly. — 1872,  p.  59. 


OF   LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  389 

c.  A  Change  of  Name  Authorized. 

The  following  resolution  also  was  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  directors  and  trustees  of  the  Western  Theological 
Seminary  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  change  the  name  of  the 
seminary  to  the  Allegheny  or  Pittsburg  theological  seminary,  and  to 
obtain  the  necessary  legislation,  if  in  their  judgment  the  same  be  expe- 
dient—187'^,  p.  93. 

IV.  LANE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINAEY. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Lane  theological  seminary  report  that 
they  have  most  cordially  adopted  this  plan  by  the  following  action : 

Every  election  of  a  professor  in  this  institution  shall  be  reported  to  the 
next  General  Assembly ;  and  if  said  Assembly  shall  by  vote  express  its 
disapprobation  of  the  election,  the  professorship  in  question  shall  be  ip.io 
facto  vacant  from  and  after  such  vote  of  the  General  Assembly,  it  being 
understood  that  in  such  case  it  is  not  the  pleasure  of  this  Board  that  such 
professor  shall  continue  in  office. — 1871,  p.  580. 

V.  UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 

a.  A  communication  was  received  by  the  Rev.  William  Adams,  D.  D., 
from  the  directors  of  the  Union  theological  seminary  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  proposing  on  certain  terms  to  place  their  institution  under  the  care 
of  the  General  Assembly. 

A  communication  was  also  received  from  the  directors  of  the  theologi- 
cal seminary  at  Princeton,  asking  that  the  change  contemplated  in  the 
above  communication  may  be  ^nade,  and  proposing  other  matters  of  inte- 
rest to  the  seminary. 

These  communications  were  referred  to  the  Standing  Committee  on 
Theological  Seminaries. — 1870  p.  17. 

The  Committee  subsequently  reported  inter  alia,  as  follows : 

b.  Your  Committee,  in  accordance  with  these  views,  report  the  follow- 
ing plan  and  resolutions  : 

Accepting  the  offer  so  generously  made  by  the  directors  of  the  Union 
theological  seminary  in  New  York — a  seminary  independent  hitherto  of 
all  direct  ecclesiastical  control — to  invest  the  General  Assembly  with  the 
right  of  a  veto  in  the  election  of  professors  in  that  institution,  this  Assem- 
bly would  invite  all  those  theological  seminaries  not  now  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  General  Assembly  to  adopt  at  their  earliest  convenience  the 
same  rule  and  method,  to  the  end  that  throughout  the  whole  Presbyterian 
Church  thei'e  may  be  unifoi-m  and  complete  confidence  in  those  entrusted 
with  the  training  of  our  candidates  for  the  ministry. — 1870,  p.  63. 

c.  Memorial  of  the  Directors  of  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  the  City  of 
New  York  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  New  York,  May  18,  1870. 

Whereas,  In  the  recent  negotiations  for  reuniting  the  two  branches  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  great  importance  was  attached  to  some  uniform 
system  of  ecclesiastical  supervision  over  the  several  theological  seminaries 
of  the  denomination  ;  and 

Whereas,  The  directors  of  the  Union  theological  seminary  in  New 
York — an  institution  founded  before  the  disruption  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  belonging  exclusively  to  neither  of  its  branches,  and  administered 
upon  its  own  independent  charter — are  desirous  of  doing  all  in  their  power 


390  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

to  establish  confidence  and  harmony  throughout  the  whole  Church,  in 
respect  to  the  education  of  its  members ;  and 

Whereas,  It  has  appeared  to  many,  and  especially  to  those  who  took  an 
active  part  in  founding  the  Union  theological  seminary,  that  there  are 
many  disadvantages,  infelicities,  not  to  say  at  times  perils,  in  the  election 
of  professors  of  those  seminaries  directly  and  immediately  by  the  General 
Assembly  itself — a  body  so  large,  in  session  for  so  short  a  time,  and  com- 
posed of  members  to  so  great  an  extent  resident  at  a  distance  from  the 
seminaries  themselves,  and  therefore  personally  unacquainted  with  many 
things  which  pertain  to  their  true  interest  and  usefulness — therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  directors  of  the  Union  theological  semi- 
nary in  the  city  of  New  York,  being  all  of  them  ministers  or  members 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  do  hereby  memorialize  the  General  Assembly 
to  the  following  effect,  viz. :  That  the  General  Assembly  may  be  pleased 
to  adopt  it  as  a  rule  and  plan,  in  the  exercise  of  the  proprietorship  and 
control  over  the  several  theological  seminaries,  that  so  far  as  the  election 
of  professors  is  concerned  the  Assembly  will  commit  the  same  to  their 
respective  Boards  of  Directors  on  the  following  terms  and  conditions : 

First,  That  the  Board  of  Directors  of  each  theological  seminary  shall 
be  authorized  to  appoint  all  professors  for  the  same. 

Second,  That  all  such  appointments  shall  be  reported  to  the  General 
Assembly,  and  no  such  appointment  of  professor  shall  be  considered  as  a 
complete  election  if  disapproved  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  Assembly. 

And  further  he  it  resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Union 
theological  seminaiy  in  the  city  of  New  York,  persuaded  that  the  plan 
proposed  in  the  memorial  will  meet  the  cordial  approval  of  the  patrons, 
donors  and  friends  of  all  these  seminaries,  and  contribute  to  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  Church,  do  hereby  agree,  "if  the  said  plan  shall  be  adopted 
by  the  General  Assembly,  that  they  will  agree  to  conform  to  the  same, 
the  Union  seminary  in  New  York  being  in  this  respect  on  the  same  ground, 
with  other  theological  seminaries  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. — 1870, 
pp.  148,  149. 

The  Assembly  comj)lied  with  this  request.     See  pp.  60-64, 

VI.  DANVILLE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 

Danville. — The  Board  of  Directors  cordially  approve  the  plan  of  the 
General  Assembly  as  to  harmonious  operations  of  all  the  theological  semi- 
naries within  their  jurisdiction,  and  simply  ask  further  time  to  perfect  the 
same  in  their  relations  to  the  Assembly.  To  effect  this  a  Committee  has 
been  appointed  to  investigate  the  whole  subject,  and  to  report  to  the  direct- 
ors at  their  next  meeting  whether  they  can  legally  adopt  the  plan  of  the 
Assembly.— 1871,  p.  580. 

In  1872  they  report  that  changes  made  at  this  time  might  affect  legal 
rights,  but  "  that  by  another  year  these  changes  may  be  safely  made." — 
1872,  p.  120. 

The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  theological  seminary  of  Danville,  Ky., 
make  the  following  annual  report  to  the  General  Assembly  : 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  our  adopting  the  plan  of  control  recom- 
mended by  the  Assembly  being  removed,  we  are  now  prejiared  to  adopt 
said  plan,  and  suggest  the  following  necessary  changes  in  the  present  plan 
of  the  seminary : 


OF    LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  391 

Amendments  to  the  Plan  of  the  Danville  Theological  Semi- 
nary, 

Second  Article.  Araeud  section  third,  paragraph  first,  so  as  to  read  as  fol- 
lows :  "  As  this  institution  derives  its  origin  from  the  General  Assembly, 
that  body  is  to  be  considered  its  patron  and  the  fountain  of  its  powers, 
and  it  shall  be  conducted  under  the  authority,  oversight  and  care  of  the 
General  Assembly." 

Third  Article.  Amend  by  substituting  the  following  instead  of  para- 
graphs first  and  second  of  section  first:  "  1.  The  Board  of  Directors,  us 
constituted  at  the  expiration  of  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1873,  and  their  successors  appointed  in  the  manner  hereafter  provided  for, 
shall  have  the  immediate  control  of  the  seminary,  and  are  authorized  to 
exercise  all  the  control  of  the  funds  belonging  to  the  institution  hitherto 
exercised  by  the  Assembly,  as  far  as  can  be  done  consistently  with  the  will 
of  the  testators  or  donors,  and  consistently  with  the  objects  and  purposes 
of  the  covenants  and  agreements  referred  to  in  the  plan  of  the  seminary, 
the  exercise,  however,  of  such  control  of  the  funds  by  the  Board  of  Direct- 
ors hereby  authorized  being  always  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  General 
Assembly.  But  all  matters  relating  to  finance,  such  as  fixing  the  salary 
of  professors  and  the  extent  of  aid  to  be  given  to  students,  shall  be  sub- 
mitted by  the  Board  of  Directors  to  the  trustees  of  the  seminary  for  their 
approval. 

The  true  and  only  intent  and  meaning  of  the  amendments  and  changes 
now  made  in  the  plan  of  the  seminary  are,  through  the  enlarged  powers 
of  general  administration  herein  conferred  upon  the  Board  of  Directors, 
to  provide  a  more  convenient  and  effective  mode  of  executing  by  the 
General  Assembly,  through  said  Board,  the  trust  it  now  holds  in  reference 
to  the  seminary  and  its  funds,  and  to  increase  by  a  more  efficient  local 
administration  the  usefulness  of  the  institution  for  the  purposes  for  which 
it  was  established. 

The  Board  of  Directors  shall  consist  of  thirty  members,  of  whom  one- 
half  shall  be  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  the  other  half  ruling  elders  in 
good  standing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

These  directors  shall  be  divided  into  three  sections  of  ten  persons  each, 
one-half  of  each  section  being  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  the  other  half 
ruling  elders,  and  one  of  these  sections  of  ten  persons  shall  be  elected  by 
the  Board  of  Directors  and  all  vacancies  filled  in  the  other  two  sections 
at  each  annual  meeting  of  the  Board,  in  such  manner  that  each  section 
shall  serve  three  years  and  until  their  successors  are  elected,  and  the  third 
part  of  the  whole  Board  shall  be  elected  every  year.  The  form  of  the  elec- 
tion shall  be  as  the  Board  shall  from  time  to  time  prescribe,  and  all  these 
elections  shall  be  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  which 
body  they  shall  be  reported  at  its  next  meeting  thereafter.  The  members 
of  the  Board  appointed  by  the  General  Assemblies  of  1871, 1872  and  1873 
shall  serve  out  the  terms  for  which  they  were  respectively  appointed,  and 
the  first  election  by  the  Board  itself  shall  be  made  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing in  1874  to  fill  all  vacancies  that  may  exist  at  that  time  in  its  body. 

In  section  first,  paragraph  third,  omit  all  after  the  word  "  vacant "  in 
last  line  but  one  of  the  paragraph,  and  in  the  next  paragra])h  substitute 
six  for  ^^  nine"  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  sentence,  and  add  the  words 
''not  specially  excepted"  after  the  word  "business,"  at  the  end  of  that  sen- 
tence. 

Transfer  paragraph  first  of  section  second  to  the  end  of  the  article, 
and  substitute  in  its  place  the  following:  "2.  The  Board  of  Directors 


392  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

shall  have  power  to  elect  the  professors,  and  to  remove  them  from  office, 
such  electiou  and  removal  being  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly. The  said  Board  shall  also  have  power  to  suspend  temporarily  a  pro- 
fessor, preliminary  to  and  pending  an  investigation  of  charges  against  his 
life  or  doctrine.  In  the  event  of  a  vacancy  in  any  chair  of  the  seminary, 
they  may  employ  any  suitable  person  to  give  instruction  temporarily  in 
the  vacant  department,  and  they  may  also,  upon  the  recommendation  of 
the  Faculty  of  the  seminary,  engage  the  services  of  any  suitable  person 
to  give  occasional  instruction  to  the  pupils  upon  any  particular  subject. 

In  section  third,  paragraph  first,  line  first,  strike  out  the  word  '' es^e- 
daily." 

In  section  fourth,  omit  j^aragraphs  second,  third  and  fourth. 

In  section  fiftli,  paragraph  second,  line  first,  substitute  six  for  "nine," 
and  in  the  following  paragraph  strike  out  the  word  " pa7iicular"  in  the 
first  line,  and  in  the  fifth  substitute  the  word  "Jilled"  for  the  words 
"  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Assembly." 

Fourth  Article.  Instead  of  the  first  two  paragraphs  of  section  first,  sub- 
stitute the  following: 

1.  The  professors  of  this  seminary  shall  be  elected  by  the  Board  of 
Directors  at  any  of  their  regular  meetings,  or  at  a  meeting  specially  called 
for  that  purpose,  and  of  which  due  notice  shall  have  been  given.  The 
manner  of  the  election  shall  be  as  the  Board  shall  deem  proper  at  the 
time. 

They  shall  hold  their  respective  offices  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Board 
of  Directors.  But  a  quorum  of  the  Board  competent  to  dismiss  a  pro- 
fessor shall  consist  of  not  less  than  one-half  of  all  the  members. 

In  section  second,  paragraph  first,  line  second,  substitute  "  Board  of 
Directors"  for  "General  Assembly,"  and  in  the  third  line  "  Board  shall" 
for  "  Assembly  will,"  and  in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  same  section  strike 
out  after  the  word  "unless,"  so  that  the  clause  will  read,  "  uiile-is  by  the 
consent  of  the  Board  of  Directors  in  some  lawful  meeting." 

Instead  of  section  third,  paragraph  first,  substitute  the  following : 

3.  The  professors  shall  be  of  equal  rank  and  authority  one  with  another. 
But  when  they  meet  as  a  Faculty,  and  when  they  act  jointly  upon  any 
occasion,  the  senior  professor  present  shall  preside,  and  lie  siiall  perform, 
in  the  name  of  tiie  whole,  all  joint  official  acts.  If  two  or  more  profes- 
sors were  elected  at  the  same  time,  the  one  longest  in  the  ministerial  office 
shall  be  considered  the  senior  one  of  them.  The  Faculty  shall  elect  one 
of  their  number  to  act  as  their  stated  clerk,  who  shall  perform  the  duties 
proper  to  that  office. 

To  paragraph  second  of  section  third  add  the  following  words :  "  the 
presiding  professor  having  always  a  right  to  vote"  and  in  the  following 
paragraph,  line  third,  insert  ''  advisory"  between  the  words  "joint"  and 
"  oversight." 

In  section  fourth,  paragraph  first,  line  first,  substitute  "Board  of  Direct- 
ors" for  "Assembly,"  and  in  the  third  line  "said  Board"  for  "  the  Assem- 
bly," and  from  the  enumeration  of  subjects  assigned  to  the  chair  first 
named,  strike  out  the  word  "  Fxegctical,"  and  change  the  title  of  the  chair 
named  last  to  "Biblical  Literature  ami  Kregctical  Theology." 

To  })aragraph  fourth  of  section  fifth  add  the  following  sentence: 
"Moreover,  they  shall  always  meet  as  a  Faculty  at  the  request  of  any 
mend)er,  whose  duty  it  shall  then  be  to  notify  his  fellow-members  of  his 
desire  for  such  a  meeting." 

For  paragraph  third,  section  seventh,  substitute  the  following: 

"  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  professors,  under  the  direction  of  the  Board 


OF   LICENSING  CANDIDATES.  393 

of  Directors,  to  supply  the  pupils  of  the  institution  with  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  of  the  Christian 
Church,  if  this  supply  shall  not,  in  the  judgment  of  the  directors,  be  satLs- 
factorily  furnished  by  some  neighboring  church  or  churches." 

For  paragraph  first,  section  ninth,  substitute  the  following :  "  The  sala- 
ries of  the  professors  shall  be  fixed  loy  the  Board  of  Directors." 

In  the  first  line  of  the  following  paragraph  strike  out  the  words  "  fur- 
ther" and  "same,"  and  insert  the  words  "of  1853"  after  the  word  "As- 
sembly." 

At  the  end  of  the  article  add  the  following  as  an  additional  section  : 

"  10.  No  professor  shall  be  a  member  of  either  the  Board  of  Directors 
or  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  the  acceptance  of  a  professorship  by  any 
member  of  either  of  the  Boards  named  shall  be  regarded  as  ipso  facto  the 
resignation  of  his  seat  therein." 

Seventh  Article.  In  the  second  section  strike  out  all  after  the  word 
"begin"  in  the  fourth  line,  and  insert  in  place  thereof  the  following: 
"  On  the  first  Thursday  in  September,  and  terminate  on  the  last  Thurs- 
day in  April,  with  a  short  recess  at  the  discretion  of  the  Faculty  about 
Christmas."— 1873,  pp.  592,  594. 

Action  on  the  Report. 

Reports  have  been  received  from  the  directors  and  trustees  of  this  insti- 
tution. The  directoi's  report  that,  the  difificulties  in  the  way  of  their  adop- 
tion of  the  plan  of  control  recommended  by  the  Assembly  being  removed, 
they  have  approved  and  adopted  said  plan,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Assembly.  The  necessary  changes  in  the  present  plan  of  the  seminary 
are  presented,  and  after  close  and  careful  scrutiny  of  them  the  Committee 
recommend  to  the  Assembly  that  they  be  appi'oved,  and  that  the  guardian- 
ship and  control  of  the  Danville  theological  seminary  be  remitted  to  the 
Board  of  Directors  as  soon  as  the  existing  vacancies  shall  have  been  filled, 
the  Assembly  being  still  considered  as  the  patron  of  the  seminary  and  the 
fountain  of  its  powers,  and  retaining  a  veto  power  in  the  election  of  its 
directors  and  professors,  and  over  all  the  acts  of  the  directors  in  financial 
afiairs.— 1873,  pp.  530,  531. 

VII.  NORTH-WESTERN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY. 

a.  3.  The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  North-western  theological  sem- 
inary report,  ...  "  In  regard  to  the  relations  of  the  seminary  to  the 
General  Assembly,  the  Board,  finding  that  there  are  legal  points  involved 
in  this  question  which  require  careful  investigation,  referred  the  whole 
matter  to  a  Committee,  with  instructions  to  report  to  the  directors  at  their 
next  annual  meeting  in  April,  1872." — 1871,  p.  580. 

b.  The  following  Plan  of  the  Seminary  was  approved  by  the  Assembly. 
—1872,  p.  62. 

In  regard  to  the  relation  of  the  seminary  to  the  General  Assembly,  the 
Board  have  carefully  considered  the  same ;  and  with  entire  unanimity, 
and  with  the  consent  and  approval  of  Mr.  McCormick,  have  adopted  a 
report  and  resolutions,  not  only  approving  of  the  principles  of  the  request 
and  suggestion  of  the  Assembly,  but  embodying  the  necessary  amendments 
to  the  constitution  in  form,  and  requesting  the  Assembly  to  adopt  them. 
The  resolutions  and  amendments  are  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  Committee  on  the  relations  of  the  seminary  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly presented  their  report,  thirugh  the  Hon.  Samuel  M.  Moore,  as  fol- 
lows : 

50 


394  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Your  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  propriety  of  suggesting  such 
amendments  and  changes  of  the  constitution  of  our  seminary  as  may  bring 
the  same  in  harmony  with  the  expressed  views  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  would  re- 
port that  they  have  considered  the  matter,  and  that  they  find  no  objections 
thereto.  They  understand  that  the  generous  and  Christian-spirited  donor 
of  the  only  portion  of  our  property  and  funds  that  is  held  subject  to  the 
continuance  of  the  relations  of  the  seminary  to  the  General  Assembly  con- 
sents that  the  management  and  control  may  be  transferred  to  the  Board 
of  Directors,  the  Assembly  reserving  the  right  to  disapprove  and  forbid 
in  certain  matters.  We  believe  the  change  will  redound  to  the  benefit  and 
efficiency  of  the  seminary. 

Therefore,  your  Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions  by  this  Board,  to  wit : 

Resolved,  That  this  Board  respectfully  request  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  to  consider  and 
adopt  the  following  amendments  and  changes  of  the  constitution  of  the 
Presbyterian  theological  seminary  of  the  North-west,  viz. : 

1st.  The  second,  tenth  and  eleventh  articles  .of  said  constitution  are 
hereby  stricken  out. 

2d.  Sections  one,  two,  three,  thirteen  and  fourteen  of  the  third  article 
are  hereby  stricken  out ;  and  in  lieu  of  said  sections  one,  two  and  three, 
the  following  are  substituted  and  adopted,  to  wit : 

Sec.  1.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  consist  of  twenty  ministers  and 
twenty  ruling  elders,  of  whom  one-fourth,  or  five  ministers  and  five  elders, 
shall  be  chosen  by  said  Board  annually,  to  continue  in  office  four  years 
and  until  their  successors  are  elected  and  qualified.  And  the  Board  shall 
also  have  power  to  receive  resignations  and  declinatures,  and  to  fill  all 
vacancies  which  may  occur  in  its  body.  All  of  these  elections,  however, 
shall  be  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  which  they  shall 
be  I'eported  at  its  next  meeting. 

Sec.  2.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  power  to  elect  and  duly  in- 
duct and  inaugurate  into  office  the  professors  of  the  seminary,  and  to  re- 
ceive their  resignations ;  also  to  remove  them  from  office,  such  elections 
and  removals  to  be  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  General  Assembly.  The 
Board  shall  also  have  })ower  to  suspend,  temporarily,  a  professor,  prelim- 
inary to  and  pending  an  investigation  of  charges  against  his  conduct  or 
doctrine. 

Sec.  3.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  the  superintendence  and 
control  of  the  seminary  and  its  funds  and  property. 

3d.  Articles  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight  and  nine  are  hereby  so 
changed  as  to  be  known  and  designated  as  articles  two,  three,  four,  five, 
six,  seven  and  eight  respectively. 

4th.  The  following  is  substituted  for  sub-section  three  of  section  twelve, 
in  article  three : 

3.  To  make  annually  to  the  General  Assembly,  in  writing,  a  full  and 
faithful  report  of  the  whole  state  of  the  seminary,  and  of  the  transactions 
of  the  Board,  and  also  to  submit  their  records,  when  required,  for  the 
inspection  of  the  Asseml)Iy. 

5th.  The  following  is  adopted  and  designated  as 

Article  Nine. 

This  constitution  may  be  altered  or  amended  by  a  vote  of  three-fourths 
of  the  directors  present  and  voting  at  a  regular  annual  meeting  of  the 


OF    LICENSING    CANDIDATES.  395 

Board,  such  alterations  or  amendments  to  take  effect  and  be  in  force 
only  when  the  same  shall  be  approved  by  the  General  Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  directors  heretofore  appointed  whose  terms  of  service 
have  not  expired  shall  serve  until  the  end  thereof  and  until  their  succes- 
sors are  elected  and  qualified.  And  directors  appointed  by  the  present 
General  Assembly  shall  serve  as  if  elected  and  appointed  by  the  Board 
of  Directors. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

(Signed)  R.  W.  Patterson, 

S.  M.  Moore, 
H.  G.  Miller. 
This  report  was  accepted,  considered  and  adopted. 
Respectfully  submitted  by  order  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

S.  M.  Moore,  Chairman  Executive  Committee. 

—1872,  pp.  124-126. 

VIII.  GERMAN  THe'oLOGICAL  SCHOOL,  NEWARK,  N.  J. 

The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  German  theological  school,  Newark, 
N.  J.,  report  that  the  requirements  of  the  Assembly  were  met  by  the  pro- 
curement of  a  charter,  in  which  the  following  provisions  were  inserted: 
"  The  first  Board  of  Directors  of  said  corporation  shall  be  divided  into 
three  classes,  to  be  numbered  one,  two  and  three ;  the  term  of  the  first 
shall  expire  in  one,  the  second  in  two  and  the  third  in  three  years  from 
the  first  day  of  May  last."  ..."  Each  class  of  directors  shall  hereafter 
be  chosen  for  and  hold  their  office  during  three  years,  and  until  a  new 
election  to  supply  the  place  of  such  class."  The  election  of  three  di- 
rectors to  fill  vacancies  "  at  the  stated  spring  meeting  shall  be  subject  to 
review  at  the  next  General  Assembly ;  .  .  .  and  in  case  the  said  General 
Assembly  shall  disapprove  of  such  election,  the  office  of  the  director  or 
directors  disapproved  of  shall  thereupon  become  vacant."  The  provisions 
with  respect  to  the  relations  of  the  regularly  appointed  professors  the 
Board  propose  to  incorporate  in  the  constitution  of  the  school. — 1871, 
p.  580. 

IX.  GERMAN  JHEOLOGICAL  SCHOOL  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST. 

The  constitution  of  the  German  theological  seminary  of  the  North- 
west, at  Dubuque,  Iowa,  prescribes  that  ...  "it  shall  be  hereafter  the 
duty  of  the  Board  itself  to  fill  the  vacancies  occurring  in  their  number, 
whether  by  expiration  of  term  of  oflfice,  by  resignation,  death  or  other- 
wise. Said  election,  however,  shall  only  be  deemed  valid,  and  those 
elected  enter  upon  their  office,  after  approval  by  the  General  Assembly." 
Also,  "  The  Board  of  Directors  .  .  .  shall  establish  the  professorships 
and  appoint  the  professors  and  instructors,  .  .  .  and  always  subject  to  the 
approval  and  control  of  the  General  Assembly." — 1871,  p.  580. 

X.  LINCOLN  UNIVERSITY,  THEOLOGICAL  DEPARTMENT. 

Lincoln  University. — Since  the  last  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly 
the  charter  of  Lincoln  university  has  been  so  amended,  by  special  act  of 
the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  as  to  place  the  theological  department  of 
that  institution  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  accordance 
with  the  general  plan  adopted  for  the  supervision  of  theological  sem- 
inaries. 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  accept  the  oversight  of  the  the- 


396  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

ological  department  of  Lincoln  university,  as  provided  in  the  amended 
charter  of  that  institution,  and  approve  the  appointments  and  proceed- 
ings of  the  Board  of  Trustees  as  reported  at  this  time. — 1871,  p.  581. 

XI.  SAN  FRANCISCO  SEMINARY. 

The  Synod  of  the  Pacific  resolved  upon  the  immediate  organization  of 
this  seminai'y  at  its  session  in  Oakland,  Cal.,  in  1871.  San  Francisco 
was  selected  as  a  suitable  location.  Fifteen  j^ersons  were  elected  direct- 
ors, viz. : 

Ministers — Rev.  William  A.  Scott,  D.  D.,  Thomas  M.  Cunningham, 
D.  D.,  William  W.  Brier,  Aaron  L.  Lindsley,  D.  D.,  Daniel  W.  Poor, 
D.  D.,  Sylvester  Woodbridge,  D.  D.,  Albert  F.  White,  LL.D.,  William 
Alexander,  and  Edward  B.  Walsworth,  D.  D. 

Elders — Hon.  H.  P.  Coon,  S.  Franklin,  C.  W.  Armes,  A.  Hemme,  S. 
I.  C.  SAveezey,  and  R.  J.  Trumbull. 

This  Board  was  organized  November  7th,  1871,  the  Rev.  William  A- 
Scott,  D.  D.,  being  appointed  president.  The  directors  were  divided  into 
three  classes  by  lot. 

The  following  were  elected  as  a  provisional  faculty  : 

Rev.  William  A.  Scott,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Mental  Science,  Moral 
Philosophy  and  Theology. 

Rev.  George  Burrowes,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  Old  Testament 
Literature. 

Rev.  Daniel  W.  Poor,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Ecclesiastical 
History. 

Rev.  William  Alexander,  Professor  of  Biblical  Greek  and  New  Testa- 
ment Literature. 

The  plan  of  the  seminary  is  entirely  in  conformity  with  the  pattern  of 
the  older  and  approved  institutions  of  the  Church.  The  directors  ask 
to  be  received  under  the  care  of  the  Assembly,  and  in  all  matters  to  re- 
ceive its  sanction,  in  accordance  with  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1870, 
as  recorded  on  page  63  of  the  printed  Minutes. 

Four  students  have  been  in  attendance  upon  the  instruction  of  the 
professors  this  the  first  year. 

Your  Committee  recommend, 

1.  The  approval  of  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  the' Pacific  coast  in  the 
organization  of  the  seminary  at  San  Francisco. 

2.  The  confirmation  of  the  appointment  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

3.  The  acceptance  of  the  seminary,  as  so  organized,  under  the  care  and 
supervision  of  the  Assembly. — 1872,  p.  64, 

XII.  BLACKBURN  UNIVERSITY. 

The  trustees  of  Blackburn  university,  at  their  annual  meeting,  held 
in  June,  1871,  adopted  the  plan  recommended  by  the  Assembly  of  1870, 
by  incorporating  into  tlie  constitution  of  the  university  the  following- 
section  :  "  Whenever  hereafter  any  person  shall  be  elected  by  the  trus- 
tees to  fill  any  professorship  in  the  theological  department  of  the 
university,  the  trustees  shall  report  their  election  to  the  uex-t  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States ;  and  if  the 
General  Assembly  at  that  meeting  sliall,  by  formal  vote,  refuse  to  approve 
of  such  election,  then  the  person  elected  by  the  trustees  shall  cease  to  be 
a  professor." 

Tlie  following  additional  facts  respecting  Blackburn  university  will  be 
of  interest  to  this  Assembly : 


OF   LICENSING    CANDIDATES.  397 

The  institution  was  founded  by  Rev.  Gideon  Blackburn,  D.  D.,  who,  in 
the  year  1838,  conveyed  to  a  Board  of  Trustees  several  thousand  acres  of 
land,  for  the  purpose  of  founding  "  an  institution  of  learning,  the  object 
of  which  shall  be  to  promote  the  general  interests  of  education,  and_  to 
qualify  young  men  for  the  ofhce  of  the  gospel  ministry."  The  institution 
was  located  at  Carlinville,  111. 

The  trustees  were  incorporated  in  the  year  1857  by  the  Legislature  of 
Illinois,  with  the  name  of  "  The  Blackburn  Theological  Seminary,"  and 
at  about  the  same  time  an  academic  department  was  established.  lu 
A.  D.  1867,  the  institution  was  organized  as  a  university,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  its  corporate  name  was  changed  by  the  Legislature  to  that  of 
"  Blackburn  University."  The  Board  consists  of  thirteen  members,  who 
must  be  residents  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  At  least  nine  of  this  number 
must  "  be  chosen  from  among  persons  who  are  regular  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  if  any  trustee  thus  chosen  shall,  at  any  time, 
cease  to  be  a  regular  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  he  shall,  ipso 
facto,  cease  to  be  a  trustee." 

Every  professor  appointed  in  the  theological  department,  also  every 
professor  in  the  collegiate  department,  whose  professorship  shall  include 
mental  or  moral  science  or  metaphysics,  and  also  the  president  of  the 
university,  are  required,  before  they  can  enter  upon  the  duties  of  their 
office,  to  subscribe  their  names  to  the  following  declaration : 

"  I  do  hereby  avow  my  sincere  belief  in  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God, 
and  in  the  system  of  doctrines  contained  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith  as  the  system  which  accords  with  the  word  of  God ;  and  I  do  sol- 
emnly pledge  myself,  in  all  my  duties  as  an  instructor  and  officer  in 
Blackburn  university,  never  knowingly  to  teach  anything  in  conflict  with 
such  system  of  doctrines." 

Every  other  professor  or  instructor  in  any  department  is  required  also 
to  affirm  his  "belief  in  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God." 

Thus  every  department  of  instruction  is  secured  from  all  danger  from 
infidel  teachings. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  your  Committee  gladly  commend  the  Blackburn 
university  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  recommend  that  it  be  recog- 
nized and  reported  as  one  of  the  institutions  in  connection  with  the  Gen- 
ei'al  Assembly.     Adopted. — 1872,  p.  65. 

7.  Limitations  of  the  Time  within  which  the  Assembly  may  exer- 
cise its  Veto  in  the  Election  of  a  Professor. 

That  the  Assembly  declare  that  the  true  meaning  of  the  act  subjecting 
the  election  of  a  professor  to  the  veto  of  the  Assembly  is  that  such  elec- 
tion be  reported  to  the  next  General  Assembly  thereafter;  and  if  not 
vetoed  by  that  Assembly,  the  election  shall  be  regarded  as  complete,  ac- 
cording to  the  plan  ratified  by  the  Assembly  of  1870 ;  see  Minutes,  pp. 
64,  65,  148.— 1871,  p.  581. 

IV.  Because  it  is  highly  reproachful  to  religion  and  dangerous  to 
the  Church  to  entrust  the  holy  ministry  to  weak  and  ignoi-ant  men, 
the  Presbytery  shall  try  each  candidate  as  to  his  knowledge  of  the 
Latin  language  and  the  original  languages  in  which  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures were  written.  They  shall  also  examine  him  on  the  arts  and 
sciences,  on  theology,  natural  and  revealed,  and  on  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, the  sacraments  and  church  government.     And  in  order  to  make 


398  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

trial  of  his  talents  to  explain  and  vindicate,  and  practically  to  enforce 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  the  Presbytery  shall  require  of  him-— 

1.  A  Latin  exegesis  on  some  common  head  in  divinity. 

2.  A  critical  exercise,  in  which  the  candidate  shall  give  a  specimen 
of  his  taste  and  judgment  in  sacred  criticism,  presenting  an  explica- 
tion of  tiie  original  text,  stating  its  connection,  illustrating  its  force 
and  beauties,  removing  its  difficulties  and  solving  any  important 
questions  which  it  may  present. 

3.  A  lecture  or  exposition  of  several  verses  of  Scripture;  and, 

4.  A  popular  sermon. 

[On  the  waiving  a  liberal  education  in  certain  cases,  see  above,  III., 
3,  a,  6.] 

V.  These,  or  other  similar  exercises,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Pres- 
bytery, shall  be  exhibited  until  they  shall  have  obtained  satisfaction 
as  to  the  candidate's  piety,  literature  and  aptness  to  teach  in  the 
churches.  The  lecture  and  popular  sermon,  if  the  Presbytery  think 
proper,  may  be  delivered  in  tiie  presence  of  a  congregation. 

That  the  Presbyteries  be  required  to  see  that  the  candidates  for  licen- 
sure be  well  versed  in  the  Catechisms  and  well  furnished  with  Scripture 
proof  texts.     Adopted.— 1868,  p.  654,  O.  S. 

VI.  That  the  most  eifectual  measures  may  be  taken  to  guard 
against  the  admission  of  insufficient  men  into  the  sacred  office,  it  is 
recommended  that  no  candidate,  except  in  extraordinary  cases,  be 
licensed  unless,  after  his  having  completed  the  usual  course  of  aca- 
demical studies,  he  shall  have  studied  divinity  at  least  two  years 
under  some  approved  divine  or  professor  of  theology. 

1.  Effort  to  Extend  the  Time  of  Study  to  Three  Years. 

a.  On  motion,  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  several  Presby- 
teries of  this  Church  to  consider  whether  it  would  be  proper  to  extend  the 
time  necessary  for  young  men  to  apply  to  the  study  of  divinity  before  they 
be  taken  on  trials  to  three  years  at  least,  and  to  send  up  a  report  of  their 
opinion  to  the  next  General  Assembly. — 1792,  p.  60. 

[No  action  of  Presbyteries  is  reported.] 

Ii^de  of  a  Loivcr  Judicature  TJnconstitxdlonal. 

h.  The  records  (of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey)  were  ap- 
proved, except  a  vote  of  that  Synod  by  which  they  determine  it  to  be 
constitutional  for  that  Synod  to  enact,  "  That,  in  future,  candidates  who  ^ 
have  the  gospel  ministry  in  view  be  required  to  attend  to  the  study  of 
divinity  at  least  three  years  before  licensure,"  whicli  vote  was  determined 
by  the  Assembly  to  be  unconstitutional. — 1792,  p.  59. 

c.  Overture  Sent  Down,  bid  not  Adopted. 

Overture  No.  6  was  taken  up,  viz. :  Requests  from  several  Presbyteries 
that  the  sixth  section  of  chapter  xiv.  of  our  Form  of  Government  might 


OF   LICENSING   CANDIDATES.  399 

be  sent  down  to  the  Presbyteries  to  be  so  altered  as  to  read  "  to  study 
theology  at  least  three  years,  etc."  The  overtures  were  read,  and  it  w^as 
resolved  that  the  proposed  alteration  be  sent  down  as  an  overture  to  the 
Presbyteries,  and  that  the  Pi-esbyteries  be  required  to  send  up  their  answer 
to  this  overture  in  writing  to  the  next  General  Assembly. — 1835,  p.  475. 

[To  this  overture,  in  183(3,  thirty-five  answered  in  the  affirmative  and 
tiveuty  hi  the  negative.  Not  a  majority.  The  overture  was  again  referred 
to  the  Presbyteries,  and  in  1837  fifty-hvo  Presbyteries  reported  in  favor 
and  thirty-eight  against.  Still  not  a  majority,  and  the  matter  was  dropped. — 
1836,  p.  276;  1837,  p.  438.] 

2.  Full  Term  of  Three  Years  Urg-ently  Recommended. 

a.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  entirely  concur  in  the  opinion  expressed 
in  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  theological  seminary  at 
Princeton,  that  it  is  highly  important  that  theological  students  continue 
the  full  time  of  three  years  in  the  seminary,  and  complete  the  whole 
course  of  studies  prescribed  in  the  plan. — 1834,  p.  437. 

b.  Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly  do  approve  of  the  resolution  passed 
by  the  Board  of  Directors  at  their  late  meeting,  with  a  view  of  securing 
the  attendance  of  students  during  a  full  course  of  theological  instruction 
in  our  seminary. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  Assembly  notice  with  regret  the  prevalence  of 
what  they  deem  a  serious  evil,  not  only  to  the  seminary,  but  to  the  Church 
at  large,  in  the  number  of  students  who  annually  leave  the  institution 
before  the  prescribed  course  of  studies  is  completed.  And  they  do  earn- 
estly recommend  to  the  students,  if  practicable,  to  continue  the  full  time 
prescribed  in  the  plan. — 1826,  p.  179. 

c.  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  house  it  is  in  general  highly 
inexpedient  for  candidates  for  the  ministry  to  apply  for  licensure  at  such 
a  period  of  their  course  of  study  as  would  prevent  them  from  finishing 
the  three  vears'  plan  of  studies  adopted  and  approved  by  former  Assem- 
blies.—1843,  p.  187,  O.  S. 

3.  A  Pledge  to  a  Three  Years'  Course  not  Unconstitutional. 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  a  thorough  course  of  theological  study,  and  would  earnestly 
recommend  to  their  Presbyteries  to  elevate  the  standard  of  education,  and 
that  the  rule  of  the  Board  of  Education  does  not  conflict  with  the  Con- 
stitution when  it  prescribes  the  time  of  study,  inasmuch  as  the  Constitu- 
tion makes  two  years  the  shortest  time  allowed  to  complete  the  course  of 
theological  study,  but  does  not  2:)rescribe  the  maximum. — 1844,  p.  375,  O.  S. 

VI r.  If  the  Presbytery  be  satisfied  with  his  trials,  they  shall  then 
proceed  to  license  him  in  the  following  manner:   The  moderator  shall' 
propose  to  him  the  following  questions,  viz.: 

1.  Do  you  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
to  be  the  word  of  God, and  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice? 

2.  Do  you  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 
this  Church  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  holy 
Scriptures  ? 

3.  Do  you  promise  to  study  the  peace,  unity  and  jjurity  of  the 
Church? 


400  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

4.  Do  you  promise  to  submit  yourself  in  the  Lord  to  the  govern- 
ment of  this  Presbytery,  or  of  any  other  Presbytery  in  the  bounds  of 
which  you  may  be  called  ? 

VIII.  The  candidate  having  answered  these  questions  in  the  af- 
firmative, and  the  moderator  having  offered  up  a  prayer  suitable  to 
the  occasion,  he  shall  address  himself  to  the  candidate  to  the  follow- 
ing purpose :  "  In  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  that 
authority  which  he  hath  given  to  the  Church  for  its  edification,  we 
do  license  you  to  preach  the  gos])el  wherever  God  in  his  providence 
may  call  you,  and  for  this  purpose  may  the  blessing  of  God  rest  upon 
you  and  the  Spirit  of  Christ  fill  your  heart !  Amen."  And  record 
shall  be  made  of  the  licensure  in  the  following  or  like  form,  viz. : 

At  the  day  of  the  Presby- 

tery of  having  received  testimonials  in  favor  of 

of  his  having  gone  through  a  regular  course  of  literature,  of 
his  good  moral  character,  and  of  his  being  in  the  communion  of  the 
Church,  proceeded  to  take  the  usual  parts  of  trial  for  his  licensure; 
and  he  having  given  satisfaction  as  to  his  accomplishments  in  litera- 
ture, as  to  his  experimental  acquaintance  Avith  religion,  and  as  to 
his  proficiency  in  divinity  and  other  studies,  the  Presbytery  did, 
and  hereby  do,  express  their  approbation  of  all  these  parts  of  trial ; 
and  he  having  adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church,  and 
satisfactorily  answered  the  questions  appointed  to  be  put  to  candidates 
to  be  licensed,  the  Presbytery  did,  and  hereby  do,  license  him,  the  said 
,  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ  as  a  probationer  for  the 
holy  ministry  within  the  bounds  of  this  Presbytery  or  wherever  else 
he  shall  be  orderly  called. 

Is  it  right  for  a  clerk  of  Presbytery,  in  recording  the  licensure  of  a  can- 
didate, to  use  any  other  form  than  that  prescribed  in  the  book  ? 

Answered  in  the  affirmative.  See  above:  "And  record  shall  be  made 
of  the  licensure  in  the  following  or  /ike  form." — 1866,  p.  54,  O.  S. 

IX.  When  any  candidate  for  licensure  shall  have  occasion,  while 
his  trials  are  going  on,  to  remove  from  the  bounds  of  his  own  Pres- 
bytery into  those  of  another,  it  shall  be  considered  as  regular  for  the 
latter  Presbytery,  on  his  producing  proper  testimonials  from  the 
former,  to  take  up  his  trials  at  the  point  at  which  they  were  left  and 
conduct  them  to  a  conclusion  in  the  same  manner  as  if  they  had  been 
commenced  by  themselves. 

X.  In  like  manner,  when  any  candidate,  after  licensure,  shall,  by 
the  permission  of  his  Presbytery,  remove  without  its  limits,  an  extract 
of  the  record  of  his  licensure,  accompanied  with  a  presbyterial  recom- 
mendation, signed  by  the  clerk,  shall  be  his  testimonials  to  the  Pres- 
bytery under  whose  care  he  sliall  come. 


OF    LICENSING    CANDIDATES.      .  401 

XI.  When  a  licentiate  shall  have  been  preaching  for  a  considerable 
time  and  his  services  do  not  appear  to  be  edifying  to  the  churches, 
the  Presbytery  may,  if  they  think  proper,  recall  his  license. 

1.  Liraitation  of  the  Time  to  ■which  a  License  shall  Extend  to 

Four  Years. 

Overture  No.  19,  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  asking  the  Assembly 
to  define  more  explicitly  the  relations  of  Presbyteries  to  their  licentiates. 
Also  No.  20,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  North,  and  No.  21, 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Northumberland,  on  the  same  subject. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  Assembly  to  adopt  the  following  rules: 

1.  Every  license  to  preach  the  gospel  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  the 
period  of  four  years,  unless  the  candidate  holding  the  same  shall,  before 
the  expiration  of  that  time,  be  called  to  permanent  labor  in  the  work  of 
the  Church.  But  the  Presbytery  under  whose  care  such  licentiate  may 
be  may,  in  its  discretion,  extend  his  license  for  the  period  of  one  year. 

2.  The  Presbyteries  are  enjoined  to  take  the  oversight  of  their  licen- 
tiates and  their  vacant  churches,  bringing  in  the  one  for  the  supply  of  the 
other,  and,  through  the  Home  Missionary  Committees  of  the  Synods  to 
which  the  Presbyteries  belong,  to  seek  to  introduce  their  candidates  to  the 
widest  fields  of  labor,  and  to  furnish  them  full  opportunity  of  practically 
showing  their  fitness  for  the  Christian  ministry. 

Adopted.— 1872,  p.  87. 

2.  The  above  Rule  does  not  Abridge  the  Power  of  the  Presby- 
teries to  License  in  Extraordinary  Cases. 

The  Standing  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  leported — 

1.  A  memorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  Columbus,  asking  this  General 
Assembly  to  define  the  action  of  the  last  General  Assembly  "in  limiting 
the  term  of  licensure  (min.,  p.  87)  as  not  referring  to  the  cases  of  laymen 
who  are  licensed  with  a  view  of  their  higher  usefulness,  and  not  with  a 
view  to  ordination." 

The  Committee  recommend  this  minute  as  an  answer,  viz.:  The  Gene- 
ral Assembly  cannot  sanction  the  practice  of  licensure  as  a  means  to  attain 
a  higher  measure  of  usefulness  merely,  without  aiming  to  reach  ordination, 
as  this  would  be  virtutdly  to  make  two  grades  of  preaching  officers.  But 
the  rules  adopted  by  the  last  Assembly,  to  which  the  memorial  refers, 
should  not  be  construed  as  abridging  the  power  and  discretion  of  the 
Presbyteries  to  license  probationers  "  in  extraordinary  cases."  Form  of 
Government,  xiv.,  vi. 

Adopted.— 1873,  p.  524. 

3.  Licentiates  Belong  to  the  Laity,  and  are  Subject  to  the  Session. 

a.  The  Committee  to  whom  was  recommitted  Overture  No.  1,  viz. :  The 
question  at  what  period  of  their  preparatory  course  are  candidates  for  the 
Christian  ministry  to  be  considered  as  dismissed  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  session  and  transferred  to  the  Presbytery?  made  a  report,  which,  being 
read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

Whereas,  It  appears  necessary,  in  order  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the 
Church,  and  uniformity  of  procedure  in  the  judicatories  under  the  care  of 
the  General  Assembly,  that  the  manner  of  administering  discipline  to 
candidates  and  licentiates  for  the  gospel  ministry,  should  be  distinctly  sjie- 
cified ;  therefore, 

51 


402  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

Resolved,  1.  Thcat  as  the  word  of  God  and  the  Constitution  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  recognize  the  distinction  of  laity  and  clergy,  and  a  sys- 
tem of  procedure  in  discipline  in  some  respects  diverse,  as  the  one  or  the 
other  of  these  orders  of  men  is  concerned,  it  becomes  the  judicatories  ol 
the  Church  to  guard  against  the  violation  of  this  principle  in  the  admin- 
istration of  discipline. 

2.  That  although  candidates  and  licentiates  are  in  training  for  the  gos- 
pel ministry,  and  in  consequence  of  this  are  placed  under  the  care  of 
Presbyteries,  and  in  certain  respects  become  immediately  responsible  te 
them,  yet  they  are  to  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  order  of  the  laity 
till  they  receive  ordination  to  the  whole  work  of  the  gospel  ministry. 

3.  That  it  follows,  from  the  last  resolution,  that  when  candidates  "for  the 
gospel  ministry  are  discovered  to  be  unfit  to  be  proceeded  with  in  trials 
for  the  sacred  office,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  to  arrest  their 
progress,  and  if  further  discipline  be  necessary,  to  remit  them  for  that  pur- 
pose to  the  sessions  of  the  churches  to  which  they  properly  belong,  and 
that  when  licentiates  are  found  unworthy  to  be  permitted  further  to  preach 
the  gospel,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Presbytery  to  deprive  them  of  their 
license,  and  if  further  discipline  be  necessary,  to  remit  them  for  that  pur- 
pose to  the  sessions  of  the  churches  to  which  they  properly  belong. 

4.  That  in  order  to  ensure  the  proper  effect  of  discipline  in  the  perform- 
ance of  the  duties  which  severally  belong  to  sessions  and  Presbyteries,  it 
will  be  incumbent  on  church  sessions,  when  they  shall  see  cause  to  com- 
mence process  against  candidates  or  licentiates,  before  Presbytery  has 
arrested  the  trials  of  the  one  or  taken  away  the  licensure  of  the  other, 
to  give  immediate  notice  to  the  moderator  ot^  the  Presbytery  to  which  the 
candidates  or  licentiates  are  amenable  that  such  process  has  been  com- 
menced, to  the  intent  that  the  impropriety  may  be  prevented  of  an  indi- 
vidual proceeding  on  trials  or  continuing  to  preach,  after  committing  an 
offence  that  ought  to  arrest  him  in  his  progress  to  an  investiture  with  the 
sacred  office ;  and  when  Pres])yterie5  shall  enter  upon  an  investigation, 
Avith  the  view  of  stopping  the  trials  of  a  candidate  or  taking  away  the 
license  of  a  licentiate,  the  session  to  which  such  candidates  or  licentiates 
are  amenable  shall  be  immediately  informed  of  what  the  Presbytery  is 
doing,  that  the  session  may  if  requisite  commence  process  and  inflict  the 
discipline  which  it  is  their  province  to  administer.— 1829,  pp.  2Go,  2G4. 

h.  But  may  Solemnise  Marriage  if  Authorized  by  Law. 

JResolved,  That  while  our  Form  of  Government  does  not  recognize  licen- 
tiates as  ministers  of  the  gospel,  yet  this  Assembly  do  not  consider  them 
as  violating  any  rules  of  the  Church  by  solemnizing  marriages  in  those 
States  where  the  civil  laws  expressly  authorize  them  to  do  it. — 1844,  p.  377. 


OF   ELECTION   AND   ORDINATION.  403 


CHAPTER  XV. 

OF  THE  ELECTION  AND   ORDINATION  OF  BISHOPS  OR  PASTORS 
AND  EVANGELISTS. 

T.  When  any  probationer  shall  have  preached  so  much  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  any  congregation  as  that  the  people  appear  prepared  to 
elect  a  pastor,  the  session  shall  take  measures  to  convene  them  for 
this  purpose;  and  it  shall  always  be  the  duty  of  the  session  to  con- 
vene them,  when  a  majority  of  the  persons  entitled  to  vote  in  the 
case  shall,  by  a  petition,  request  that  a  meeting  may  be  called. 

1.   Steps  to  be  taken  by  a  Vacant  Congreg-ation  looking-  to  the 
Election  of  a  Pastor. 

The  business  left  unfinished  in  the  morning  was  resumed,  and  after  a 
full  discussion  of  the  subject,  the  motion  to  sustain  the  appeal  of  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city  from  the  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Philadelphia,  affirmiug  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadel- 
phia, by  which  the  Presbytery  directed  the  said  session,  within  twenty 
days  from  the  date  of  their  decision,  or  after  the  final  determination  of 
the  case,  to  conveue  the  congregation  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  pastor, 
Avas  determined  in  the  affirmative ;  and  Dr.  Green,  Dr.  Neill  and  Mr. 
Richards  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  prepare  a  minute  stating  the 
principles  on  which  the  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  statement  of  the  principles  and 
grounds  upon  which  tlie  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal  of  the  session  of 
the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city  reported,  and  their  report, 
being  read  and  amended,  was  adopted  in  the  words  following,  viz. : 

That  both  to  prevent  misapprehension  and  to  aid  the  congregations  and 
judicatures  of  this  Church  in  deciding  on  any  similar  cases  that  may 
arise,  the  Assembly  therefore  declare, 

I.  That  in  vacant  congregations  which  are  fully  organized  the  session 
of  each  congregation  are  to  determine,  under  their  responsibility  to  the 
higher  judicatures,  when  the  congregation  are  prepared  to  elect  a  pastor, 
as  directed  in  the  Form  of  Government  of  this  Church,  chap,  xv.,  sec.  i. 

II.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  session,  when  a  congregation  is  vacant,  to 
use  their  best  endeavors  to  promote  the  settlement  of  a  pastor  in  the  same, 
in  the  speediest  manner  possible,  consistently  with  the  peace,  order  and 
edification  of  the  congregation  ;  and  it  is  the  privilege  of  the  people,  or 
of  any  portion  of  them,  to  complain  to  the  Presbytery  when  they  think 
that  the  session,  after  being  suitably  requested,  neglect  or  refuse  to  con- 
vene the  congregation  to  elect  a  pastor. 

III.  That  it  belongs  to  the  Presbyteries  to  take  cognizance  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  sessions  and  congregations  in  the  important  concern  of  settling 
pastors,  and  to  adopt  the  most  effectual  measures  on  the  one  hand  to  pre- 
vent all  undue  delay  by  the  session  or  the  people,  and  ou  the  other  to  pre- 
vent all  precipitancy  in  the  settlement  of  any  minister  or  the  adoption  of 
any  system  of  proceedings  in  the  congregation  inconsistent  with  the  real 
and  permanent  edification  of  the  people. 

IV.  That  by  the  due  and  discreet  observance  of  these  principles  by  all 


404  FORM   OF   GOVERXMENT. 

concerned  it  will  be  found  that,  so  far  from  the  session  of  a  congregation 
having  it  in  their  power  to  deprive  a  majority  of  a  congregation  of  their 
right  to  make  an  election  of  a  pastor  when  sought  in  an  orderly  and  Chris- 
tian manner,  or  to  keep  a  congregation  unsettled  for  an  indefinite  length 
of  time,  the  rights  of  the  people  will  be  most  effectually  secured,  and  their 
precious  and  inalienable  privilege  of  choosing  their  own  pastor  will  be 
exercised  by  them  in  the  shortest  period  which  their  own  real  benefit  will 
permit. 

V.  That  the  conviction  of  this  Assembly  that  the  foregoing  obvious 
and  constitutional  principles  had  not  been  duly  adhered  to  in  the  case  be- 
fore them,  that  the  congregation  had  not  proceeded  with  a  suitable  respect 
to  the  session,  and  that  the  Presbytery  did  not  adopt  the  most  suitable 
measure  when  they  advised  and  directed  the  session  to  convene  the  con- 
gregation in  twenty  days,  has  led  the  Assembly  to  sustain  this  apj^eal  as 
the  measure  most  constitutional,  best  calculated  on  the  whole  to  do  justice 
to  all  the  parties  concerned,  and  to  point  the  w^ay  to  the  most  speedy  set- 
tlement of  the  unhappy  differences  and  disorders  which  have  so  long  ex- 
isted in  the  particular  congregation  immediately  concerned. — 1814,  pp. 
559,  560. 

II.  When  such  a  meeting  is  intended,  the  session  shall  solicit  the 
presence  and  counsel  of  some  neighboring  minister  to  assist  them  in 
conducting  the  election  contemplated,  unless  highly  inconvenient  on 
account  of  distance ;  in  which  case  they  may  proceed  without  such 
assistance. 

[For  answer  to  the  question  who  may  moderate  a  session,  see  under 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  iv.,  2,  a,  h,  c] 

III.  On  a  Lord's  day,  immediately  after  public  worship,  it  shall  be 
intimated  from  the  pulpit  that  all  the  members  of  that  congregation 
are  requested  to  meet  on  ensuing,  at  the  church  or 
usual  place  for  holding  public  worship;  then  and  there,  if  it  be  agree- 
able to  them,  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  pastor  for  that  congre- 
gation. 

IV.  On  the  day  appointed,  the  minister  invited  to  preside,  if  he 
be  present,  shall,  if  it  be  deemed  expedient,  preach  a  sermon ;  and 
after  sermon  he  shall  announce  to  the  people  that  he  will  immediately 
proceed  to  take  the  votes  of  the  electors  of  that  congregation  for  a 
pastor,  if  such  be  their  desire,  and  when  this  desire  shall  be  expressed 
by  a  majority  of  voices,  he  shall  then  proceed  to  take  votes  accord- 
ingly. In  this  election  no  person  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  who  re- 
fuses to  submit  to  the  censures  of  the  Church  regularly  administered, 
or  who  does  not  contribute  his  just  proportion  according  to  his  own 
engagements  or  the  rules  of  that  congregation  to  all  its  necessary  ex- 
penses. 

a.    Who  may  Vote  in  the  Election  of  a  Pastor. 

Agreed  that  none  shall  be  allowed  to  vote  for  the  calling  of  a  minister 
but  those  that  shall  contribute  for  the  maintenance  of  him,  and  that  the 
major  vote  of  these  shall  be  determinative. — 1711,  p.  24. 


OF   ELECTION   AND   ORDINATION.  405 

[As  adopted  by  the  Synod  in  1788,  the  margin  for  the  direction  of  the 
presiding  minister  read,  "  The  minister  shall  receive  the  votes  of  none  but 
regular  members,  and  who  punctually  pay  toward  the  support  of  the 
Church."    This  was  stricken  out  in  the  revision  of  1820.] 

b.  Right  of  Voting  not  limited  to  Commimicants  unless  expressly  so  Declared. 

[In  sustaining  a  complaint  of  R.  J.  Breckenridge,  D.  D.,  et  al.,  "  against 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  its  action  limiting  the  right  of  voting  in  the 
election  of  a  pastor  to  communicating  members  of  the  Church,"  the  As- 
sembly— ] 

Resolved,  That  the  complaint  be  sustained ;  but  the  Assembly  in  this 
judgment  does  not  intend  to  condemn  a  practice  prevalent  in  some  of  our 
congregations  in  which  the  right  of  voting  fur  pastor  is  confined  to  com- 
municants.— 1863,  p.  71,  0.  S. 

c.   Overture  Confining  the  Vote  to  Communicants  not  Adopted. 

Overture  No.  3,  being  an  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Saline,  "  in 
favor  of  the  enactment  of  a  law  requiring  that  in  the  election  of  pastors, 
none  be  permitted  to  vote  except  communicants  in  good  and  regular  stand- 
ing ;"  also,  "  that  when  any  candidate  is  before  a  church,  the  church  shall 
determine  whether  he  shall  be  called  to  the  pastorate  before  any  other 
candidate  shall  be  heard." 

The  Committee  recommend  for  answer:  That,  in  regard  to  the  first 
point,  the  enactment  of  such  a  law  would  prohibit  a  usage  quite  extensive 
among  the  churches,  founded  upon  an  interpretation  of  the  present  law 
which  has  heretofore  been  sanctioned  by  the  General  Assembly.  It  is, 
therefore,  deemed  inexpedient  upon  the  application  of  a  single  Presbytery 
to  recommend  such  alteration  in  the  Form  of  Government.  In  regard  to 
the  second  point  it  need  only  be  said  that  the  authority  asked  for  is  now 
possessed  by  each  congregation,  and  may  be  exercised  or  not  at  its  plea- 
sure ;  while  to  make  such  exercise  binding  by  positive  law  would  deprive, 
all  congregations  of  a  present  liberty  the  use  of  which  seems  wisely  left 
to  their  discretion. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1867,  p.  320,  0.  S. 

V.  When  the  votes  are  taken,  if  it  appear  that  a  large  minority  of 
the  j)eopIe  are  averse  from  the  candidate  who  has  a  majority  of  votes, 
and  cannot  be  induced  to  concur  in  the  call,  the  presiding  minister 
shall  endeavor  to  dissuade  the  congregation  from  prosecuting  it  fur- 
ther. But  if  the  people  be  nearly  or  entirely  unanimous,  or  if  the 
majority  shall  insist  upon  their  right  to  call  a  pastor,  the  presiding 
minister,  in  that  case,  after  using  his  utmost  endeavors  to  persuade 
the  congregation  to  unanimity,  shall  proceed  to  draw  a  call  in  due 
form,  and  to  have  it  subscribed  by  the  electors,  certifying  at  the  same 
time  in  writing  the  number  and  circumstances  of  those  who  do  not 
concur  in  the  call ;  all  which  jiroceedings  shall  be  laid  before  the 
Presbytery,  together  with  the  call. 

VI.  The  call  shall  be  in  the  following,  or  like  form,  namely: 
The  congregation  of  being,  on  sufficient  grounds,  well 

satisfied  of  the  ministerial  qualifications  of  you  and 


406  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

having  good  hopes  from  our  past  experience  of  youi  labors  that  your 
ministrations  in  the  gospel  will  be  profitable  to  our  spiritual  interests, 
do  earnestly  call  and  desire  you  to  undertake  the  pastoral  othce  in 
said  congregation  ;  promising  you,  in  the  discharge  of  your  duty,  all 
proper  support,  encouragement  and  obedience  in  the  Lord.  And  that 
you  may  be  free  from  worldly  cares  and  avocations,  we  hereby  prom- 
ise and  oblige  ourselves  to  pay  to  you  the  sum  of  in  reg- 
ular quarterly  (or  half  yearly  or  yearly)  payments  during  the  time  of 
your  being  and  continuing  the  regular  pastor  of  this  church.  In  tes- 
timony whereof  we  have  respectively  submitted  our  names  this 
day  of                                 A.  D. 

Attested  by  A.  C,  moderator  of  the  meeting. 

1.  Early  Action. — Glebe  and  Parsonage  Recommended. 

a.  That  in  every  congregation  a  Committee  be  appointed,  who  shall  twice 
in  every  year  collect  the  minister's  stipend  and  lay  his  receipts  before  the 
Presbytery  preceding  the  Synod,  and  at  the  same  time  that  ministers 
give  an  account  of  their  diligence  in  visiting  and  catechising  their 
people. 

The  Synod  recommends  that  a  glebe,  with  a  convenient  house  and  ne- 
cessary improvements,  be  provided  for  every  minister. — 1766,  p.  359. 

b.  As  it  appears  the  interest  of  religion  is  in  danger  of  suffering  greatly 
at  present  from  the  many  discouragements  under  which  the  ministers  of 
the  gospel  labor  from  the  want  of  a  sufficient  support  and  liberal  mainte- 
nance from  the  congregations  they  serve,  the  Synod  appoint  a  Committee 
to  take  this  matter  into  consideration  and  report  thereon  to  the  next 
Synod. 

Ordered,  That  Drs.  Witherspoon,  Ewing  and  Spencer  be  a  Committee 
for  this  purpose. — 1782,  p.  495. 

Said  Committee  bi'ought  in  their  report,  which  was  read  and  consid- 
ered ;  whereupon. 

Ordered,  That  Drs.  "Witherspoon  and  Spencer,  with  Mr.  S.  Smith,  be  a 
Committee  to  prepare  a  draught  of  a  pastoral  letter  to  the  congregation 
under  the  inspection  of  Synod,  as  also  to  prepare  some  resolves  to  be 
passed  by  Synod  and  accompany  said  letter,  the  whole  to  be  brought  in 
to-morrow  morning. — 1783,  p.  499. 

[The  letter  was  brought  in,  amended  and  ordered  to  be  published.] 

2.  Adequate  Provision  to  be  Urged. 

a.  [The  Assembly  enjoins  it  upon  all  the  Presbyteries]  "that  they  will 
endeavor,  as  far  as  the  state  of  society  in  diflereut  parts  of  our  Church 
will  permit,  to  withdraw  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  from  every  worldly 
avocation  for  the  maintenance  of  themselves  and  families,  that  they  may 
devote  themselves  entirely  to  the  work  of  the  ministry ;  and  that  for  this 
end  they  labor  to  convince  the  people  of  the  advantage  that  will  accrue 
to  themselves  from  making  such  adequate  provision  for  the  support  of 
their  teachers  and  pastors,  that  they  may  be  employed  wholly  in  their 
sacred  calling ;  and  in  those  places  where  it  may  be  found  prudent  and 
practicable,  that  they  devise  means  to  have  the  contracts  between  congre- 
gations and  pastors  examined  in  the  Presbyteries  at  stated  periods,  in- 
quiries instituted  with  regard  to  the  reciprocal  fulfillment  of  duties  and 


OF    ELECTION    AND    OEDINATIOX.  407 

engagements,  and  endeavors  used  to  promote  punctuality  and  fidelity  in 
both  parties,  before  distress  on  one  side  or  complaint  on  the  other  grow  to 
a  height  unfavorable  to  the  interests  of  religion. — 1799,  p.  181. 

b.  With  pain  we  have  heard  that  in  some  parts  of  our  Church  the  dis- 
position to  support  the  gospel  ministry  is  becoming  cold.  We  lament  this 
appearance  the  more  because  we  learn  that  there  is  no  backwardness  to 
advance  money  for  objects  which,  though  laudable  in  themselves,  are  sub- 
ordinate in  importance  to  the  preaching  of  the  word. 

We  trust  that  our  people  possess  too  much  good  sense  and  too  much 
respect  for  the  God  who  made  and  redeemed  them  to  listen  to  the  dreams 
of  men  who  neither  know  what  they  say  nor  whereof  they  affirm.  These 
do  not  hesitate  to  libel  an  ordinance  of  the  living  God  to  promote  their 
selfish  views,  their  degrading  prejudices.  God  hath  said,  "Whosoever 
serveth  at  the  altar  shall  live  of  the  altar."  But  these  say.  No  ;  the  min- 
istiy  must  be  kept  in  want  that  they  may  be  kept  humble. 

We  fervently  wish  that  the  men  who  thus  act  toward  the  ministry 
would,  to  be  consistent,  apply  their  reasoning  to  themselves.  We  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  the  profession  of  religion  which  is  connected  with  the 
disposition  to  abridge  the  means  of  sup}iorting  the  gospel  is  at  best  suspi- 
cious. Men  who  do  so  practically  say,  We  love  our  bodies  more  than  our 
souls — our  temporal  substance  more  than  our  eternal  inheritance.  It  is 
among  the  foulest  blots  of  the  Christian  name  that  in  so  many  instances 
the  confession  is  made  of  the  heart  being  opened  to  receive  the  truth  in 
the  love  of  it,  whilst  at  the  same  time  great  reluctance  is  displayed  in 
giving  worldly  substance  for  the  service  of  Him  who  alone  changes  the 
heart. 

One  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  power  of  religion  is  an  increase  of  lib- 
erality in  relation  to  all  those  objects  which  regard  the  salvation  of  souls 
and  the  liberality  of  Zion.  We  hope  that  they  Avho  have  in  this  respect 
goiTe  back  will,  without  delay,  retrace  their  steps  and  redeem  their  name 
from  reproach  or  suspicion. — 1811,  p.  485. 

3.  Liberality  in  Support  of  the  Ministry  Urged. 

a.  The  following  preamble  and  resolution,  proposed  by  Elder  Walter  S. 
Griffith,  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

Whereas,  It  is  highly  important  to  our  churches  that  they  be  served  by 
competent  ministers,  who  shall  be  free  from  worldly  cares  and  avocations; 
whereas,  the  law  of  Christ  expressly  declares  "that  they  which  preach  the 
gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel,"  and  that  he  "  that  is  taught  in  the  word  " 
should  "communicate  unto  him  that  teacheth  in  all  good  things,"  thus 
making  it  the  solemn  duty,  as  it  is  clearly  the  interest,  of  Christian  churches 
to  provide  for  their  ministers  a  competent  and  liberal  support ;  whereas, 
the  cost  of  the  necessities  of  life  has  advanced  so  greatly  as  to  render  the 
salaries  heretofore  paid  to  many  of  our  ministers  entirely  inadequate, 
causing  to  them  and  to  their  families  great  anxiety  and  distress ;  and 
whereas,  this  subject  demands  at  this  time,  and  should  not  foil  to  attract, 
the  special  attention  of  every  Christian  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  earnestly  exhort  all  the  churches 
under  their  care  to  consider  this  question  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  fidelity 
and  liberality,  and  to  make  ample  provision  for  those  who  minister  to 
them  in  word  and  doctrine,  stipulating  so  to  increase  their  compensa- 
tion, when  necessary,  as  to  make  their  salaries  fully  adequate  to  their 
comfortable  support,  in  view  of  the  enhanced  expenses  of  living,  and  pay- 
ing the  amount  agreed  upon  with  honorable  and  Christian  promptitude. — 
1854,  p.  499,  N.  S. 


408  FORM   OF    GOVERNMENT. 

h.  [A  memorial  from  the  Synod  of  Xew  York  on  the  subject  of  minis- 
terial support  was  referred  to  a  Committee  exclusively  of  elders,  one  from 
each  Synod.] 

Judge  Fine,  from  the  Special  Committee  on  Ministerial  Support,  pre- 
sented a  report,  which  was  read,  amended  and  adopted,  the  resolutions 
being  as  foUows,  viz. : 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  affectionately  and  earnestly  recommend  to  the 
churches  under  our  care  that  they  scrupulously  avoid  holding  out  any 
inducements  to  a  minister  to  become  their  stated  supply,  or  settled  pastor, 
which  will  not  be  realized. 

2.  liesolved,  That  we  earnestly  recommend  to  every  Presbytery  that, 
unless  suitable  provision  be  made  for  the  support  of  a  minister  or  stated _ 
supply,  they  decline  to  give  their  aid  or  sanction,  as  a  Presbytery,  to  settle 
him  in  any  congregation  which  is  able  to  fui'uish  such  suitable  provision. 

3.  Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  elders  and  deacons  and  trus- 
tees of  our  churches  and  congregations  to  meet  together  on  some  day  be- 
fore the  first  of  November  next,  and  yearly  thereafter,  or  oftener  if  neces- 
sary, and  institute  the  inquiry  whether  the  minister  or  stated  supply  is 
properly  and  fully  supported,  and  if  they  find  that  he  is  not  so  supported, 
to  take  immediate  measures  to  increase  his  support,  and  report  to  their 
Presbytery  at  its  next  meeting. 

4.  Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  Presbyteries  to  require  of  every 
minister  to  preach  on  the  subject  of  ministerial  support — "that,  laying 
aside  all  false  delicacy,  they  enlighten  their  people  upon  this  as  upon  any 
other  branch  of  Christian  duty,  pleading  not  for  themselves,  but  for  their 
Master,  if  happily  they  may  reclaim  their  respective  charges  from  a  griev- 
ous sin  which  must  bring  down  God's  displeasure" — and  that  the  Presby- 
teries call  upon  every  minister  to  answer  whether  he  has  complied  with 
their  injunction. — 1854,  p.  40,  O.  S. 

[For  the  report  accompanying  the  resolutions  and  ordered  to  be  pub- 
lished and  read  in  the  churches,  see  Baird's  Collection,  Revised  Edition, 
pp.  199-203.] 

4.  Presbytery  may  Refuse  to  Install  -when  the  Salary  is  Insuffi- 
cient. 

From  the  church  of  Paris,  Illinois:  "When  a  congregation  and  minis- 
ter agree  on  the  amount  of  salary  to  be  paid  and  received,  and  both  par- 
ties, being  fnlly  satisfied,  request  that  the  pastoral  relation  be  constituted 
according  to  the  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  has  Presbytery  the 
right  to  refuse  to  install  because,  in  their  judgment,  the  salary  is  insuffi- 
cient?"    Answered  in  the  affirmative. — 1855,  pp.  272-282,  O.  S. 

5.  Congregations  Urged  to  Prociire  Parsonages. 

a.  For  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  settlement  and  support  of  pastors 
and  to  guard  more  effectually  against  the  temptation,  or  almost  necessity, 
as  in  some  cases  seems  to  exist,  for  ministers  to  involve  themselves,  to  the 
injury  of  their  usefulness,  in  procuring  accommodations  for  themselves 
and  families, 

1.  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  our  churches,  whoi-evcr 
it  is  expedient  and  practicable,  to  provide  suitable  parsonages  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  their  pastors. 

2.  Resolved,  That  great  care  be  taken  to  have  these  parsonages  so 
guarded  by  legal  arrangements  as  most  effectually  to  prevent  controversy 
and  secure  their  perpetual  enjoyment  by  the  churches  providing  them  for 


OF   ELECTION   AND   ORDINATION.  409 

the  continued  support  of  the  gospel  through  coining  generations. — 1843, 
p.  193,  O.  S. 

b.  Resolved,  2.  That  the  Presbyteries  be  instructed  to  appoint  Standing 
Committees  on  Manses,  so  that  the  subject  may  be  brought  regularly  and 
statedly  before  them  for  consideration,  and  that  information  may  be  dis- 
seminated widely  among  the  churches. 

Resolved,  3.  That  ministers  and  elders  be  requested  to  press  this  matter 
upon  the  attention  of  the  churches  and  people,  and  strive  to  create  and 
extend  a  healthy  state  of  mind  and  feeling  on  the  subject,  and  stimulate 
them  in  the  effort  to  provide  manses,  and,  even  in  those  churches  where  the 
way  may  not  be  clear  to  build  at  once,  urge  upon  them  the  work  of  prep- 
aration by  securing  suitable  lots  of  ground  for  building  when  the  proper 
time  may  come,  and  that  such  provision  of  ground,  whether  in  town  or 
country,  should  be  on  a  liberal  scale. — 1872,  p.  37. 

VII.  But  if  any  congregation  shall  choose  to  subscribe  their  call 
by  their  elders  and  deacons,  or  by  their  trustees,  or  by  a  select  com- 
mittee, they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  do  so.  But  it  shall,  in  such  case,  be 
fully  certified  to  the  Presbytery  by  the  minister,  or  other  person  who 
presided,  that  the  persons  signing  have  been  appointed  for  that  pur- 
pose by  a  public  vote  of  the  congregation,  and  that  the  call  has  been 
in  all  other  respects  prepared  as  above  directed. 

VIII.  When  a  call  shall  be  presented  to  any  minister  or  candidate, 
it  shall  always  be  viewed  as  a  sufficient  petition  from  the  people  for 
his  installment.  The  acceptance  of  a  call  by  a  minister  or  candidate 
shall  always  be  considered  as  a  request  on  his  part  to  be  installed  at 
the  same  time,  and  when  a  candidate  shall  be  ordained  in  consequence 
of  a  call  from  any  congregation,  the  Presbytery  shall  at  the  same  time, 
if  practicable,  install  him  pastor  of  that  congregation. 

IX.  The  call,  thus  prepared,  shall  be  presented  to  the  Presbytery 
under  whose  care  the  person  called  shall  be;  that  if  the  Presbytery 
think  it  expedient  to  present  the  call  to  him,  it  may  be  accordingly 
presented,  and  no  minister  or  candidate  shall  receive  a  call  but 
through  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery. 

X.  If  the  call  be  to  a  licentiate  of  another  Presbytery,  in  that  case 
the  commissioners  deputed  from  the  congregation  to  prosecute  the  call 
shall  produce  to  that  judicatory  a  certificate  from  their  own  Presby- 
tery, regularly  attested  by  the  moderator  and  clerk,  that  the  call  has 
been  laid  before  them,  and  that  it  is  in  order.  If  that  Presbytery 
present  the  call  to  their  licentiate  and  he  be  disposed  to  accept  it,  they 
shall  then  dismiss  him  from  their  jurisdiction  and  require  him  to 
repair  to  that  Presbytery  into  the  bounds  of  which  he  is  called,  and 
there  to  submit  himself  to  the  usual  trials  preparatory  to  ordination. 

[To  facilitate  the  business  and  avoid  expense  and  delay,  it  has  become 
common  usage  for  the  candidate  to  obtain  a  dismission  to  the  Presbytery 

52 


410  FOEM   OF   GOVERNMEXT. 

within  whose  bounds  is  the  congregation  seeking  his  services ;  being  re- 
ceived by  that  Presbytery,  the  proceedings  are  as  in  the  case  of  their  own 
candidates.     See  IX.,  above,  M.] 

XI.  Trials  for  ordination,  especially  in  a  different  Presbytery  from 
that  in  which  the  candidate  was  licensed,  shall  consist  of  a  careful 
examination  as  to  his  acquaintance  with  experimental  religion ;  as  to 
his  knowledge  of  philosophy,  theology,  ecclesiastical  history,  the  Greek 
and  Hebrew  languages,  and  such  other  branches  of  learning  as  to  the 
Presbytery  may  appear  requisite ;  and  as  to  his  knowledge  of  the  con- 
stitution, the  rules  and  principles  of  the  government  and  discipline 
of  the  church;  together  with  such  written  discourse  or  discourses 
founded  on  the  word  of  God  as  to  the  Presbytery  shall  seem  proper. 
The  Presbytery,  being  fully  satisfied  with  his  qualifications  for  the 
sacred  office,  shall  appoint  a  day  for  his  ordination,  which  ought  to 
be,  if  convenient,  in  that  church  of  wdiich  he  is  to  be  the  minister. 
It  is  also  recommended  that  a  fast  day  be  observed  in  the  congregation 
previous  to  the  day  of  ordination. 

I.  Ordination  on  the  Sabbath  Discouraged,  but  at  the  Discretion 

of  the  Presbytery. 

An  overture  was  received  from  the  Presb3-tery  of  Orange,  requesting 
the  opinion  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  question  whether  it  be  proper 
to  ordain  licentiates  to  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry  on  the  Sabbath 
day.  The  General  Assembly  think  it  would  not  be  for  edification  to  adopt 
a  uniform  rule  on  the  subject.  In  general  they  think  it  is  not  expedient 
that  ordinations  should  take  place  on  the  Sabbath,  yet  that  there  may  be 
cases  in  which  urgent  or  peculiar  circumstances  may  demand  them.  The 
Assembly,  therefore,  judged  it  best  to  leave  it  to  the  Presbyteries  to  act  in 
this  concern  as  they  may  judge  that  their  duty  requires. — 1821,  p.  10. 

[For  cjualificatioris  of  the  candidate  in  knowledge  of  and  assent  to 
the  Confession,  Catechisms,  etc.,  see  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  i., 

II,  12  and  13.] 

XII.  The  day  appointed  for  ordination  being  come,  and  the  Pres- 
bytery convened,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery,  previously  appointed 
to  that  duty,  shall  preach  a  sermon  adapted  to  the  occasion.  The 
same,  or  another  member  appointed  to  preside,  shall  afterward  briefly 
recite  fi'om  the  pul])it,  in  the  audience  of  the  people,  the  proceedings 
of  the  Presbytery  preparatory  to  this  transaction.  Ho  shall  point  out 
the  nature  and  importance  of  the  ordinance,  and  endeavor  to  impress 
the  audience  with  a  proper  sense  of  the  solemnity  of  the  transaction. 

Then,  addressing  himself  to  the  candidate,  he  shall  propose  to  him 
the  following  questions,  viz.: 

1.  Do  you  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
to  be  the  word  of  God,  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  jiractice? 

2.  Do  you  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 


OF    ELECTION    AND    ORDINATION.  411 

this  Church  as  containing  the  system  of  doctrine  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  ? 

3.  Do  you  approve  of  the  government  and  discipline  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  these  United  States? 

4.  Do  you  promise  subjection  to  your  brethren  in  the  Lord  ? 

5.  Have  you  been  induced,  as  far  as  you  know  your  own  heart,  to 
seek  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry  from  love  to  God,  and  a  sincere 
desire  to  promote  his  glory  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son  ? 

6.  Do  you  promise  to  be  zealous  and  faithful  in  maintaining  the 
truths  of  the  gospel  and  the  purity  and  peace  of  the  Church,  what- 
ever persecution  or  opposition  may  arise  unto  you  on  that  account  ? 

7.  Do  you  engage  to  be  faithful  and  diligent  in  the  exercise  of  all 
private  and  personal  duties  which  become  you  as  a  Christian  and  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  as  well  as  in  all  relative  duties  and  the  public 
duties  of  your  office,  endeavoring  to  adorn  the  profession  of  the  gos- 
pel by  your  conversation,  and  walking  with  exemplary  piety  before 
the  flock  over  which  God  shall  make  you  overseer? 

8.  Are  you  now  willing  to  take  the  charge  of  this  congregation, 
agreeably  to  your  declaration  at  accepting  their  call  ?  And  do  you 
promise  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  pastor  to  them  as  God  shall  give 
you  strength  ? 

The  Assent  Embraces  the  Larger  and.  Shorter  Catechisms. 

Overture  No.  1,  The  following  inquiry  from  members  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Nashville :  "  Wheu  ministers  and'  other  officers  are  ordained  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  give  an  affirmative  answer  to  the  question, 
Do  you  sincerely  receive  and  adopt  the  Confession  of  this  Church  as  con- 
taining the  system  of  doctrines  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ?  are  such 
ministers  and  officers  to  be  understood  as  embracing  and  assenting  to  the 
doctrines,  principles,  precepts  and  statements  contained  in  the  Larger  and 
Shorter  Catechisms  in  the  same  unqualified  sense  in  which  they  are  under- 
stood to  embrace  and  assent^  to  the  doctrines,  principles,  precepts  and 
statements  contained  in  other  parts  of  the  Confession  of  Faith '?" 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  question  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative ;  and  the  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1848,  p,  18,  O.  S. 

XIII.  The  candidate  having  answered  these  questions  in  the  affirm- 
ative, the  presiding  minister  shall  propose  to  the  people  the  following 
questions : 

1.  Do  you,  the  people  of  this  congregation,  continue  to  profess  your 
readiness  to  receive  whom  you  have  called  to  be  your 
minister? 

2.  Do  you  promise  to  receive  the  word  of  truth  from  his  mouth 
with  meekness  and  love,  and  to  submit  to  him  in  the  due  exercise  of 
discipline  ? 


412  FORM   OF   GOVERXMENT. 

3.  Do  you  promise  to  encourage  him  iu  his  arduous  labor,  and  tc 
assist  hLs  endeavors  for  your  instruction  and  spiritual  edification  ? 

4.  And  do  you  engage  to  continue  to  liini,  while  he  is  your  pastor, 
that  competent  worldly  maintenance  wdiich  you  have  promised,  and 
whatever  else  you  may  see  needful  for  the  honor  of  religion  and  his 
comfort  among  you  ? 

XIV.  The  people  having  answered  these  questions  in  the  affirma- 
tive, by  holding  up  their  right  hands,  the  candidate  shall  kneel  down 
in  the  most  convenient  part  of  the  church.  Then  the  presiding  min- 
ister shall  by  prayer,  and  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
Presbytery,  according  to  the  apostolic  example,  solemnly  ordain  him 
to  the  holy  office  of  the  gospel  ministry.  Prayer  being  ended,  he 
shall  rise  from  his  knees ;  and  the  minister  who  presides  shall  first, 
and  afterward  all  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  in  their  order,  take 
him  by  the  right  hand,  saying,  in  words  to  this  purpose,  "  We  give 
you  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  take  part  of  this  ministry  with 
us."  After  which  the  minister  presiding,  or  some  other  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  shall  give  a  solemn  charge  in  the  name  of  God,  to  the 
newly  ordained  bishop,  and  to  the  people,  to  persevere  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  mutual  duties ;  and  shall  then  by  prayer  recommend 
them  both  to  the  grace  of  God  and  his  holy  keeping,  and  finally,  after 
singing  a  psalm,  shall  dismiss  the  congregation  with  the  usual  bless- 
ing.    And  the  Presbytery  shall  duly  record  the  transaction. 

XV.  As  it  is  sometimes  desirable  and  important  that  a  candidate 
who  has  not  received  a  call  to  be  the  pastor  of  a  particular  congrega- 
tion should,  nevertheless,  be  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  min- 
istry, as  an  evangelist,  to  preach  the  gospel,  administer  sealing  ordin- 
ances and  organize  churches  in  frontier  or  destitute  settlements ;  in 
this  case  the  last  of  the  preceding  questions  shall  be  omitted,  and 
the  following  used  as  a  substitute,  namelv : 

Are  you  now  willing  to  undertake  the  work  of  an  evangelist ;    and 
«do  you  promise  to  discharge  the  duties  which  may  be  incumbent  on 
you  in  this  character  as  God  shall  giv^e  you  strength? 

1.  Ordination  as  an  Evangelist  to  Labor  in  Feeble  Churches. 

Is  it  or  is  it  not  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  to  ordain  evangelists  to  labor  in  fields  having  feeble  clmrclies 
wliich  are  not  able  to  support  a  pastor,  and  are  too  remote  conveniently 
to  secure  the  services  of  an  ordained  minister? 

To  ordain  evangelists  under  the  specified  circumstances  is  in  accordance 
with  the  practice  of  the  Church,  and  is  no  infraction  of  any  of  its  laws. — 
1850  p.  454,  O.  S. 


OF    ELECTIOX    AND    ORDINATION.  413 


2.  Ordination  of  a  Licentiate  who  Proposed  to  Continue  Teaching. 

The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  submitted  to  the  Assembly  for  their 
decision  the  case  of  Mr.  Joiiii  Jones,  a  licentiate  under  their  care,  who  at 
their  last  sessions  had  requested  that  the  Presbytery  would  take  measures 
to  ordain  him  sine  titido.  The  Presbytery  stated  that  Mr.  Jones  had  been 
a  licensed  candidate  for  a  number  of  years ;  that  he  had  always  sxistained 
a  good  and  consistent  character ;  that  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  an 
academy,  and  was  so  circumstanced  that  his  being  ordained  might  render 
him  more  extensively  useful.     The  Assembly  having  considered  the  case. 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  be  permitted  and  au- 
thorized to  ordain  Mr.  Jones  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry  sine  titulo, 
provided  the  Presbytery,  from  a  full  view  of  his  qualifications  and  other 
attending  circumstances  shall  think  it  expedient  so  to  ordain  him. — 1807, 
p.  386. 

3.  Presbyteries  should  not  Ordain  the  Candidates  of  other  Pres- 

byteries. 

1.  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  our  Presbyteries  not  to  or- 
dain sine  titulo  any  men  who  propose  to  pursue  the  work  of  their  miuistzy 
in  any  sections  of  the  country  where  a  Presbytery  is  already  organized  to 
which  they  may  go  as  licentiates  and  receive  ordination. 

2.  That  the  several  bodies  with  which  we  are  in  friendly  correspondence 
in  the  New  England  States  be  respectfully  requested  to  use  their  counsel 
and  influence  to  prevent  the  ordination,  by  any  of  their  councils  or  con- 
sociations, of  men  who  propose  to  jjursue  the  work  of  the  ministry  within 
the  bounds  of  any  Presbytery  belonging  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  that  the  delegates  from  this  Assembly  to  those 
bodies  respectively  be  charged  with  communicating  this  resolution. — 
1834,  p.  428. 

4.  Ordination  sine  titulo. 

a.  The  Synod  would  bear  testimony  against  the  late  too  common,  and 
now  altogether  unnecessary,  practice  of  some  Presbyteries  in  the  north  of 
Ireland,  viz.,  their  ordaining  men  to  the  ministry  sine  titido  immediately 
before  they  come  over  hither,  thereby  depriving  us  of  our  just  rights,  viz., 
that  we,  unto  whom  they  are  designed  to  be  co-presbyters,  and  among 
whom  they  design  to  bestow  their  labors,  should  have  just  and  ftiir  inspect- 
ing into  their  qualifications;  we  say  it  seems  necessary  that  the  Synod  bear 
testimony  against  such  practice  by  writing  home  to  the  General  Synod, 
thereby  signifying  our  dissatisfaction  with  the  same.  .  .  .  The  Synod  do 
agree  that  no  minister  ordained  in  Ireland  sine  titulo  be  for  the  future 
received  to  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  among  us  until  he  submit  to  such 
trials  as  the  Presbytery  among  whom  he  resides  shall  think  proper  to 
order  and  appoint.  And  that  the  Synod  do  also  advertise  the  General 
Synod  in  Ireland  that  the  ordaining  any  such  to  the  ministry  sine  titido, 
before  their  sending  them  hither,  for  the  future  Avill  be  very  disagreeable 
and  disobliging  to  us. — 1735,  p.  119. 

b.  A  question  was  proposed.  Whether  it  be  proper  to  ordain  to  the 
ministry  sine  titido,  except  for  some  particular  mission  ?  The  considera- 
tion of  which  is  deferred  till  our  next  sederunt. — 1762,  p.  314. 

The  question.  Ought  ministers  to  be  ordained  sine  titulo  f — i.  e.,  without 
relation  or  probable  view  had  to  a  particular  charge — resumed,  and  after 
further  deliberation,  we  judge  as  follows : 


414  FORM    OF   GOVERXMEXT. 

That  iu  ordinary  cases,  where  churches  are  properly  regulated  and  or- 
ganized, it  is  a  practice  highly  inexpedient  and  of  dangerous  consequences, 
not  to  be  allowed  in  our  body  except  in  some  special  cases,  as  missions  to 
the  Indians  and  some  distant  places  that  regularly  apply  for  ministers. 
But  as  the  honor  and  reputation  of  the  Synod  is  much  interested  in  the 
conduct  of  Presbyteries  in  such  special  cases,  it  is  judged  that  they  should 
previously  apply  to  the  Synod  and  take  their  advice  therein,  unless  the 
cases  require  such  haste  as  would  necessarily  prevent  the  benefit  of  such  a 
mission  if  delayed  to  the  next  session  of  Synod,  in  which  cases  the  Presby- 
teries shall  report  to  the  next  Synod  the  state  of  the  cases  and  the  reasons 
for  their  conduct. — 1764,  p,  337. 

c.  Application  was  made  to  the  Synod  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Cas- 
tle for  advice  respecting  the  propriety  of  Mr.  Samuel  Smith's  being  or- 
dained by  said  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  under  whose  care  he  is,  in  con- 
sequence of  his  having  accepted  a  call  from  a  congregation  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover. 

The  Synod,  having  heard  all  the  circumstances  relative  to  this  case  and 
deliberated  thereon,  agree  that  it  is  not  expedient  for  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Castle  to  ordain  Mr.  Smith  as  the  matter  now  stands. — 1775,  p.  465. 

d.  The  Presbytery  of  Leaves,  by  their  commissioner,  Mr.  Slemons,  re- 
quested leave  to  ordain  a  certain  Mr.  James  Lang,  a  licentiate  under  their 
care,  sine  titiilo. 

Besolved,  That  the  reasons  offered  for  this  measure  are  not  sufficient, 
and  therefore  that  the  request  be  not  granted. — 1800,  p.  199. 

e.  The  following  request  was  overtured  by  the  Committee  of  Bills  and 
Overtures : 

That  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  have  liberty  to  direct 
their  Presbyteries  to  ordain  such  candidates  as  they  may  judge  necessary 
to  appoint  on  missions  to  preach  the  gospel ;  whereupon, 

Resolved,  That  the  above  request  be  granted,  the  Synods  being  careful 
to  restrict  the  permission  to  the  ordination  of  such  candidates  only  as  are 
engaged  to  be  sent  on  missions  to  preach  the  gospel. — 1795,  p.  98. 

/.  The  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  directed  their  commissioners  to  solicit 
the  permission  of  the  General  Assembly  to  ordain  Mr.  William  Mafiit,  a 
licentiate  under  their  care,  to  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  if  upon 
examination  he  should  appear  qualified.  The  reqiip^t  was  made  at  the 
particular  instance  of  the  church  of  Bladensbiirg,  where  Mr.  Maffit  offi- 
ciates as  a  stated  supply. 

Resolved,  That  said  request  be  granted. — 1798,  p.  146. 

g.  Mr.  Robert  Smith  was  appointed  a  missionary  to  the  western  and 
northern  frontiers  of  the  State  of  New  York,  provided  he  shall  be  or- 
dained by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  for  that  purpose. — 1794,  p.  86. 

[See  also  Minutes' 1799,  p.  172;  1809,  p.  415;  1810,  p.  459.] 

h.  A  reference  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  was  laid  before  the  As- 
sembly. By  an  extract  from  the  minutes  of  that  Synod  it  appeared  that 
ISIr.  John  Waugh,  a  licentiate  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Castle,  had,  for  special  reasons,  requested  the  Presbytery  to  take  measures 
for  his  ordination  sine  tlfnlo.  The  Presbytery  accordingly  ])resented  the 
request  to  Synod,  and  the  Synod,  finding  that  the  authority  in  this  case  is 
by  the  Constitution  expressly  vested  in  the  General  Assembly,  agree  to 
refer  the  matter  to  them  for  their  decision.  The  Assembly  having  taken 
the  subject  into  consideration. 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle  be,  and  they  hereby  are 
permitted  and  authorized,  to  ordain  the  said  ^Ir.  Waugh  to  the  work  of 
the  gospel  ministry  sine  titxdo ;  provided  that  the  Presbytery,  from  a  full 


OF   ELECTION   AND   ORDINATION.  415 

view  of  his  qualifications  aud  other  attending  circumstances,  shall  think  it 
expedient. — 1805,  p.  337. 

5.  Ordination  sine  titulo.— Overture  on  Rejected. 

a.  The  following  overture  was  brought  in  and  read,  viz.: 

In  what  cases,  except  the  one  provided  for  in  the  seventeenth  chapter 
of  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  may  a  Presbytery  ordain  a  man  to  the 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry  without  a  call  to  a  particular  charge? — 1810, 
p.  456. 

This  overture  was  referred  to  Drs.  Miller  and  Green,  Messrs.  Nathan, 
Grier,  Anderson  and  Campbell,  as  a  Committee. — 1811,  p.  464. 

This  Committee  reported  as  follows,  viz.: 

Whereas,  Tliere  may  exist  cases  in  which  it  may  be  needful  for  Pres- 
byteries to  ordain  without  a  regular  call ;  but  as  the  frequent  exercise  of 
this  power  may  be  dangerous  to  the  Church,  and  as  this  case  does  not 
appear  to  be  fully  provided  for  in  our  Constitution  and  Book  of  Disci- 
pline, 

Resolved,  That  the  following  rule  be  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries  for 
their  opinion  and  approbation,  which,  when  sanctioned  by  a  majority  of 
the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the  Church,  shall  become  a  constitutional 
rule,  viz. : 

That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  Presbyteries,  when  they  think  it  necessary 
to  ordain  a  candidate  without  a  call  to  a  particular  congregation  or  con- 
gregations, to  take  the  advice  of  their  respective  Synods,  or  of  the  General 
Assembly,  before  tliey  proceed  to  this  ordination. — 1811,  p.  474. 

[Answered  in  the  negative — 11  to  7 — and  the  subject  dismissed.] — 
1812,  p.  494. 

h.  [In  1813  another  rule  was  proposed,]  viz.:  The  rule  proposed,  and 
on  which  an  affirmative  or  negative  vote  of  the  Presbyteries  is  required, 
is  in  the  following  words,  viz.: 

It  shall  he  the  duty  of  Presbyteries,  when  they  think  it  necessary  to 
ordain  a  candidate  without  a  call  to  a  particular  pastoral  charge,  to  take^ 
the  advice  of  a  Synod,  or  of  the  General  Assembly,  before  they  proceed' 
to  such  ordination. — 1813,  p.  524. 

[Of  the  Pi-esbyteries  answering  this  overture,  twenty-six  replied  in  the 
negative  and  four  in  the  affirmative.] — 1814,  p.  558. 

6.  Censure  of  Synod  for  Ordination  sine  titulo  not  Sustained. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  were,  on  the  recommendation  of 
the  Committee,  approved,  with  the  exception  of  a  censure  on  p.  209,  of 
the  action  of  Knox  Presbytery,  for  ordaining  a  man  when  there  was  no 
call  from  any  part  of  the  Church. — 1843,  p.  17,  N.  S. 


416  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

OF  TRANSLATION  OR  REMOVING  A  MINISTER  FROM  ONE 
CHARGE  TO  ANOTHER. 

I.  No  bishop  shall  be  translated  from  one  church  to  another,  nor 
shall  he  receive  any  call  for  that  purpose,  but  by  permission  of  the 
Presbytery. 

1.  Removal  -without  Consent  of  Presbytery. 

The  Presbytery  of  East  Jersey  having  reported  that  Mr.  John  Cross 
has,  without  the  concurrence  of  Presbytery,  removed  from  one  congrega- 
tion to  another,  the  Synod  do  declare  that  the  conduct  of  such  ministers  ,  .  . 
that  take  cliarge  of  any  congregation  without  the  Presbyteries'  concurrence, 
to  be  disorderly  and  justly  worthy  of  presbyterial  censure,  and  do  admonish 
said  Mr.  Cross  to  be  no  further  chargeable  with  such  irregularities  in  the 
future.— 1735,  p.  115. 

,2.  The  Irregularity  Excused,  but  Caution  Enjoined. 

The  Synod  having  deliberately  considered  the  aifair  of  Mr.  Allison's 
removal  to  Philadelphia,  referred  to  them  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Cas- 
tle, judge  that  the  method  he  used  is  contrary  to  the  Presbyterian  plan. 
Yet  considering  that  the  circumstances  which  urged  him  to  take  the 
method  he  used  were  very  pressing,  and  that  it  was  indeed  almost  imprac- 
ticable to  him  to  apply  for  the  consent  of  Presbyteiy  or  Synod  in  the 
orderly  way,  and  further  being  persuaded  that  Mr.  Allison's  being  era- 
ployed  in  such  a  station  in  the  academy  has  a  favorable  aspect  in  several 
respects,  and  a  very  probable  tendency  not  only  to  promote  the  good  of 
the  public,  but  also  of  the  Church,  as  he  may  be  serviceable  to  the  inte- 
rests thereof  in  teaching  philosophy  and  divinity  as  far  as  his  obligations 
to  the  academy  will  permit,  we  judge  that  his  proceedings  in  said  affair 
are  in  a  great  measure  excusable.  Withal,  the  Synod  advises  that  for  the 
future  its  members  be  very  cautious,  and  guard  against  such  proceedings 
as  are  contrary  to  our  known  approved  methods  in  such  cases. — 1752, 
p.  206. 

II.  Any  church  desiring  to  call  a  settled  minister  from  his  present 
charge  shall,  by  commissioners  properly  authorized,  represent  to  the 
Presbytery  the  ground  on  which  they  plead  his  removal.  The  Pres- 
bytery, having  maturely  considered  their  plea,  may,  according  as  it 
appears  more  or  less  reasonable,  either  recommend  to  thera  to  desist 
from  prosecuting  the  call,  or  may  order  it  to  be  delivered  to  the  min- 
ister to  whom  it  is  directed.  If  the  parties  be  not  prepared  to  have 
the  matter  issued  at  that  Presbytery,  a  written  citation  shall  be  given 
to  the  minister  and  his  congregation  to  appear  before  the  Presbytery 
at  their  next  meeting.  This  citation  shall  be  read  from  the  pulpit  in 
that  church  by  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  appointed  for  that  pur- 


OF   TEANSLATION.  417 

pose  Immediately  after  public  worship,  so  that  at  least  two  Sabbaths 
shall  intervene  betwixt  the  citation  and  the  meeting  of  the  Presby- 
tery at  which  the  cause  of  translation  is  to  be  considered.  The  Pres- 
bytery being  met,  and  having  heard  the  parties,  shall  upon  the  whole 
view  of  the  case  either  continue  him  in  his  former  charge  or  trans- 
late him,  as  they  shall  deem  to  be  most  for  the  peace  and  edification 
of  the  Church,  or  refer  the  whole  affair  to  the  Synod  at  their  next 
meeting  for  their  advice  and  direction. 

1.  Consent  of  the  Parties  may  Shorten  the  Process. 

[In  the  Constitution,  as  originally  adopted,  citation  of  the  parties  was 
required  in  all  cases.  By  the  Assembly  of  1804,  p.  305,  it  was  proposed 
to  strike  out  "together  with  a  written  citation,"  and  insert  "if  the  parties  be 
not  prepared  to  have  the  matter  issued  at  that  Presbytery,  a  written  citation 
shall  be  given  to  the  minister." 

The  amendment  was  adopted. — 1805,  p.  333.  In  a  note  accompanying 
the  overture  the  Assembly  say,  "  This  amendment  is  intended  to  provide 
that  consent  of  parties  shall  shorten  the  constitutional  process  for  translat- 
ing a  minister." — 1804,  p.  305.] 

Overture  No.  11,  from  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  proposing  the  follow- 
ing query :  "  Is  it  the  intent  of  chapter  xvii..  Form  of  Government,  that 
a  minister  desiring  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge  shall  in  all  cases  first 
make  his  request  known  to  the  Presbytery  ?" 

The  Committee  recommend  that  it  be  answered  in  the  negative,  for  the 
reason  that  chapter  xvi.,  section  ii.,  provides  that  where  the  parties  are  pre- 
pared for  the  dissolution  of  a  pastoral  relation  it  may  be  dissolved  at  the 
first  meeting  of  Presbytery. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1866,  p.  47,  O.  S. 

III.  When  the  congregation  calling  any  settled  minister  is  within 
the  limits  of  another  Presbytery,  that  congregation  shall  obtain  leave 
from  the  Presbytery  to  which  they  belong,  to  apply  to  the  Presbyterv 
of  which  he  is  a  member;  and  that  Presbytery,  having  cited  him  and 
his  congregation  as  before  directed,  shall  proceed  to  hear  and  issue  the 
cause.  If  they  agree  to  the  translation,  they  shall  release  him  from 
his  present  charge ;  and  having  given  him  proper  testimonials  shall 
require  him  to  repair  to  that  Presbytery  within  the  bounds  of  which 
the  congregation  calling  him  lies,  that  the  proper  steps  may  be  taken 
for  his  regular  settlement  in  that  congregation  ;  and  the  Presbytery  to 
which  the  congregation  belongs,  having  received  an  authenticated  cer- 
tificate of  his  release  under  the  hand  of  the  clerk  of  that  Presbytery, 
shall  proceed  to  install  him  in  the  congregation  as  soon  as  convenient, 
provided  always  that  no  bishop  or  pastor  shall  be  translated  without 
his  own  consent  previously  obtained. 

1.  Pastor  and  Church  must  Belong  to  the  same  Presbytery. 

Overture  No.  19.     From  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington, 
asking  whether  a  minister  who  is  a  member  of  one  Presbytery  can  be  iu- 
53 


418  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

stalled  as  pastor  over  a  church  in  another  Presbytery;  and  if  so,  what  arn 
tlie  proceedings  proper  in  the  case.  The  Committee  recommend  the  As- 
sembly to  answer  that  he  should  not  be  installed  in  such  a  case.  Adopted. 
—1854,  p.  46,  O.  S. 

See  under  chap,  x.,  viii. 

IV.  AYhen  any  minister  is  to  be  settled  in  a  congregation,  the  in- 
stallment, M'hich  consists  in  constituting  a  pastoral  relation  between 
him  and  the  people  of  that  particular  church,  may  be  performed  either 
by  the  Presbytery  or  by  a  Committee  appointed  for  that  purpose,  as 
may  appear  most  expedient;  and  the  following  order  shall  be  observed 
therein  : 

V.  A  day  shall  be  appointed  for  the  installment,  at  such  time  as 
may  appear  most  convenient,  and  due  notice  thereof  given  to  the  con- 
gregation. 

VI.  When  the  Presbyteiy  or  Committee  shall  be  convened  and 
constituted,  on  the  day  appointed,  a  sermon  shall  be  delivered  by  some 
one  of  the  members  previously  appointed  thereto;  immediately  after 
which  the  bisiiop  who  is  to  preside  shall  state  to  the  congregation  the 
design  of  their  meeting,  and  briefly  recate  the  proceedings  of  the  Pres- 
bytery relative  thereto.  And  then  addressing  himself  to  the  minister 
to  be  installed,  shall  propose  to  him  the  following  or  similar  questions: 

1.  Are  you  now  willing  to  take  the  charge  of  this  congregation,  as 
their  pastor,  agreeably  to  your  declaration  at  acco[)ting  their  call? 

2.  Do  you  conscientiously  believe  and  declare,  as  far  as  you  know 
your  own  heart,  that  in  taking  upon  you  this  charge,  you  are  influ- 
enced by  a  sincere  desire  to  promote  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  good 
of  the  church  ? 

3.  Do  you  solemnly  promise  that,  by  the  assistance  of  the  grace  of 
God,  you  will  endeavor  faithfully  to  discharge  all  the  duties  of  a  })as- 
tor  to  this  congregation;  and  will  be  careful  to  maintain  a  deportment 
in  all  respects  becoming  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  agreeably 
to  your  ordination  engagements  ? 

To  all  these  having  received  satisfactory  answers,  he  sliall  propose 
to  the  people  the  same  or  like  questions  as  those  directed  under  the 
head  of  ordination  ;  which,  having  been  also  satisfactorily  answered 
by  holding  up  the  right  hand  in  testimony  of  assent,  he  shall  solemnly 
pronounce  and  declare  the  said  minister  to  be  regularly  constituted 
the  pastor  of  that  congregation.  A  charge  shall  then  be  given  to  both 
parties,  as  directed  iu  the  case  of  ordination  ;  and  after  prayer,  and 
singing  a  psalm  adapted  to  the  transaction,  the  congregation  shall  be 
dismissed  with  the  usual  benediction. 

VII.  It  is  highly  becoming  that,  after  the  solemnity  of  the  install- 
ment, the  heads  of  families  of  that  congregation  who  are  present,  or 


OF    EESIGNING    A   PASTORAL    CHARGE.  419 

at  least  tlie  elders  and  those  appointed  to  take  care  of  tlie  temporal 
concerns  of  that  church,  should  come  forward  to  their  pastor  and  give 
him  their  right  hand  in  token  of  cordial  reception  and  affectionate 
regard. 

1.  A  Pastoral  Relation  without  Installment  Recognized. 

It  appears  evident  to  this  Synod  that  Mr.  Tennent  having  in  all  respects 
acted,  and  been  esteemed,  and  looked  upon,  not  only  by  this  Synod,  but 
also  by  the  congregation,  of  Neshaminy,  and  particularly  by  the  appell- 
ants themselves,  as  the  minister  and  pastor  of  the  people  of  Neshamin}^ 
that  he  is  still  to  be  esteemed  as  the  pastor  of  that  people,  notwithstanding 
the  want  of  a  formal  installment  among  them  ;  which  omission,  though  the 
Synod  doth  not  justify,  yet  it  is  far  from  nullifying  the  pastoral  relation 
between  Mr.  Tennent  and  said  people. — 1736,  p.  127. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OF  RESIGNING  A  PASTORAL  CHARGE. 

When  any  minister  shall  labor  under  such  grievances  in  his  con- 
gregation as  that  he  shall  desire  leave  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge, 
the  Presbytery  shall  cite  the  congregation  to  appear  by  their  commis- 
sioner at  their  next  meeting  to  show  cause,  if  any  they  have,  why  the 
Presbytery  should  not  accept  the  resignation.  If  the  congregation 
fail  to  appear,  or  if  their  reasons  for  retaining  their  pastor  be  deemed 
by  the  Presbytery  insufficient,  he  shall  have  leave  granted  to  resign 
his  pastoral  chai'ge,  of  which  due  record  shall  be  made;  and  that 
church  shall  be  held  to  be  vacant  till  supplied  again  in  an  orderly 
manner  with  another  minister ;  and  if  any  congregation  shall  desire 
to  be  released  from  their  pastor,  a  similar  process,  mutatis  mutandis, 
shall  be  observed. 

1.  Whetlier  the  Relation  shall  be  Dissolved  at  the  Meeting  where 
the  Request  is  made  left  to  the  Discretion  of  the  Presbytery. 

The  Committee  on  overture  No.  9,  viz. :  Advice  asked  respecting  the 
following  question  of  order  by  the  Presbytery  of  Otsego,  "  Is  it  contrary 
to  chapte*-  xvii.,  of  the  Form  of  Government,  for  a  Presbytery  to  dissolve 
the  connection  between  a  minister  and  his  congregation  at  the  time  when 
he  presents  his  request  for  his  dissolution,  and  the  congregation  joins  issue 
by  commissioners  duly  appointed  for  that  purpose  ?"  made  the  following 
report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Bej<olved,  That  it  is  not  expedient  for  this  Assembly  to  give  a  decided 
answer  to  the  question,  but  to  leave  every  Presbytery  to  act  according  to 
their  own  discretion  in  the  premises. — 1832,  p.  373, 


420  FORM    OF   GOVEENMEXT. 

2.  The  Rule  should  be  Rig-idly  Observed. 

Also  overture  No.  24.  A  communication  from  the  Rev.  James  Latta 
and  others  in  relation  to  the  hasty  and  irregular  dissolution  of  the  pastoral 
relation. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following : 
Resolved,  That  article  xvii.  of  our  Form  of  Government,  in  spirit  and 
letter,  should  be  rigidly  regarded  by  all  pastors  and  churches,  and  en- 
forced by  our  Presbyteries. — 1862,  p.  622,  O.  S. 

3.  If  the  Parties  are  Agreed,  the  Relation  raay  be  Dissolved  at 
the  first  Meeting. 

Overture  from  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  proposing  the  following  query : 
"Is  it  the  intent  of  chapter  xvii.,  of  the  Form  of  Government,  that  a 
minister  desiring  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge  shall  in  all  cases  first  make 
his  request  known  to  the  Presbytery  ?" 

The  Committee  recommend  that  it  be  answered  in  the  negative,  for  the 
reason  that  chap,  xvi.,  sec.  ii.,  provides  that  where  the  parties  are  prepared 
for  the  dissolution  of  a  pastoral  relation  it  may  be  dissolved  at  the  first 
meeting  of  Presbytery.     Adopted. — 1866,  p.  47,  O.  S. 

4.  A  Meeting  of  the  Congregation  -without  the  Presence  and  Co- 
operation of  the  Pastor  Valid,  he  having  Requested  the  Disso- 
lution. 

Case  No.  4,  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  W.  P.  Carson  against  Synod  of 
Iowa,  for  dismissing  his  complaint  against  the  Presbytery  of  Dubuque. 
The  Presbytery,  upon  application  both  of  the  pastor  and  the  congregation, 
dissolved  the  pastoral  relation,  and  Mr.  Carson  complained  to  Synod,  on 
the  ground  that  the  session  and  trustees  united  in  calling  the  meeting  of  the 
congregation,  without  the  presence  or  co-operation  of  the  pastor,  at  which 
action  was  taken  asking  for  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation.  The 
Committee  recommend  that  the  complaint  be  dismissed,  there  being  no 
sufl[icient  ground  of  complaint. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1868,  p.  612,  0.  S. 

5.  Where  a  Synod  on  Appeal  Dissolves  the  Pastoral  Relation  on 

the  Petition  of  a  Minority,  it  is  Sustained. 

The  Rev.  George  S.  INIott,  chairman,  presented  the  report  of  the  com- 
mission on  Judicial  Case  No.  2,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows: 

The  commission  appointed  by  the  Assembly  to  issue  Judicial  Case  No. 
2  makes  the  following  report: 

This  case  originated  in  a  petition  presented  to  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio, 
December  27,  1866,  asking  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation  exist- 
ing Ijetween  the  Rev.  William  Hunter  and  the  church  of  Hopewell.  The 
reasons  of  this  petition  were  based  upon  troubles  in  the  congregation  which 
arose  out  of  a  state  of  things  u})()n  which  Presbytery  and  Synod  had  already 
acted.  This  petition  was  signed  by  a  minority.  A  counter  jjctition  was 
j)resented  from  a  large  majority  of  tlie  congregation,  begging  the  continu- 
ance of  the  pastoral  relation.  Presbytery  refused  by  a  small  majority  to 
dissolve  the  relation.  The  case  was  then  taken  by  a  complaint  of  the  mi- 
nority of  the  congregation  to  the  Synod  of  Pittslnirg.  Synod  sustained 
the  complaint  by  a  vote  of  50  yeas  to  11  nays,  and  by  a  unanimous  vote 
directed  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio  to  dissolve  the  pastoral  relation.  From 
this  action  of  Synod  an  appeal  is  made  to  the  Assembly  by  Joseph  Con- 
nell,  of  the  church  of  Hopewell,  for  the  following  reasons : 


or   RESIGNING   A   PASTORAL   CHARGE.  421 

1.  Because  the  pastoral  relation  between  the  Rev.  William  Hunter  and 
the  congregation  is  ordered  to  be  dissolved  on  the  petition  of  less  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  members  of  the  congregation,  greatly  against  the  will  of  the 
congregation  and  to  our  injury,  and  in  contravention  of  our  Christian  and 
constitutional  rights. 

2.  Because  the  petitioners  were  not  only  a  small  minority,  but  because 
some  of  them  were  not  members  of  the  congregation;  and  those  who  were 
members  had  lost  their  status,  they  having  for  more  than  a  year  neither 
communed  in  the  church  nor  contributed  their  just  proportion  of  the 
expenses  of  the  congregation. 

3.  Because  the  decision  of  Synod  is  highly  injurious  to  the  pastor  as  well 
as  to  the  congregation,  and  hurtful  also  to  the  cause  of  truth,  righteous- 
ness and  equity,  as  taught  in  the  holy  Scriptures  and  assured  to  congrega- 
tions and  pastors  by  our  Church  standards. 

All  the  papers  and  records  relating  to  the  case  were  read  before  the 
commission,  and  all  the  parties  desiring  a  hearing  were  heard. 

It  appeared  that  the  principal  cause,  if  not  the  origin,  of  these  difficul- 
ties, was  the  use  of  harsh  and  intemperate  language  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Hunter  toward  some  of  his  parishioners.  This  led  to  charges  and  a  trial 
before  the  Presbytery,  the  result  of  which  was  an  admoniti(jn  to  Mr.  Hun- 
ter to  "  restrain  his  temper  and  cultivate  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit."  In 
connection  with  this  trial  the  request  of  petitioners  for  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Hunter  was  granted  and  the  pastoral  relation  dissolved.  From  this  act 
of  dissolution  Mr.  Hunter  appealed  to  Synod,  who  sustained  his  appeal  on 
account  of  deficiency  in  the  records. 

A  new  application  for  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation  was  then 
made  to  Presbytery  by  the  discontented  minority,  based  upon  the  existing 
troubles,  which  was  refused,  as  alread}^  stated,  by  a  small  majority  of  Pres- 
bytery, but  granted  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  Synod. 

The  facts  and  statements  of  the  parties  satisfied  your  commission  that, 
while  a  majority  of  the  congregation  clung  to  Mr.  Hunter,  he  had  taken 
such  a  course  as  to  alienate  a  part  of  the  people  and  seriously  to  impair 
his  usefulness  in  that  congregation.  The  matter  has  been  for  two  years 
before  Presbytery,  and  they  have  sought  to  secure  a  reconciliation  by 
sending  Committees  to  confer  with  the  people,  but  to  no  purpose.  And 
the  case  has  become  so  complicated  in  Presbytery  as  to  divide  that  body 
about  equally.  When  Synod  came  to  decide  upon  the  merits  of  the  case, 
their  judgment  Avas  unanimous  against  the  continuance  of  the  pastoral 
■  relation. 

Your  commission  had  this  case  several  days  before  them,  and  bestowed 
upon  it  careful  consideration,  and  have  unanimously  determined  to  report 
to  the  Assembly  that  the  sense  of  this  commission  is  that  the  interests  of 
the  church  of  Hopewell  require  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation,  and 
that  they  agree  with  the  decision  of  Synod,  and  they  recommend  the  fol- 
lowing minute: 

This  Assembly  recognizes  the  right  of  each  congregation  to  decide 
whether  a  pastor  is  acceptable  to  them,  and  the  wishes  of  a  nmjority  are 
to  be  set  aside  only  fi)r  weighty  reasons ;  yet  such  a  state  of  things  may 
exist  between  the  pastor  and  a  portion  of  his  people  as  shall  require,  for 
the  fair  name  of  religion,  that  the  relation  be  dissolved  ;  and  for  this  rea- 
son the  appeal  and  complaint  of  Joseph  Council  against  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburg  is  not  sustained. — 1868,  pp.  648,  619,  O.  S. 


422  FORM   OF   GOVEENMENT. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OF  MISSIONS. 

When  vacancies  become  so  numerous  in  any  Presbytery  that  they 
cannot  be  supplied  with  the  frequent  administration  of  the  word  and 
ordinances,  it  shall  be  proper  for  such  Presbytery,  or  any  vacant  con- 
gregation within  our  bounds,  with  the  leave  of  the  Presbytery,  to 
apply  to  any  other  Presbytery,  or  to  any  Synod,  or  to  the  General 
Assembly  for  such  assistance  as  they  can  afford.  And  when  any 
Presbytery  shall  send  any  of  their  ministers  or  probationers  to  dis- 
tant vacancies,  the  missionary  shall  be  ready  to  produce  his  creden- 
tials to  the  Presbytery  or  Presbyteries  through  the  bounds  of  Avhich 
he  may  pass,  or  at  least  to  a  Committee  thereof,  and  obtain  their  ap- 
probation. And  the  General  Assembly  may  of  their  own  knowledge 
send  missions  to  any  part  to  plant  churches,  or  to  supply  vacancies, 
and  for  this  purpose  may  direct  any  Presbytery  to  ordain  evangelists 
or  ministers  without  relation  to  particular  churches,  provided  always 
that  such  missions  be  made  with  the  consent  of  the  parties  appointed, 
and  that  the  judicatory  sending  them  make  the  necessary  provision 
for  their  support  and  reward  in  the  performance  of  this  service. 

[For  a  full  account  of  the  earlier  missions  of  the  Church,  and  of  the 
origin  and  progress  of  the  work  culminating  in  the  present  Board  of 
Home  Missions,  see  New  Digest,  pp.  319-341,  and  annual  minutes,  N.  S., 
from  1861  to  1869 ;  also,  Assembly's  Digest,  Baird's  Collection,  Rev.  Ed., 
pp.  321-360,  with  annual  minutes,  O.  S.,  from  1858  to  1869.] 

1.  The  Standing  Committee  of  Missions  Appointed. 

Resolved,  1.  That  a  Committee  be  chosen  annually  by  the  General  As- 
sembly to  be  denominated  the  Standing  Committee  of  Missions  ;  that  the 
Committee  shall  consist  of  seven  members,  of  whom  four  shall  be  clergy- 
men and  three  laymen  ;  that  a  majority  of  this  Committee  shall  be  a  quo- 
rum to  do  business  ;  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  Con)mittee  to  collect, 
during  the  recess  of  the  Assembly,  all  the  information  in  their  power  rela- 
tive to  the  concerns  of  missions  and  missionaries,  to  digest  tliis  informa- 
tion and  report  thereon  at  each  meeting  of  the  Assend)ly;  to  designate  the 
])laces  where  and  to  specify  the  periods  during  which  the  missionaries 
should  be  employed  ;  to  correspond  with  them  if  necessary  and  with  all 
other  persons  on  missionary  business;  to  nominate  missionaries  to  the 
Assembly  and  report  the  number  which  the  funds  will  permit  to  be 
employed ;  to  hear  the  reports  of  the  missionaries  and  make  a  statement 
thereon  to  the  Assendily  relative  to  the  diligence,  fidelity  and  success  of 
the  missionaries,  the  sums  due  to  each,  and  such  parts  of  their  reports. as 
may  be  proper  for  the  Assembly  to  hear  in  detail ;  to  ascertain  annually 
whether  any  money  remains  with  the  trustees  of  the  college  of  New  Jer- 
sey which  ought  to  be  used  for  missionary  purposes,  agreeably  to  the  last 


OF   MISSIONS.  423 

will  of  James  Leslie,  deceased  ;  that  they  also  engage  a  suitable  person 
annually  to  preach  a  missionary  sermon  on  the  Monday  evening  next  after 
the  opening  of  the  General  Assembly,  at  which  a  collection  shall  be  made 
for  the  support  of  missions,  and  superintend  generally  under  the  direction 
of  the  Assembly  the  missionary  business. 

2.  That  although  this  Standing  Committee  shall  be  elected  annually, 
yet  each  Committee  shall  continue  in  office  till  the  end  of  the  sessions  of 
that  Assembly  which  succeeds  the  one  by  which  the  said  Committee  was 
chosen. 

3.  That  this  Standing  Committee  of  missions,  in  addition  to  the  duties 
above  specified,  shall  be  and  they  hereby  are  empowered  to  direct  the 
trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  during  the  recess  of  the  Assembly,  to 
issue  warrants  for  any  sums  of  money  which  may  become  due  in  conse- 
quence of  contracts,  appropriations  or  assignments  of  duty  made  by  the 
Assembly,  and  for  which  orders  may  have  not  been  issued  by  the  Assem- 
bly, and  on  this  subject  the  Committee  shall  report  annually  to  the  Assem- 
bly.—1802,  p.  258. 

In  1805,  p.  345,  the  number  of  the  Committee  resident  in  or  near  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  was  increased  to  ten,  and  one  other  member  added  for 
each  Synod,  making  in  the  whole  seventeen.  In  1816  the  Committee  was 
enlarged,  and  the  title  changed  to 

2.  The  Board  of  Missions. 

1.  That  the  style  of  the  Committee  be  changed  for  that  of  the  "Board 
of  Missions,  acting  under  the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States." 

2.  That  the  Board  of  Missions  be  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  the  Rev. 
John  B.  Romeyn,  D.  D.,  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  and  Messrs.  Samuel  Bay- 
ard, Robert  Ralston,  Robert  Lenox,  John  R.  B.  Rodgers,  John  E.  Cald- 
well, Divie  Bethune  and  Zachariah  Lewis. 

8.  That,  in  addition  to  the  powers  already  granted  by  the  Committee  of 
Missions,  the  Board  of  Missions  be  authorized  to  appoint  missionaries 
whenever  they  may  deem  it  proper,  to  make  such  advances  to  mission- 
aries as  may  be  judged  necessary,  and  to  pay  balances  due  to  missionaries 
who  have  fulfilled  their  missions,  whenever  in  their  judgment  the  particu- 
lar circumstances  of  the  missionaries  may  require  it. 

4.  That  the  Board  be  authorized  and  directed  to  take  measures  for 
establishing  throughout  our  churches  auxiliary  missionary  societies,  and 
that  the  General  Assembly  recommend  to  their  people  the  establish- 
ment of  such  societies  to  aid  the  funds  and  extend  the  operations  of  the 
Board. 

5.  That  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Missions  be  annually  chosen  by 
the  Assembly,  and  that  they  continue  in  office  until  the  rising  of  the  next 
General  Assembly,  when  they  are  to  be  succeeded  by  the  persons  chosen 
for  the  current  year. 

The  Committee  further  report,  that  while  deliberating  on  the  subject 
referred  to  them,  they  at  first  thought  it  would  be  expedient  for  this  Assem- 
bly to  present  to  the  consideratioii  of  their  churches  the  importance  of 
foreign  missions,  and  to  direct  the  Board  to  take  measures  for  commencing 
and  carrying  on  such  missions,  but  on  mature  reflection  they  are  inclined 
to  believe  that  the  union  of  foreign  with  domestic  missi(  ns  would  produce 
too  great  complexity  in  the  affiiirs  of  the  Board,  and  render  the  pressure 
of  business  too  severe  and  burdensome.  And  this  consideration  is  strength- 
ened by"the  belief  which  they  indulge  that  a  new  society  for  conducting 


424  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

foreign  missions  might  be  formed,  composed  not  only  of  members  belong- 
ing to  our  churches,  but  also  of  members  belonging  to  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church,  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  and  other  churches 
M'hich  have  adopted  the  same  creed.  Such  a  society  is  highly  desirable  ; 
and  were  it  organized  on  an  extensive  plan,  so  as  to  call  forth  the  com- 
bined energies  and  charity  of  all  those  sister  churches,  it  would  be  pro- 
ductive of  beneficial  consequences  both  at  home  and  abroad,  to  ourselves 
as  well  as  to  the  heathen, — 1816,  p.  638. 

3.  Enlarg'ement  of  Powers. 

a.  Remlved,  That  the  Board  of  Missions,  in  addition  to  the  powers 
already  granted  to  them,  be  authorized  to  manage,  appoint  and  direct  the- 
whole  concerns  and  business  of  the  Assembly's  missions  definitely,  and 
report  annually  their  doings  to  the  Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  be  authorized  to  appoint,  if  they  think  proper, 
an  Executive  Committee  of  their  own  number,  to  carry  into  effect  the  de- 
tails of  their  plan,  and  that  they  also  be  authorized  to  appoint  and  em- 
ploy an  agent  or  agents  at  their  discretion. — 1827,  p.  217. 

b.  The  Committee  of  Conference  with  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society  reported  that  after  mature  deliberation  they  recommend  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions,  which  were  adopted,  viz.: 

Remlved,  That  the  Board  of  ]\Iissions  already  have  the  power  to  estab- 
lish missions  not  only  among  the  destitute  in  our  own  country  or  any  other 
country,  but  also  among  the  heathen  in  any  part  of  the  world  ;  to  select, 
appoint  and  commission  missionaries,  to  determine  their  salaries  and  to 
settle  and  pay  their  accounts;  that  they  have  full  authority  to  correspond 
with  any  other  body  on  the  subject  of  missions;  to  api)oint  an  Executive 
Committee  and  an  efficient  agent  or  agents  to  manage  their  missionary 
concerns ;  to  take  measures  to  form  auxiliary  societies  on  such  terms  as 
they  may  deem  proper;  to  procure  funds,  and,  in  general,  to  manage  the 
missionary  operations  of  the  General  Assembly. 

It  is  therefore  submitted  to  the  discretion  of  the  Board  of  Missions  to 
consider  whether  it  is  expedient  for  them  to  carry  into  effect  the  full  pow- 
ers which  they  possess. 

liesolved,  That  an  addition  of  seven  laymen  be  made  to  the  present  num- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Missions.— 1828,  p.  244. 

4.  Number  of  Members  of  the  Board. 

The  action  above  made  the  number  twenty-six  ministers  and  fifteen 
elders  or  laymen.  In  1833  it  was  made  the  rule  hereafter  to  elect  each 
year  six  ministers  and  six  laymen.  In  1834  the  number  to  be  elected  an- 
nually was  fixed  at  ten  ministers  and  six  elders.  In  1845,  p.  30,  O.  S.,  it 
was — 

liexolved.  That  the  present  Assembly  elect  twenty-four  members — fifteen 
ministers  and  nine  laymen — to  fill  vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Missions,  and 
that  hereafter  the  same  number  be  elected  annually,  instead  of  the  num- 
ber heretofore  elected. — 1845,  p.  30. 

The  N.  S.  Assembly  continued  to  co-operate  with  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  until  1861.  In  1862  a  Report  on  Church  Extension 
was  adopted,  and  a  Committee  of  Conference  with  the  A.  H.  M.  S.  ap- 
pointed, who  next  year  reported,  recommending  the  continuance  of  co- 
operation. [See  New  Digest,  pp.  361-367  ;  also,  ])p.  368,  369.]  After 
full  discussion  the  following  was  adopted,  establishing — 


OF  MISSIONS.  425 


The  Church  Extension  Committee. 

This  being  obviously,  therefore,  a  case  which  cannot  be  reached  so 
effectually  by  any  action  of  the  inferior  judicatories,  your  Committee  can- 
not see  how  the  Assembly  can  refuse  to  exercise  in  regard  to  it  that  power 
of  "  superintendence  of  the  concerns  of  the  whole  Church  "  expi'essly  con- 
fided to  it  by  the  Constitution.  They  therefore  recommend  the  following 
action  : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  hereby  establishes  a  Standing 
Committee,  to  be  called  "The  Church  Extension  Committee,"  a  majority 
of  whom  shall  reside  in  or  near  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  This  Committee 
shall  have  no  other  powers  than  those  conferred  by  the  Assembly,  and  the 
functions  now  assigned  to  them  are  those  of  employing  presbyterial,  synod- 
ical  and  other  Presbyterian  itinerant  or  exploring  agents,  and  affording 
aid  in  such  exceptional  cases  as  those  already  mentioned,  and  also  the 
receiving  and  disbursing  of  funds  for  those  objects. 

2.  That,  in  recommending  this  course  of  action,  the  General  Assembly 
distinctly  declare  that  it  is  not  their  intention  thus  to  establish  an  Eccle- 
siastical Board  or  to  interfere  with  the  proper  functions  of  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society,  but,  as  heretofore,  they  recommend  that  society  to  the 
confidence  and  co-operation  of  the  churches  under  their  care. 

3.  That  the  Standing  Committee  on  Church  Extension,  now  constituted, 
shall  consist  of  fifteen  members,  to  be  chosen  by  the  Assembly  in  such 
manner  as  the  Assembly  may  direct,  and  the  Committee  shall  at  its  first 
meeting  divide  itself  into  three  equal  parts,  to  serve  respectively  one,  two 
and  three  years,  but  the  same  persons  shall  be  re-eligible  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  Assembly. 

4.  Five  members  of  the  Committee  shall  be  a  quorum;  but  in  order  to 
elect  any  salaried  ofiicer  of  the  Committee  or  to  increase  or  diminish  the 
salary  of  the  same,  a  majority  of  the  Committee  shall  be  necessary  to  con- 
stitute a  quorum.  The  Committee  shall  have  power  to  fill  any  vacancies 
occurring  while  the  Assembly  is  not  in  session,  and  they  shall  make  an 
annual  report  to  the  Assembly  of  all  their  proceedings. — 1855,  p.  21,  N.  S. 

See  further.  New  Digest,  pp.  371-375,  and  Minutes  N.  S.  1862,  p.  252. 
The  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Home  Missions  may 
be  found  in  1861,  pp.  466-469,  N.  S.     The  Charter  is  as  follows : 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Home  Missions  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Churcli  in  the  United  States  of  America,  passed 
April  18,  1862. 

The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact 
as  follows : 

Section  1.  Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  Albert  Barnes,  Benjamin  J.  Wallace,  George  L. 
Prentiss,  Thomas  vS.  Hastings,  Cliarles  H.  Robinson,  Joseph  Allison,  Jonathan  F. 
Stearns,  Henry  D.irling,  Edward  A.  Lambert,  Josepli  F.  Joy,  Matthew  W.  Baldwin, 
James  B.  Pinneo,  J.  Miltcm  Smith  and  Alfred  C.  Post  (designated  for  the  purpose  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Chnrch,  which  met  in  Syracuse,  New  York, 
in  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-one),  and  their  successors  in  office,  are  hereby 
constituted  a  body  corporate  and  politic,  by  the  name  of  the  "Presbyterian  Commit- 
tee of  Home  Missions,"  the  object  of  which  shall  be  to  assist  in  sustaining  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  in  feeble  churches  and  congregations  in  connection  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States,  and  generally  to  superintend  the  wiiole  course  of 
home  missions  in  behalf  of  the  said  Church,  as  its  General  Assembly  may  from  time  to 
time  direct ;  also  to  receive,  take  charge  of  and  disburse  any  property  or  funds  which 
at  any  time  and  from  time  to  time  may  be  entrusted  to  said  Church  or  said  Commit- 
tee for  home  missionary  purposes. 

Sec.  2.  The  said  corporation  shall  possess  the  general  powers  and  be  subject  to  the 

54 


426  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

provisions  contained  in  title  three  of  chapter  eighteen  of  the  first  part  of  tlie  Revised 
Statutes,  so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable  and  have  not  been  repealed  or  modified. 

Sec.  3.  The  management  and  disposition  of  the  afliiirs  and  funds  of  said  corporation 
shall  be  vested  in  the  individuals  named  in  the  first  section  of  this  Act  and  their  suc- 
cessors in  office,  who  shall  remain  in  office  for  such  period  and  be  displaced  and  suc- 
ceeded by  otliers,  to  be  elected  at  such  time  and  in  such  manner  as  the  said  Church 
represented  in  General  Assembly  sliall  direct  and  appoint. 

Sec.  4.  The  said  corporation  shall  be  in  law  capable  of  taking,  receiving  and  hold- 
ing any  real  or  personal  estate  which  has  been  or  may  hereafter  be  given,  demised  or 
bequeathed  to  it,  or  to  the  said  Church,  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  or  wiiich  may  ac- 
crue from  the  use  of  the  same;  but  the  said  corporation  shall  not  take  and  hold  real 
and  personal  estate  above  the  value  of  two  hundred  tliousand  dollars. 

»Sec.  5.  No  inhabitant  of  this  State  who  shall  die,  leaving  a  wife,  child  or  parent,  shall 
devise  or  bequeath  to  the  corporation  hereby  created  more  than  one-half  of  his  or  her 
estate  after  the  payment  of  his  or  her  debts,  but  a  devise  or  bequest  by  such  inhabitant 
shall  be  valid  to  the  extent  of  such  one-half;  in  no  case,  however,  shall  any  devise  or 
bequest  to  such  corporation  be  valid  in  any  will  made  by  any  inhabitant  of  this  State 
whicli  shall  not  have  been  made  and  executed  at  least  two  months  before  the  death 
of  the  testator  or  testatrix. 

Sec.  6.  This  Act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  \ 

Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  J 

I  have  compared  the  preceding  with  the 
original  law  on  file  in  this  office,  and  do  hereby  certify  that  the  same  is  a  correct 
transcript  therefrom,  and  the  whole  of  the  said  original  law. 

f  '-^-^  -.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  of  office  at  the  city  of  Albany,  this  third 

<  L.  s.  >     day  of  May,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  iuindred  and  sixtv-two. 
•■  -V-  ■•  J.  WESLEY  SMITH, 

Deputy  Secretary  of  Slate. 

I.  THE  BOARD  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

a.  The  unfinished  business  was  resumed,  viz.,  the  report  of  the  Joint 
Committee  on  Home  Missions,  which,  after  protracted  discussion,  was 
adopted,  as  follows : 

The  Joint  Committee  appointed  by  the  two  Assemblies  of  1869  to  ar- 
range for  the  consolidation  of  the  "Board  of  Domestic  Missions"  and 
"The  Committee  of  Home  Missions,"  would  respectfully  report  that,  in 
full  attendance,  they  have  given  the  subject  with  which  they  were  charged 
their  most  careful  deliberation. 

Some  things  pertaining  to  the  proposed  new  organization  were  very 
readily  adjusted,  as  appears  in  the  following  recommendations,  adopted 
with  entire  unanimity,  viz. : 

1.  The  name  to  be  "The  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America." 

2.  That  this  Board  consist  of  fifteen  members,  five  constituting  a 
quorum. 

3.  That  the  Board  be  authorized  to  api)oint  one  secretary,  with  so  much 
assistance  as  the  Board  may  deem  necessary. 

After  proceeding  so  far,  your  Committee  were  advised  by  eminent  legal 
counsel  that,  inasmuch  as  the  Board  and  Committee  now  existing  hold 
their  respective  charters  from  different  States,  legislative  actit)n  in  the 
States  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  would  be  necessary  before  the  con- 
templated consolidation  could  be  effected,  so  that  the  ])roperty  now  held  by 
the  one  could  legally  and  safely  be  transferred  to  the  other.  As  instructed 
by  counsel,  your  Committee  cannot  see  any  mode  in  which  this  General 
Assembly  itself,  without  further  legislation,  can  create  such  a  consolidated 


OF    MISSIONS.  427 

Board,  or  will  be  competent  in  law  to  execute  the  trusts  imposed  on  tlie 
existing  corporate  bodies  in  wills  or  other  writings  heretofore  executed. 

As  necessary  steps  to  the  obtaining  of  such  necessary  legislation  asissuited 
to  the  case,  your  Conunittee  report  the  following  recommendations,  to  wit: 

1.  That  this  Assembly  should  designate  the  locality  in  which  the  chief 
operations  of  the  new  Board  shall  be  carried  on,  and  in  which  the  princi- 
pal office  for  that  purpose  shall  be  located. 

2.  That  a  Committee  be  appointed  by  this  Assembly,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  endeavor  to  procure  all  the  legislation  required  by  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  case,  and  direct  the  transfer  of  property  now  held  by  the  two 
bodies  above  described,  on  receiving  the  opinion  of  comj^etent  counsel  that 
the  authority  of  the  new  body  is  perfect. 

3.  Meantime,  till  such  a  result  has  been  reached,  that  both  of  the  ex- 
isting organizations  should  be  kept  up  in  the  form  required  by  their  re- 
spective charters. — 1870,  p.  54. 

The  following  places  were  then  named  for  the  location  of  the  Board  of 
Home  Missions,  viz.,  Philadelphia  and  New  York ;  whereupon  the  roll 
was  called,  and  New  York  was  chosen,  by  a  vote  of  306  for  New  York, 
and  153  for  Philadelphia. — lb.,  p.  55. 

The  action  of  the  Assembly  adopting  the  report  of  the  Joint  Commit- 
tee on  Home  Missions  was  reconsidered,  and  the  number  of  members  of 
the  Board  changed  from  twenty  (20)  to  fifteen  (15),  and  the  number  of 
corresponding  secretaries  from  one  (1)  to  two  (2). 

The  Rev.  Henry  Kendall,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  Cyrus  Dickson,  D.  D., 
wei'e  by  acclamation  elected  corresponding  secretaries,  and  Mr.  Samuel  D. 
Powel  treasurer,  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions,  it  being  expressly  un- 
derstood that  this  was  not  to  be  considered  as  a  precedent  by  any  future 
Assembly.— 1870,  p.  100. 

6.  Applications  for  Aid  to  be  by  Ballot. 

The  following  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  in  1872  : 
Resolved,  That,  in  order  to  the  most  fair  appropriation  of  church  funds, 
this  Assembly  hereby  recommend  to  the  Presbyteries  that  in  the  case  of 
any  and  every  application  for  aid  from  any  of  the  Boards  or  Committees, 
the  vote  thereon  be  taken  by  ballot,  both  as  to  the  application  and  as  to 
the  amount,  except  where  the  matter  is  legally  in  the  hands  of  a  presby- 
terial  Committee. — p.  36. 

CHARTER  OF  THE   BOARD  OF   HOME   MISSIONS  OF  THE   PRESBY- 
TERIAN CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

An  Act  to  incorporate  "  The  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,"  and  to  enable  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home 
Missions,  formerly  the  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Home  Missions,  to  transfer  its 
property  to  said  new  corporation,  and  to  vest  in  such  new  corporation  the  corporate 
rights,  franchises  and  privileges  of  the  former  body,  and  also  to  enable  said  new- 
corporation  to  accept  a  transfer  of  the  property  of  "The  Trustees  of  the  Board  of 
Domestic  Missions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  tlie  Presbyterian  Ciiurch  in  the 
United  States  of  America,"  and  to  become  the  legal  successor  of  the  said  last  men- 
tioned corporation. — Passed  April  19,  1872. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  Neiv   York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as 

follows : 
Sectiox  1.  George  L.  Prentiss,  Thomas  S.  Hastings,  William  M.  Paxton,  William 
C.  Roberts,  J.  F.  Stearns,  Henry  .J.  Van  Dyke,  James  O.  Murray,  Edward  A.  Lam- 
bert, Jacob  D.  Vermilye,  George  W.  Lane,  Thomas  C.  M.  Paton,  Joseph  F.  Joy,  Rob- 
ert L.  Kennedy,  George  R.  Lockwood,  John  Taylor  Johnston  (designated  for  this 
purpose  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  which  met  in  Chicago,  in  the  Stale  of  Illinois,  in  Ma}^,  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy-one,  and  which  is  the  legal  successor  of  the  two  religious  bodies  thereto- 


428  FORM   OF    GOVERXJIEXT. 

fore  exif?ting  under  that  same  name),  and  their  successors  in  office,  chosen  from  time 
to  time  by  tlie  said  General  Assembly,  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  politic  and  cor- 
porate by  the  name  of  "The  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,"  the  object  of  which  sliall  be  to  assist  in  sustaining  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  in  feeble  churches  and  congregations  in  connection  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  tlie  United  States,  and  genei-ally  to  superintend  the  whole 
■work  of  Home  Missions  in  behalf  of  said  Church,  as  the  General  Assembly  may  from 
time  to  time  direct,  also  to  receive,  take  charge  of  and  disburse  all  property  and  funds 
which  at  any  time  and  from  time  to  time  may  be  entrusted  to  said  Church  or  said 
Board  for  Home  Missionary  purposes. 

Section  2.  The  said  corporation  shall  possess  the  general  powers,  and  be  subject  to 
the  provisions,  contained  in  title  three  of  chapter  eighteen  of  the  first  part  of  the 
Revised  Statutes,  so  fiir  as  the  same  are  applicable  and  have  not  been  repealed  or 
modified. 

Section  3.  The  management  and  disposition  of  the  affairs  and  property  of  said 
corporation  shall  be  vested  in  the  persons  named  in  the  first  section  of  this  Act,  and 
their  successors  in  oflice,  who  shall  remain  in  office  for  such  period,  and  be  removed 
and  succeeded  by  others  chosen  at  such  time  and  in  such  manner,  as  the  said  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  shall  from 
time  to  time  direct  and  appoint. 

Section  4.  The  said  corporation  shall  be  in  law  capable  of  taking,  receiving  and 
holding  any  real  or  personal  estate  which  has  been  or  may  liereafter  be  given,  demised 
or  bequeathed  to  it  or  to  tlie  said  Church  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  or  which  may 
accrue  from  the  use  of  the  same,  subject,  however,  to  all  tlie  provisions  of  law  relating 
to  devises  and  bequests  by  last  will  and  testament;  but  the  said  corporation  shall  not 
take  and  hold  real  and  personal  estate,  the  annual  rental  or  income  of  which  shall 
exceed  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Section  5.  The  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Home  Missions,  incorporated  under  the 
laws  of  this  State  by  an  Act  passed  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  April,  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty-two,  the  name  of  which  was  changed  to  that  ot"  the  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Home  Missions  by  an  act  passed  on  the  twentieth  day  of  January,  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy-one,  are  hereby  authorized  to  assign,  transfer,  convey  and  deliver  unto  the 
corpoiation  created  by  this  act  all  propert}',  estate  and  rights  of  any  and  every  descrip- 
tion now  held  or  enjoyed  by  them,  and  which  may  hereafter  be  received"  by  them 
by  virtue  of  any  grant,  gift,  bequest  or  devise,  or  otherwise  howsoever,  which  assign- 
ment, transfer,  conveyance  and  delivery  the  corporation  established  by  this  Act  is 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  accept  and  receive,  and  the  said  corporation 
hereby  created  shall  be  and  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  said 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions,  formerly  the  Committee  of  Home  Missions, 
and  shall  have,  hold,  use  and  enjoy  all  the  corporate  powers,  franchises  and  privi- 
leges of  the  said  corporation  last  named,  and  all  tiie  property,  estates  and  rights  so 
assigned,  transferred,  conveyed  and  delivered  in  the  same  manner  and  to  the  same 
extent  as  the  said  corporation  last  named  might  have  done,  and  shall  be  entitled  to 
receive,  sue  for  and  recover  all  legacies,  devises,  bequests  and  property  which  have 
heretofore  been  or  may  hereafter  be  made  or  given  to  the  said  corporation  last  named  ; 
provided,  however,  and  it  is  hereby  expressly  declared,  that  the  said  corporation  cre- 
ated by  this  Act  shall  receive  and  hold  the  said  property,  estates  and  rights  upon 
the  same  trusts,  and  for  the  same  purposes  only,  as  the  same  are  or  otherwise  would 
be  held  by  the  said  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home  Missions,  formerly  the  Presbyterian 
Committee  of  Home  Missions. 

SjiCTiON  6.  Whenever  the  requisite  power  shall  be  given  by  the  proper  authority 
of  the  State  of  PeiHisylvauia  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Board  of' Domestic  Missions  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  Slates  of  America,  a 
corporation  created  and  established  and  now  existing  under  the  laws  of  the  said  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  to  assign,  transfer,  convey  and  deliver  unto  the  corporation  created 
bythis  Act,  all  the  {u-operty,  estates  and  rights  of  any  and  every  description,  held  or 
enjoyed,  or  which  may  be  hereafter  held  or  enjoyed,  by  the  said  corporation  first  named 
in  this  section,  by  virtue  of  any  gift,  grant,  bequest  or  devise,  or  otherwise  howsoever; 
then  the  said  corporation  hereby  created  is  hereby  authorized  to  accept  and  leceive  the 
assignment,  transfer,  conveyance  and  delivery  aforesaid,  and  shall  be  and  is  hereby 
declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  said  Trustees  of  the  P.oartl  of  Domestic 
Missions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  shall  have,  hold,  use  and  enjoy  all  the  corporate  powers,  franchises 
and  privileges  of  the  said  corporation  last  named,  and  all  the  property,  estates  and 
rights  which  may  be  so  assigned,  transferred,  conveyed  and  delivered",  in  the  same 
manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as  the  said  corporation  lajst  named  might  have  done, 


OF   MISSIONS.  429 

and  shall  be  entitled  to  receive,  sue  for  and  recover  all  legacies,  devises,  bequests  and 
property  which  have  heretofore  been  or  may  hereafter  be  made  or  given  to  the  said 
corporation  last  named  ;  provided,  however,  and  it  is  hereby  expressly  declared,  that 
the  said  coi'poration  created  by  this  Act  shall  receive  and  hold  the  said  property,  estates 
and  rights  upon  the  same  trusts,  and  for  the  same  uses  and  purposes  only,  as  the  same 
are  or  otherwise  would  be  held  by  the  said  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sions of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  heretofore  created  by  virtue  of  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania ;  and 
it  is  hereby  further  provided  and  declared  that  all  the  grants,  conveyances,  devises 
and  bequests,  which  after  the  several  assignments,  transfers  and  conveyances  herein- 
before authorized  to  be  made  to  the  corporation  created  by  this  Act,  shall  have  been 
made  and  completed  as  hereinbefore  directed,  shall  be  made  or  which  shall  purport 
to  be  made  to  the  Presbyterian  Committee  on  Home  Missions,  or  to  the  Trustees  of 
the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
hereinbefore  named,  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be  made  to  the  corporation  hereby 
created  with  the  same  efiect  as  if  made  to  such  new  corporation  hereby  created. 
Section  7.  This  Act  shall  take  efiect  immediately. 

State  of  New  Yokk,  \ 

Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  J     ' 

I  have  compared  the  preceding  with  the  original  law  on  file  in  this  office,  and  do 
hereby  certify  that  the  same  is  a  correct  transcript  therefrom,  and  of  the  whole  of 
said  original  law. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  of  office,  at  the  city  of  Albany,  this  twenty- 
[L.  S.]         fourth  day  of  April,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-two. ANSON   S.  WOOD, 

De-p.  Secretary  of  State. 

An  Act  to  authorize  the  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  Stales  of  America  to  transfer 
the  property  held  by  them  to  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  to  declare  the  latter  corporation  to  be 
the  legal  successor  of  the  former. 

Whereas,  The  two  religious  bodies  heretofore  existing,  each  under  the  name  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  have 
united  the  congregations  under  their  care,  and  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church 
thus  imited  which  met  in  Philadelphia  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  May,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy,  and  which  is  the  legal  successor  of  both  the  former  bodies,  has  di- 
rected that  the  Home  Missionary  work  previously  carried  on  under  the  direction  of 
the  said  two  bodies  shall  be  hereafter  carried  on  under  its  direction  by  one  Board  ; 

And  Whereas,  The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  has  for  the  purpose  afore- 
said incorporated  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America;   Therefore, 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Eepresentatives  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Pennsylvania  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the 
authority  of  the  same,  that  the  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  be 
and  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  grant,  assign,  transfer,  convey  and  deliver  all 
property,  estates  and  rights,  real,  personal  and  mixed,  of  every  kind  and  description, 
now  held  or  enjoyed  by  them,  and  which  may  hereafter  be  received,  held  or  enjoyed 
by  them,  in  any  manner  whatsoever  unto  the  said  the  Board  of  Home  Missions 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  which  Corporation 
is  hereby  declared  to  be  the  legal  successor  of  the  said  the  Trustees  of  the  Board 
of  Domestic  Missions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America;  and  shall  have,  hold,  use  and  enjoy  all  the  corporate  pow- 
ers, franchises  and  privileges  of  the  said  corporation  last  named,  and  all  the  property, 
estates  and  rights  which  shall  be  so  granted,  assigned,  transferred,  conveyed  and  de- 
livered in  the  same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as  the  said  Corporation  last  named 
might  have  done  (including  the  power  to  convey,  assign  and  transfer  the  same),  and 
shall  be  entitled  to  receive,  sue  for  and  recover  all  legacies,  devises,  bequests  and 
property  which  have  heretofore  been  or  may  hereafter  be  made,  given  or  granted  to 
the  said  corporation  last  named ;  Provided,  however,  and  it  is  hereby  expressly  de- 
clared, that  the  said  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America  shall  receive  and  hold  the  said  property  and  estates,  or  the 
proceeds  thereof,  if  sold,  upon  the  same  trusts  and  for  the  same  uses  and  purposes  only, 
as  the  same  are  or  otherwise  would  be  held  by  the  said  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Do- 


430  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

mestic  ^lissions  of  tlie  General  Apsenibly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America ;  and  it  is  hereby  further  provided  and  declared  that  all  grants, 
conveyances,  devises  and  bequests  whicli  shall  be  made,  or  purport  to  be  made,  to  the 
Bald  Corporation  last  named  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be  made  to  the  said  the 
Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica with  the  same  eflect  as  if  made  directly  thereto. 

AV.  ELLIOTT, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
GEO.  H.  ANDEIISON, 

Speaker  of  tlie  Senate. 
Approved  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  Januarv,  Anno  Domini  one  tliousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  seventy-three.  '  J.  F.  HARTRA^'FT. 

Office  of  the  \ 

Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  / 

Harrisburg,  February  7,  A.  D.  1873. 
Pennsylvania,  ss. 

I  do  hereby  certify,  That  the  foregoing  and  annexed  is  a  full,  true  and  cor- 
j    o  rect  copy  of  the  original  Act  of  the  General  Assembly,  entitled  "  An  Act 

to  authorize  the  Trustees  of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica to  transfer  the  property  held  by  them  to  tlie  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  to  declare  the  latter  Corporation 
to  be  the  legal  successors  of  the  former,"  as  the  same  remains  on  file  in  this  office. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  Secre- 
tary's office  to  be  affixed  the  day  and  year  above  written. 

M.  S.  QUAY, 
Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 

THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 
1.  The  Constitution. 

The  Committee  on  the  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Salem  on  the 
subject  of  foreign  missions  made  a  report,  which  was  accepted  and  adopted 
by  yeas  and  nays,  as  follows,  viz. : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  will  superintend  and  conduct, 
by  its  own  proper  authority,  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  by  a  Board  appointed  for  that  purpose  and  directly  amen- 
able to  said  Assembly. 

2.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  at  its  present  meeting,  choose  forty 
ministers  and  forty  laymen,  as  members  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  JNIis- 
sions,  one-fourth  part  of  whom  shall  go  out  annually  in  alphabetical  order, 
and  thereafter  ten  ministers  and  ten  laymen  shall  be  annually  elected  as 
members  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  whose  term  of  office  shall  be 
four  years,  and  these  forty  ministers  and  forty  laymen  so  appointed  shall 
constitute  a  Board  to  be  styled  "  The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,"  to  which  for  the 
time  being  shall  be  entrusted,  with  such  directions  and  instructions  as  may 
from  time  to  time  be  given  by  the  General  Assembly,  the  superintendence 
of  the  foreign  missionary  operations  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This 
Board  shall  make  annually  to  the  General  Assembly  a  report  of  their 
proceedings,  and  submit  for  its  approval  such  plans  and  measures  as 
may  be  deemed  useful  and  necessarv. 

3.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  hold  their  first  meeting  at  such  time 
and  place  as  may  be  directed  by  the  present  General  Assembly,  and  shall 
hold  a  meeting  annually  at  some  convenient  time  during  the  sessions  of 
the  General  Assembly,  at  which  it  shall  appoint  a  President,  Vice-presi- 
dent, a  Corresponding  Secretary,  a  Treasurer  and  an  Executive  Commit- 
tee, to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year.  It  shall  belong  to  the  l^oard  of  Direct- 
ors to  review  and  decide  upon  all  the  doings  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
to  receive  and  dispose  of  their  annual  report,  and  to  present  a  statement 


OP   MISSIONS.  431 

of  their  proceedings  to  the  General  Assembly.  It  shall  be  their  duty  also 
to  meet  for  the  transaction  of  business  as  often  as  may  be  expedient,  due 
notice  of  every  special  meeting  being  seasonably  given  to  every  member 
of  the  Board. 

4.  To  the  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  not  more  than  nine  mem- 
bers besides  the  corresj)onding  secretary  and  the  treasurer,  shall  belong  the 
duty  of  appointing  all  missionaries  and  agents,  of  designating  their  fields 
of  labor,  receiving  the  reports  of  the  corresponding  secretary,  and  giving 
him  needful  directions  in  reference  to  all  matters  of  business  and  corre- 
spondence entrusted  to  him,  to  authorize  all  appropriations  and  expendi- 
tures of  money,  and  to  take  the  particular  direction  and  numagement  of 
the  foreign  missionary  work,  subject  to  the  revision  and  control  of  the 
Board  of  Directors.  The  Executive  Committee  shall  meet  at  least  once  a 
month,  and  oftener  if  necessary ;  five  members  meeting  at  the  time  and 
place  of  adjournment  or  special  call  shall  constitute  a  quorum.  The 
Committee  shall  have  power  to  fill  their  own  vacancies,  if  any  occur  dur- 
ing the  recess  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

5.  All  property,  houses,  lands,  tenements  and  permanent  funds  belong- 
ing to  the  said  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  shall  be  taken  in  the  name  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  held  in  trust  by  them  for  the 
use  and  benefit  of  "  The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America"  for  the  time  being. 

6.  The  seat  of  operations  of  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  be  designated 
by  the  Board. 

7.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  power,  and  they  are  hereby  author- 
ized, to  receive  a  transfer  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Societies,  or  either  of 
them,  now  existing  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  all  the  missions  and 
funds  under  the  care  of  and  belonging  to  such  societies.  [Yeas,  108  ; 
nays,  29.]— 1837,  p.  4.52. 

Eewlved,  That  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  be  directed  to  hold  their 
first  meeting  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  on 
Tuesday,  the  31st  of  October  next,  at  three  o'clock  p.  m. — Ihid.,  p.  453. 

2.  Alterations  in  the  Constitution. 

a.  Resolved,  That  the  Constitution  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  be  so 
altered  as  to  make  the  number  of  members  120  instead  of  SO. — 1838,  p.  21. 

h.  Resolved,  That  the  general  agetit  of  the  Board  of  Missions  be  ex 
officio  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

c.  Resolved,  That  the  Board  be  authorized  to  increase  the  number  of 
vice-presidents  to  twelve. — 1839,  p.  165. 

d.  Resolved,  That  at  all  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  thirteen  members  meeting  at  the  time  and  place 
of  adjournment  or  special  call  shall  be  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of 
business. — Ibid.,  p.  170. 

e.  A  request  from  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to  the  Assembly  to 
amend  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Board,  by  adding  after 
the  word  "Treasurer"  in  the  second  line  the  following:  "With  as  many 
members  of  the  Board  as  may  be  present."  On  motion,  the  amendment 
was  adopted. — 1845,  p.  25. 

3.  The  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions, 

[The  N.  S.  Assembly  co-operated  with  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  JNIissions  up  to  the  time  of  the  reunion.  In  1854 
(see  p.  511)  a  Standing  Committee  of  five  ministers  was  appointed,  which 
in  1856  (see  p.  212)  was  enlarged  to  fifteen,  and  they  were  requested  to 


432  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

divide  the  Committee  "  into  three  classes,  one  of  which  shall  be  elected 
annually  by  the  Assembly."     In  1865  the  Permanent  Committee  obtained 
a  charter  from  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  which  will  be  found  below.] 
Upon  the  reunion  the  Assembly  adopted  the  following  as — 

4.  The  Org-anization  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  shall  hereafter  consist  of  fifteen  mem- 
bers besides  the  corresponding  secretaries  and  the  treasurer,  who  shall 
be  members  ex  officio. 

The  term  of  service  of  the  present  members  of  the  Board,  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  and  the  Permanent  Committee  shall  end  with  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  after  the  dissolution  of  the  General 
Assembly,  when  a  new  Board  shall  be  constituted. 

This  Assembly  will  select  fifteen  members  of  the  Board  in  three  classes 
of  five  each.  The  first  shall  serve  three  years,  the  second  class  two  years 
and  the  third  class  one  year. 

Each  subsequent  General  Assembly  shall  elect  five  members  of  the 
Board  to  hold  ofiice  for  three  years,  and  shall  fill  any  vacancies  in  either 
of  the  other  classes  for  the  unexpired  term  of  service. 

Any  five  members  of  the  Board  shall  form  a  quorum. 

One  of  the  ex  officio  members,  to  be  designated  by  the  Board,  shall  be 
entitled  to  a  seat  in  the  General  Assembly  as  a  corresjiouding  member  on 
all  subjects  relating  to  Foreign  Missions. 

Besides  the  duties  already  committed  to  their  charge,  the  Board  shall 
perform  the  duties  heretofore  assigned  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Board  and  to  the  Permanent  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions,  in  so  far  as 
these  have  not  been  superseded  or  modified  by  this  minute. — 1870,  p.  46. 

5.  Alterations  Necessitated  by  Legislation. 

The  Committee  further  report  that  on  the  12th  of  March,  1872,  the  fol- 
lowing Act  was  passed  by  the  New  York  Legislature  in  relation  to  trus- 
tees and  directors  of  charitable  and  benevolent  institutions: 

8ection  1.  No  trustee  or  director  of  any  charitable  or  benevolent  insti- 
tution, organized  either  under  the  laws  of  the  State  or  by  virtue  of  a  spe- 
cial charter,  shall  receive,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  salary  or  emolument 
from  said  institution,  nor  shall  any  salary  or  compensation  whatever  be 
voted  or  allowed  by  the  trustees  or  directoi's  of  any  institution  organized 
for  charitable  or  benevolent  purposes  to  any  trustee  or  director  of  said 
institution  for  services  either  as  trustee  or  director  or  in  any  other  capa- 
city. 

In  view  of  the  above  Act,  the  Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolution: 

In  view  of  the  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  New  York  concerning 
charitable  and  benevolent  institutions,  passed  March  12,  1872,  that  the 
Constitution  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  be  so  changed  that  the  ex- 
ecutive ofiicers  sh^ll  hereafter  be  consulting  members  only,  without  the 
right  to  vote,  but  having  the  right  to  propose  resolutions  and  discuss  all 
matters  before  that  l)()dy ;  and  fuj-tlier,  that  the  quorum  necessary  to 
transact  business  be  reduced  to  four. — 1872,  j).  42. 

6.  The  Charters. 

o.  An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Pornianent  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  tlie  Presbyterian  Church  in  tlie  United  States  of  America. — Passed 
April  17,  1865. 


OF   MISSIONS.  433 

The  people  of  the  Slate  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact 
as  follows; 

Section  1.  R.  Russell  Booth,  Georg:e  Dnffield,  Alfred  E.  Campbell,  John  McLeod, 
John  A.  Brown,  Joseph  N.  Tuttle,  William  E.  Dodge,  Walter  Clarke,  Daniel  W. 
Poor,  T.  Ralston  Smith,  Thomas  Bond,  Walter  S.  GrifHth,  William  Churchill,  Ed- 
ward A.  Lambert  and  Ji;sse  W.  Benedict  (designated  for  that  purpose  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Cimrch.  which  met  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  May,  eighteen 
hundred  and  sixty-four),  and  their  successors  in  oiBce,  are  hereby  constituted  a  body 
corporate  and  politic,  by  the  name  of  "The  Permanent  Committee  on  Foreign  Mis- 
sions of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,"  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  superintend  the  whole  cause  of  foreign  missions 
in  behalf  of  the  said  General  Assembly  as  said  General  Assembly  may  from  time  to 
lime  direct ;  also,  to  receive,  take  charge  of  and  disburse  any  property  or  funds  which 
xt  anv  time  and  from  time  to  time  may  be  entrusted  to  said  General  Assembly,  or 
said  Permanent  Committee,  for  foreign  missionary  purposes. 

Sec.  2.  The  said  corporation  shall  possess  the  general  powers  and  be  subject  to  the 
provisions  contained  in  title  three  of  chapter  eighteen  of  the  first  part  of  the  revised 
statutes,  so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable  and  have  not  been  repealed  or  modified. 

Sec.  3.  The  management  and  disposition  of  the  affairs  of  said  corporation  shall  be 
vested  in  the  individuals  named  in  the  first  section  of  this  Act,  and  their  successors  in 
office,  who  shall  remain  in  office  for  such  period,  and  be  displaced  and  succeeded  by 
others,  to  be  elected  by  said  General  Assembly,  and  at  such  time  and  in  such  manner 
as  the  said  General  Assembly  shall  direct  and  appoint. 

Sec.  4.  The  said  corporation  shall  in  law  be  capable  of  taking  and  recovering  and 
holding  any  real  or  personal  estate  which  has  been  or  may  hereafter  be  given,  devised 
or  bequeathed  to  it  or  to  the  said  General  Assembly  for  the  purposes  aforesaid  (and 
in  conformity  with  existing  statutes),  or  wliich  may  accrue  from  the  use  of  the  same; 
but  the  said  corporation  shall  not  take  and  hold  real  and  personal  estate  above  the 
.sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Sec.  5.  This  Act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

b.   Charter  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America.— Passed  April  12th,  1862.     Chapter  187. 

The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact 
as  follows: 

Section  1.  Walter  Lowrie,  Gardiner  Spring,  William  W.  Phillips,  George  Potts, 
W^illiam  Bannard,  John  D.  Wells,  Nathan  L.  Rice,  Robert  L.  Stuart,  Lebbeus  B. 
W\ard,  Robert  Carter,  John  C.  Lowrie,  citizens  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  such 
others  as  they  may  associate  with  themselves,  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  corporate 
and  politic  for  ever,  by  the  name  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  ^lissions  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and  con- 
ducting Christian  missions  among  the  unevangelized  or  pagan  nations  and  the  general 
diffusion  of  Ciiristianity ;  and  by  that  name  they  and  their  successors  and  associates 
shall  be  capable  of  taking  by  purchase,  grant,  devise  or  otherwise,  holding,  conveying 
or  otherwise  disposing  of  any  real  or  personal  estate  for  the  purposes  of  the  said  cor- 
poration, but  which  estate  within  this  State  shall  not  at  any  time  exceed  the  annual 
income  of  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

Sec.  2.  The  said  corporation  shall  possess  the  general  powers,  rights  and  privileges, 
and  be  subject  to  liabilities  and  provisions,  contained  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the 
first  part  of  the  revised  statutes  so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable,  and  also  subject  to 
the  provisions  of  chapter  three  hundred  and  sixty  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred 
and  sixty. 

Sec.  3.  This  Act  shall  take  eflfect  immediately. 

III.  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION.— See  above,  chap,  xiv.,  sec.  i.  3. 

IV.  THE  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

1.  The  Board  Established. 

Whereas,  Sabbath-school  and  tract  publications  cannot  fail  to  exert  a 
very  great  influence  upon  the  growth  of  our  Churcli  and  country;  and 
whereas,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  highest  judicatory  of  the  Church  to  exercise 

55 


434  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 


such  a  supervision  over  this  subject  as  will  secure  the  diffusion  of  soui 
and  scriptural  principles  for  "  the  promotion  of  charity,  truth  and  ho 


md 
holi- 
ness," through  all  the  churches  under  our  care;  therefore. 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly  will  superintend  and  conduct, 
by  its  own  proper  authority,  the  work  of  furnishing  the  churches  under 
its  care  with  suitable  tract  and  Sabbath-school  publications,  by  a  Board 
appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  directly  amenable  to  said  As:<embly. 

2.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  at  its  present  meeting,  choose  forty 
ministers  and  forty  laymen  as  members  of  the  tract  and  Sabbath-school 
Board,  one-fourth  part  of  whom  shall  go  out  annually,  in  alphal)etical 
order,  and  thereafter  ten  ministers  and  ten  laymen  shall  be  annually 
elected  as  members  of  the  Tract  and  Sabbath-school  Board,  whose  term 
of  office  shall  be  four  years;  and  these  forty  ministers  and  forty  laymen  so 
appointed  shall  constitute  a  Board,  to  be  styled  "  The  Board  of  Publica- 
tion of  Tracts  and  Sabbath-school  Books  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the 
United  States  of  America,"  to  which  for  the  time  being  shall  be  entrusted 
such  directions  and  instructions  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  given  by  the 
General  Assembly,  the  superintendence  of  all  the  operations  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  relation  to  the  subject  of  tracts  and  Sabbath-school 
books.  The  Board  shall  make  annually  to  the  General  Assembly  a  re- 
port of  their  proceedings,  and  submit  for  its  approval  such  plans  and 
measures  as  shall  be  deemed  useful  and  necessary. 

3.  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  hold  their  first  meeting  at  such  time 
and  place  as  may  be  directed  by  the  present  General  Assembly,  and  shall 
hold  a  meeting  annually,  at  some  convenient  time  during  the  sessions  of 
the  General  Assembly,  at  which  time  it  shall  appoint  a  President,  Vice 
Presideut,  a  Corresponding  Secretary,  a  Treasurer  and  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year.  It  shall  belong  to  the  lioard  of  ]Man- 
agers  to  review  and  decide  upon  all  the  doings  of  the  Executive  Committee; 
to  receive  and  dispose  of  their  annual  report,  and  to  present  any  statement 
of  their  proceedings  which  they  may  judge  }:> roper  and  necessary  to  the 
General  Assembly.  It  shall  be  their  duty,  also,  to  meet  for  the  transac- 
tion of  business  as  often  as  may  be  expedient,  due  notice  of  every  special 
meeting  being  seasonably  given  to  every  member  of  the  Board. 

4.  To  the  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  not  more  tlian  nine  mem- 
bers besides  the  corresponding  secretary  and  treasurer,  shall  belong  the 
duty  of  selecting  and  preparing  suitable  tracts  and  books  for  publication  ; 
of  superintending  and  directing  their  distribution;  of  receiving  the  reports 
of  the  corresponding  secretary,  and  giving  him  needful  directions  in  refer- 
ence to  matters  of  business  and  correspondence  entrusted  to  him  ;  of  au- 
thorizing all  appropriations  of  money;  and  of  taking  the  particular  di- 
rection and  management  of  the  whole  subject  of  tract  and  Sunday-school 
publications,  subject  to  the  control  and  direction  of  the  Board  of  Man- 
agers. The  Executive  Committee  shall  meet  at  least  once  a  month,  and 
oftener,  if  necessary;  five  members  meeting  at  the  time  and  place  of  ad- 
journment or  special  call,  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  except  that  the  ap- 
proval of  a  majority  of  the  whole  Committee  shall  be  necessary  to  direct 
the  publication  of  "any  tract  or  book.  The  Committee  shall  have  power 
to  fill  their  own  vacancies,  if  any  occur  during  the  recess  of  tiie  Board. 

5.  All  property,  houses,  lands,  tenements  and  permanent  funds  belong- 
ing to  the  said  tract  and  Sabbath-school  Board  shall  be  taken  in  the  name 
of  the  trustees  of  the  G(;neral  Assembly,  and  held  in  trust  by  them  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  "The  Board  of  Publication  of  Tracts  and  Sabbath- 
school  Books  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,"  for  the  time  being. 


OF   MISSIONS.  435 

6.  The  seat  of  operations  of  the  Board  of  Managers  shall  be  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia. 

7.  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  have  power,  and  they  are  hereby  au- 
thorized, to  receive  a  transfer  of  "  The  Presbyterian  Tract  and  Sabbath- 
school  Book  Society,"  now  under  the  care  cf  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
with  all  the  tracts,  books  and  funds  belonging  to  said  society. — 1838,  p. 
23,  O.  S. 

2.  Alterations  and  Enlargements  of  the  Plan. 

a.  Resolved,  That  the  name  of  the  Board  for  the  Publication  of  Tracts 
and  Sabbath-school  Books  be  changed  to  the  name  of  The  Preshyterian 
Board  of  Publication,  and  that  its  Constitution  be  so  altered  as  to  require 
said  Board  to  publish  not  only  tracts  and  Sabbath-school  books,  but  also 
approved  works  in  support  of  the  great  principles  of  the  Reformation,  as 
exhibited  in  the  doctrines  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
whatever  else  the  Assembly  may  direct. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  third  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Assembly's 
Board  of  Publication  be  amended  by  adding  to  it  the  following  clause, 
viz. :  "  Eleven  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of 
business." 

Resolved,  4.  That  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Board 
be  so  altered  as  to  provide  tliat  "the  Executive  Committee  shall  consist 
of  nine  members  besides  the  Corresponding  Secretary  and  Treasurer." 

Resolved,  5.  That  to  this  Board  be  committed,  on  behalf  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assemidv,  the  publication  of  such  works,  permanent  and  periodical, 
as  are  adapted  to  promote  sound  leai'uing  and  true  religion. — 1839,  p. 
170,  O.  S. 

h.  Resolved,  That  article  third  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication  be  so  amended  as  to  read  as  follows,  viz.  : 

Art.  III.  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  hold  their  first  meeting  at 
such  time  and  place  as  may  be  directed  by  the  present  General  Assembly, 
and  shall  hold  a  meeting  annually  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  June,  at 
which  time  it  shall  appoint  a  President,  Vice  President,  a  (Corresponding 
Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  a  Recording  Secretary  and  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee to  serve  for  the  ensuing  year. — 1853,  p.  449,  O.  S,  See  also  Baird, 
Rev.  Ed.,  pp.  418-421. 

3.  The  Publication  Committee. 

For  history  of  preliminai-y  action  of  the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  from  1846  on- 
ward, see  New  Digest,  p.  394. 

The  Committee  Appointed,  its  Powers  and  Duties. 

a.  To  promote  the  difi'nsion  of  those  truths  which  distinguish  us  as  a 
Church,  the  General  Assembly  adopts  the  following  arrangement : 

1.  There  is  hereby  established  at  Philadelphia  a  Standing  Committee 
of  nine  persons  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  superintend  the  publication  of 
a  series  of  tracts  explanatory  of  the  doctrines,  government  and  missionary 
policy  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  the  General  Assembly  shall  from 
time  to  time  direct.  One-third  of  this  Committee  shall  serve  for  one  year, 
one-third  for  two  years,  and  the  remaining  third  for  three  years,  the 
election  to  fill  the  places  of  those  whose  terms  expire  to  be  held  at  each 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 

2.  This  Committee  shall  elect  a  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  the  former  of 
whom  S'hall  receive  such  a  salary  per  annum  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  by 


436  FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 

the  Committee,  and  shall  be  the  editor  of  the  tracts  published,  and  also, 
as  far  as  may  be  necessary,  the  soliciting  agent  for  such  an  amount  of  funds 
as  may  be  required  to  carry  out  the  objects  for  which  this  Committee  is 
appointed. 

3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  Committee  to  meet  at  Philadelphia,  and 
after  due  organization  to  take  measures  to  procure  the  preparation  and 
publication  in  cheap,  neat  and  substantial  form  of  a  series  of  tracts  for 
the  purposes  above  stated.  No  tract  to  be  published  which  does  not 
receive  the  unanimous  approbation  of  the  Committee. 

4.  This  Committee  shall,  if  consistent  with  the  interests  of  the  Assem- 
bly, enter  into  a  contract  with  some  publisher  or  publishers  to  assume  for 
a  time  the  publication  of  such  tracts  as  may  be  furnished  them  at  certain 
rates,  which  shall  be  agreed  upon  in  writing.  And  if  no  such  arrange- 
ment can  be  profitably  and  satisfactorily  made,  then  the  said  Committee 
shall  by  solicitation  from  the  churches  proceed  to  provide  a  sufficient  fund 
for  their  publication  in  behalf  of  the  Assembly. 

5.  This  Committee  shall  make  a  full  report  of  its  proceedings  to  the 
General  Assembly  at  each  annual  meeting. — 1852,  p.  176,  N.  S. 

h.  2.  That  the  Rev.  Geoi'ge  Chandler  and  Samuel  H.  Perkins,  Esq.,  of 
Philadelphia,  be  added  to  the  Committee. 

3.  That  the  rule  requiring  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Committee  for 
the  publication  of  any  book  or  tract  be  so  modified  that  a  majority  of 
three-fourths  only  shall  be  required. 

4.  That  the  Committee  be  authorized  to  take  such  measures  as  they 
may  deem  advisable  to  secure  the  necessary  funds  for  the  erection  of  a 
house  of  publication. — 1853,  p.  330,  N.  S. 

c.  Your  Committee  further  recommend  that  the  Publication  Committee 
be  enlarged  to  the  number  of  fifteen,  nine  of  whom  shall  reside  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  or  vicinity ;  that  of  this  number  five  shall  constitute 
a  quorum  for  ordinary  business,  whose  sittings  shall  be  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  but  nothing  shall  be  authoi'ized  for  publication,  issued  or 
endorsed  by  said  Committee,  except  by  a  majority  of  its  members.  All 
publications  to  issue  simultaneously  in  the  two  cities  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  with  the  imprimatur  of  the  Committee. — 1854,  p.  508. 

The  number  of  members  was  fixed  at  fifteen,  divided  into  three  classes, 
five  going  out  of  office  yearly. — 1854,  p.  508. 

4.  Name  Changed  to  "The  Presby-terian  Publication  Committee." 

—1855,  p.  13,  N.  S. 

5.  Works  of  a  General  Evangelical  Type  to  be  Published. 

Besolved,  That  the  Publication  Committee  be  encouraged  to  publish  not 
only  such  works  as  may  present  the  peculiarities  of  our  branch  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  doctrine  and  practice,  but  from  time  to  time  such 
works  of  an  evangelical  character  as  may  be  profitable  to  the  Church  at 
large.— 1857,  p.  410,  N.  S.  .  « 

6.  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House  Authorized  and  Directed 
to  Act  as  Trustees  of  the  Publication  Committee. 

Resolved,  By  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  that  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House  " 
be  and  they  hereby  are  authorized  and  directed  to  act  in  their  corporate 
capacity  as  trustees  of  the  Permanent  Committee  of  this  Assembly,  called 
"  The  Pi'esbyterian  Publication  Committee,"  as  fully  and  in  the  same 


OF   MISSIONS.  437 

manner  as  if  "  The  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee  "  were  themselves 
constituted  a  corporation  by  the  same  authority  which  incorporated  "  The 
Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House." — Ibid.,  p.  410.  See  further  New 
Digest,  pp.  394-404,  and  Minutes,  1861-1869,  N.  S. 

7.  The  Board  of  Publication  Organized,  1870. 

The  unfinished  business,  viz.,  the  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Pub- 
lication, was  resumed,  and,  after  amendment,  was  adopted  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  Special  Committee  of  five  from  each  of  the  recent  branches  of  the 
Church,  appointed  "to  take  into  consideration  the  attairs"  of  the  Publica- 
tion Board  and  Committee  of  said  branches,  and  to  "  recommend  to  the 
Assembly  of  the  united  Church  what  changes  are  required  "  in  said  Board 
and  Committee,  respectfully  report : 

That  they  have  endeavored  to  give  the  matter  referred  to  them  that 
earnest  and  prayerful  consideration  which  its  importance  demands. 

They  regard  the  work  of  the  Church  to  be  prosecuted  through  this 
agency  as  scarcely  second  to  that  of  any  of  our  Boards.  It  is  not  only 
closely  related  to  our  missionary  enterprises,  but  is  itself,  in  many  of  its 
aspects,  a  missionary  work.  Its  aim  is  the  dissemination  of  vital  truth, 
both  among  congregations  already  established  and  among  the  people  who 
are  never  reached  by  the  heralds  of  salvation.  It  is  at  once  auxiliary  to 
the  ministry  and  of  itself  a  ministry.  Every  tract  is,  or  should  be,  a 
message  from  God.  Every  Sunday-school  book  should  be  a  preacher  of 
righteousness. 

To  effect  this  work  involves  a  liberal  use  of  money,  of  mind,  and  of 
every  resource  committed  by  God  to  human  hands. 

The  first  necessity  is  a  central  house  of  publication,  which  should  be 
endowed  with  every  appliance  needed  for  the  preparation  and  the  diffusion 
of  religious  literature.  Economy,  of  course,  should  be  studied.  It  is  not, 
in  our  view,  essential  that  large  sums  be  invested  in  the  machinery  of  pub- 
lication, such  as  presses  and  binderies.  The  use  of  this  machinery  can  be 
commanded  without  purchase.  But  it  is  essential  that  a  proper  house 
be  provided  for  the  transaction  of  the  business  of  this  agency,  and  for  the 
issue  and  circulation  of  its  literature.  The  buildings  erected  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  now  under  the  control  of  the  Assembly,  are  wholly  inadequate. 
Both  are  small  and  ill-arranged.  Neither  has  been  found  sufficient  for 
the  wants  of  the  Church  as  divided;  the  work  before  the  Church  as  united 
will  be  vastly  greater  than  has  ever  yet  been  attempted.  It  is  believed, 
also,  that,  so  far  as  possible,  all  the  operations  of  the  united  Church  con- 
ducted from  Philadelphia  should  be  concentrated  under  one  roof.  The 
house  of  publication  should  be  virtually  a  Presbyterian  house,  a  centre 
and  a  home  for  the  denomination,  a  rallying-puint  for  all  the  interests  of 
the  Church  which  the  Assembly  in  its  wisdom  may  localize  in  this  city. 
The  advantages  of  such  a  concentration  in  facilitating  the  transaction  of 
the  business  of  the  Church,  in  promoting  the  general  convenience,  and  in 
fostering  a  proper  denominational  life  and  spirit,  are  too  obvious  to  require 
remark.  But  to  effect  this  a  new  and  extensive  building  must  be  erected  ; 
and  it  is  believed  that  the  recognition  of  this  necessity  by  the  Assembly 
will  so  enlist  the  sympathy  of  the  Church  as  to  secure  the  ready  accom- 
plishment of  the  plan  submitted  in  the  subjoined  resolutions. 

The  second  necessity  is  an  efficient  Board  and  proper  officers.  The 
Board  should  be  constituted,  we  believe,  of  a  comparatively  small  num- 
ber of  thoroughly  practical,  wise  and  energetic  men,  all  of  whom  can  be 
relied  upon  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Board,  and  to  devote  their  per- 
sonal attention  to  its  operations.     This  number  should  be  larger  than  may 


438  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

be  required  by  the  other  Boards  of  the  Church,  inasmuch  as  its  work  will 
necessitate  several  sub-committees.  It  should  be  also  somewhat  larger 
thau  may  be  required  by  the  constitution  of  these  sub-comniittees,  in  order 
that  vacancies  in  the  Committees  themselves  may  be  readily  filled  by  men 
of  experience,  and  in  order  that  perplexing  questions  may  be  submitted 
to  the  wisdom  of  a  full  council ;  yet  the  number  should  not  be  so  large  as 
to  weaken  a  sense  of  individual  responsibility. 

Experience  has  proved  that  a  few  men,  each  of  whom  can  be  easily 
reached,  all  of  whom  have  a  vital  interest  in  the  trusts  confided  to  them, 
will  perform  any  given  labor  more  efliciently  than  a  large  Board  whose 
members  are  so  diS'used  as  to  be  seldom  collected,  or  as  to  forget  the  claims 
of  a  duty  whose  immediate  field  is  far  away. 

The  officers  of  this  Board  should  be  men  adapted  to  their  sphere,  care- 
fully selected,  in  number  sufficient  to  conduct  the  business  placed  in  their 
hands,  and  so  remunerated  that  they  can  devote  their  entire  time  and  ener- 
gies to  the  work.  The  Board  should  also  be  empowered  to  employ  such 
other  assistants  as  in  their  judgment  may  be  required. 

The  thii*d  necessity  is  the  maintenance  of  a  force  of  colporteurs  suf- 
ficiently large  to  reach  the  outlying  population  of  the  laud  by  the  gospel, 
and  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  establishment  of  churches  wherever  they 
may  be  nuxde  permanent  and  effectual.  Provision  should  also  be  made 
for  the  supply  of  Sunday-school  libraries  and  of  the  general  literature  of 
the  Board  on  the  liberal  terms  of  an  enlarged  Christian  benevolence. 

The  fulfillment  of  these  conditions  will  be  found  to  require  some 
changes,  notwithstanding  the  admirable  manner  in  which  this  work  has 
been  conducted  hitherto.  Our  beloved  Church  has  already  accomplished 
so  much  in  the  direction  indicated  that  we  can  refer  to  its  past  operations 
with  just  thanksgiving;  but,  while  we  think  no  great  and  radical  changes 
in  this  department  of  our  Christian  work  are  desirable,  the  day  has  now 
come  for  an  enlargement  of  all  our  plans — a  fresh  and  more  vigorous 
movement  in  the  development  of  a  spirit  of  enterprise  for  Christ. 

God's  promises  were  always  full.  His  providence  now  calls  us  to  new- 
faith  in  the  promises,  and  to  a  new  consecration  to  that  work  with  which 
the  fulfillment  of  the  sure  and  glorious  prophecy  is  associated. 

We  therefore  respectfully  recommend  the  adoption,  by  this  General 
Assembly,  of  the  following  resolutions  as  comprehending  the  changes  in 
our  judgment  required  in  order  to  the  union  and  reorganization  of  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and  the  Presbyterian  Publication  Com- 
mittee, viz. : 

Resolved,  1.  The  said  Board  and  Committee  are  hereby  united  under 
the  name  and  title  of  the  "  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication." 

2.  The  said  Board  shall  henceforth  be  com})osed  of  forty-eight  mem- 
bers, one  half  of  whom  shall  be  ministers  and  one  half  laymen.  These 
members  shall  be  divided  into  three  classes,  one  class,  containing  eight 
ministers  and  eight  laymen,  after  the  present  year  to  be  elected  annually 
by  the  General  Assembly  for  a  term  of  three  years. 

3.  In  order  to  an  immediate  and  thorough  reorganization  of  the  Board, 
all  persons  now  members  of  the  Board  and  the  Committee  are  discontin-. 
ued,  and  their  membership  ceases,  and  the  following  persons,  taken  in  equal 
numbers  from  each  of  the  late  branches,  are  recommended  to  fill  the  three 
classes. 

For  the  class  whose  term  shall  expire  in  May,  1871  : 

J/»n'.s^er.s.— Alexander  Reed,  D.  1).,  J.  Grier  Kalston,  D.  D.,  Robert  M. 
Patterson,  Thomas  Murphv,  Peter  Stryker,  D.D.,  Stephen  W.  Dana,  Rich- 
ard H.  Allen,  D.  D.,  William  T.  Eva. 


OF    MISSIONS.  439 

Laymen. — Henry  E.  Thomas,  John  Sibley,  James  T.  Young,  H.  Lenox 
Hodge,  M.  D.,  Edward  R.  Hutchins,  M.  D.,  William  L.  Hildeburn,  Wil- 
liam E.  Camp,  Horatio  B.  Lincoln. 

For  the  class  whose  term  shall  expire  in  May,  1872 : 

Mi)iisters. — George  F.  Wiswell,  D.  D.,  John  W.  Dulles,  Daniel  March, 
D.  D.,  H.  Augustus  Smith,  Willard  M.  Rice,  D.  D.,  F.  Reck  Harbaugh, 
Matthew  B.  Grier,  D.  D.,  Matthew  Newkirk. 

Laymen. — George  W.  Simons,  Joseph  Allison,  LL.D.,  Henry  M.  Paul, 
Edward  Miller,  James  Ross  Snowden,  John  D.  McCord,  Gilbert  Combs, 
Gustavus  S.  Benson. 

For  the  class  whose  term  shall  expire  in  ]\Iay,  1873 : 

Mmi^iter.s.—^Y WWam  P.  Breed,  D.  D.,  William  E.  Schenck,  D.  D.,  Da- 
vid A.  Cunningham,  Benjamin  L.  Agnew,  Zephaniah  M.  Humphrey,  D.  D., 
William  E.  Moore,  Thomas  J.  Shepherd,  D.  D.,  Herrick  Johnson,  D.  D. 

Laymen. — Morris  Patterson,  Winthrop  Sargent,  Archibald  IMcIntyre, 
George  Junkin,  Samuel  C.  Perkins,  William  E.  Tenbrook,  Robert  N. 
Wilson,  Alexander  Whilldin. 

4.  The  said  Board  shall  hold  at  least  four  regular  meetings  in  the 
course  of  each  year,  in  the  months  of  June,  October,  Januaiy  and  April. 
Its  first  meeting  shall  be  held  at  821  Chestnut  street,  at  four  o'clock  p.  m., 
on  the  second  Tuesday  of  June  of  the  present  year. 

5.  The  executive  officers  of  the  Board  shall  be  a  secretary  or  secre- 
taries, whose  titles  and  duties  shall  be  defined  by  the  Board,  and  a  Trea- 
surer. 

6.  All  other  internal  arrangements  necessary  for  carrying  out  the  pur- 
poses of  its  organization  shall  be  made  by  the  Board  of  Publication  after 
its  reorganization. 

7.  Each  Presbytery  is  directed  to  appoint  one  or  more  of  its  members  a 
Presbyterial  Publication  Committee;  which  Committee  shall,  in  that  Pres- 
bytery, supervise  the  work  of  securing  an  annual  collection  for  this  Board 
from  each  of  its  churches ;  shall  search  out  and  recommend  to  the  Board 
suitable  persons  to  act  as  colporteurs ;  shall  correspond  with  the  Board 
in  reference  to  its  work  in  that  Presbyter}- ;  and  shall  do  whatever  else  may 
tend  to  promote  the  work  and  interests  of  the  Board,  and  to  secure  a  thor- 
ough distribution  of  the  Board's  publications  within  and  throughout  the 
bounds  of  the  Presbytery. 

8.  All  the  property,  of  every  kind,  now  owned  by  the  "Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication"  and  by  the  "  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee," 
or  held  by  any  Board  of  Trustees  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  either  of  them, 
is  hereby  directed  to  be  united,  and  placed  in  possession  of  "  The  Trustees 
of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,"  incorporated  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  whose  charter  was  approved  by 
the  governor  of  that  State  on  the  13th  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1847. 
And  in  order  that  the  late  two  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  now 
happily  reunited,  may  have,  as  nearly  as  possible,  an  equal  representation 
in  said  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  (there 
now  being  enough  vacancies  by  death  and  resignation  to  effect  the  changes 
proposed),  the  Board  of  Publication  is  directed,  at  its  next  meeting  in  the 
month  of  June,  to  elect  the  following  persons  to  be  members  of  this  Board 
of  Trustees : 

For  one  year — Alexander  Whilldin,  Samuel  C.  Perkins,  Archibald  Mc- 
Intire. 

For  tu'o  years — Morris  Patterson,  William  E.  Tenbrook. 

For  three  years — George  Junkin,  James  Ross  Snowden  and  Robert  N. 
Wilson. 


440  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

9.  The  "Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House"  are  hereby  directed  to 
convey,  by  a  good  and  sufficient  legal  title,  to  "The  Trustees  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Board  of  Publication,"  the  house  and  lot,  Nos.  1334  and  1336 
Chestnut  street,  now  occupied  by  the  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee 
in  part  as  a  book-store,  and  any  other  projjcrty  now  in  their  possession,  or 
which  may  hereafter  come  into  their  possession,  for  the  use  of  the  Presby- 
terian Publication  Committee.  And  should  any  legal  difficulties  be  found 
in  the  way  of  making  such  a  conveyance  or  transfer,  then  "The  Trustees 
of  the  Presbyterian  House"  and  "Tlie  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Publication"  are  hereby  directed  to  procure,  as  speedily  as  possible, 
such  special  enactments  from  the  Legislature  of  this  Slate,  or  decrees  of 
any  courts  of  competent  jurisdiction,  as  shall  remove  those  difficulties. 

10.  The  General  Assembly  recommends  the  Board  of  Publication,  as* 
soon  as  practicable  after  its  reorganization,  to  sell  its  house  and  lot.  No. 
821  Chestnut  street,  and  to  provide  a  larger  house,  adequate  to  its  now  ex- 
tended operations,  and  to  the  prospective  growth  of  its  business,  on  the 
premises  Nos.  1334  and  1336  Chestnut  street,  or  in  that  vicinity. 

11.  In  order  that  the  above  recommendation  may  be  carried  out,  so  as 
to  provide  ample  accommodations  for  the  Board's  future  business,  and  for 
all  other  Presbyterian  interests  in  this  city,  it  is  recommended  that  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  be  raised  among  our  churches  and 
people  for  the  erection  and  equipment  of  said  Presbyterian  house,  and  all 
contributions  made  thereto  shall  be  recognized  as  a  part  of  the  offering  of 
five  millions  of  dollars  which  it  was  at  Pittsburg  resolved  to  raise. 

12.  All  the  Committees  and  officers  of  the  Board  of  Publication,  and 
of  the  Publication  Committee,  are  requested  to  continue  to  perform  their 
respective  duties  as  at  present,  until  otherwise  directed  by  the  newly-or- 
ganized Board  of  Publication. 

13.  The  Board  of  Publication  and  the  Publication  Committee  are  di- 
rected to  submit  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  and  each  year  thereafter, 
a  full  statement  of  the  property  of  said  Boards,  consisting  of  real  estate, 
copy-rights,  books,  paper,  plates  and  any  other  assets,  with  an  estimate  of 
the  value  thereof — 1870,  pp.  113-116. 

8.  The  Sabbath-school  "Work  of  the  Board.— Three  Branches. 

a.  1st.  That  the  Board  of  Publication  be  instructed  so  to  enlarge  its  ar- 
rangements as  to  make  the  Sabbath-school  work  a  prominent  and  organic 
part  of  its  operations  ;  and  that  it  is  exceedingly  desirable  that  the  entire 
congregations  in  our  churches,  old  and  young,  be  permanently  connected 
with  the  Sabbath-school,  either  as  scholars  or  teachers. 

2d.  That  the  Board,  so  enlarged  in  the  sphere  of  its  operations,  keep 
before  it  these  three  branches  of  the  Sabbath-school  work : 

(A.)  To  furnish  a  complete  literature  for  Sabbath-schools,  consisting 
of  its  own  and  other  well-selected  books  for  libraries,  helps  of  all  kinds 
for  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  catechism,  periodicals  for  teachers  and 
scholars,  and  all  other  apparatus  fitted  to  give  efficiency  to  the  work  of 
teaching. 

(B.)  To  establish  such  agencies  as  it  may  deem  suitable  for  elevating 
the  standard  of  teaching,  and  more  thoroughly  developing  the  great  idea 
of  Sabbath-schools — tliat  of  imparting  the  knowledge  of  God  to  the 
young  and  drawing  them  to  the  salvation  of  Christ. 

(C.)  In  appointing  colporteurs,  as  far  as  possible,  to  select  such  persons 
as  may  also  be  suitable  for  Sabbath-school  missionaries,  and  instruct  them 
to  establish  Sabbath-schools  in  destitute  localities,  under  the  supervision 
of  the  Presbyteries. 


OF   MISSIONS.  441 

Sd.  That  the  churches  be  urged  to  contribute  more  largely  to  the  mis- 
sionary fund  of  this  Board,  to  meet  the  increased  expense  which  the  work- 
ing of  this  branch  of  its  operations  will  demand. — 1871,  p.  524. 

b.  In  the  Sabbath-school  department  the  instructions  of  the  last  Assem- 
bly have  been  carried  out.  A  general  superintendent  has  been  appointed 
— Mr.  J.  Bennet  Tyler — who  in  January  last  entered  upon  his  duties,  has 
performed  much  preparatory  work,  and  everywhere  found  interest  and 
sympathy  with  the  plans  of  the  Assembly.  To  the  Westminster  series  of 
Sabbath-school  lessons  for  teachers  and  scholars  three  numbers  have  been 
added,  in  continuation  of  a  plan  which  embraces  a  full  curriculum  of 
Bible  study.— 1872,  p.  20. 

9.  Charter  of  the  Board. 

An  Act  to  Incorporate  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication." 

Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America  have  a  Board  of  Publication  composed  of  ministers  and  laymen  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  the  design  of  which  is  "the  publication  of  such  works,  perma- 
nent or  periodical,  as  are  adapted  to  promote  sound  learning  and  true  religion  ;" 

And  Whereas,  The  aforesaid  Board  of  Publication  labors  under  serious  disadvan- 
tages as  to  receiving  donations  and  bequests,  and  as  to  the  management  of  funds  en- 
trusted to  them  for  the  purpose  designated  in  their  Constitution,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  benevolent  intentions  of  those  from  whom  such  bequests  and  donations  are 
received;  Therefore, 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Pennsylvania,  in  General  Assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the 
authority  of  the  same,  that  Matthew  Newkirk,  James  N.  Dickson,  William  S.  Mar- 
tien,  James  B.  Ross,  Archibald  Mclntyre,  Joseph  B.  Mitchell,  Alexander  W.  Mit- 
chell, M.D.,  Robert  Soutter,  Jr.,  and  James  Dunlap,  citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  their  successors,  are  hereby  constituted  and  declared 
to  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate,  wliich  shall  henceforth  be  known  by  the  name  of 
"The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,"  and  as  such  shall  have  per- 
petual succession,  and  be  able  to  sue  and  be  sued  in  all  courts  of  record,  and  else- 
where; and  to  purchase  and  receive,  take  and  hold,  to  them  and  their  successors,  for 
ever,  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments,  goods,  money  and  chattels,  and  all  kinds  of 
estate  which  may  be  devised,  or  bequeathed,  or  given  to  them  ;  and  the  same  to  sell, 
alien,  demise  and  convey  ;  also  to  make  a  common  seal,  and  the  same  to  alter  and  re- 
new at  their  pleasure ;  and  also  to  make  such  rules,  by-laws  and  ordinances  as  may 
be  needful  for  the  government  of  the  said  corporation,  and  not  inconsistent  with  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  of  this  State ;  Provided,  always,  that 
the  clear  yearly  income  of  tiie  real  estate  held  by  the  said  corporation  shall  not  at 
any  time  exceed  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars. 

Sec.  2.  The  Trustees  above  named  shall  hold  tl\eir  offices  for  one  year  from  the 
date  of  this  incorporation,  and  until  their  successors  are  duly  qualified  to  take  their 
places ;  who  shall  be  chosen  by  the  aforesaid  Board  of  Publication,  at  such  times  and 
in  such  manner  as  shall  be  provided  by  the  said  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Cliurch  in  the  United  States  of  America,  provided  not  more  than  one-third  of 
the  Trustees  shall  be  removed  in  any  one  year. 

Sec.  3.  The  Trustees  hereby  incorporated,  and  their  successors,  shall  (subject  to  the 
direction  of  the  said  Board  of  Publication)  have  full  power  to  manage  the  funds  and 
property  committed  to  their  care,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  deemed  most  advan- 
tageous, and  not  contrary  to  law. 

JAMES  COOPER, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
CH.  GIBBONS, 

Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

Approved  the  thirteenth  day  of  February,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
seven:  FR.  R.  SHUNK. 

56 


442  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

V.  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  CHURCH   ERECTION  FUND. 
1.  The  Organization. 

The  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Church  Erection  was  adopted,  as 
follows : 

lu  entering  on  their  work  the  Committee  found  that  the  trusteeship  of 
the  Church  Erection  Fund  was  a  chartered  institution,  formed  under  the 
laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  possessed  of  a  permanent  fund  of 
§126,000,  more  or  less,  of  which  about  890,000  were  invested  in  interest- 
bearing  securities  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  remainder  in  various 
liabilities  given  by  feeble  churches  which  had  been  aided.  They  also 
learned  that,  in  accordance  with  certain  amendments  of  the  plan  passed 
by  the  General  Assembly  which  met  at  St.  Louis  in  1866,  the  system  of 
loans  had  been  abandoned,  and  a  so-called  Supplementary  Fund  created, 
to  consist  of  the  yearly  interest  of  the  Permanent  Fund,  together  with 
such  sums  as  should  be  raised  by  the  annual  contributions  of  the  churches, 
all  of  which,  in  absolute  donations,  to  be  devoted  to  the  current  demands 
of  the  work.  This  Board  of  Trustees,  having  charge  of  both  the  Perma- 
nent and  the  Supplementary  Fund  by  the  terms  of  the  charter,  consists 
of  nine  members  residing  in  New  York  or  its  vicinity,  and  are  elected  in 
classes  from  year  to  year  by  the  General  Assembly,  according  to  the  char- 
tered rules  prescribed. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Committee  learned  that  the  Board  of  Church 
Extension,  having  its  centre  of  operations  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  was  without 
a  charter  and  without  permanent  funds,  holding  only  current  receipts 
appropriated  and  unappropriated,  together  with  certain  temporary  invest- 
ments in  real  estate ;  that  the  said  Board  of  Church  Extension  was  there- 
fore free  from  any  legal  obstacles  which  might  prevent  a  change  either  of 
location  or  of  name,  or  stand  in  the  way  of  its  being  united  under  the 
charter  of  the  organized  and  localized  Board  of  Church  Erection. 

In  view  of  these  considerations  the  Joint  Committee  do  respectfully  and 
unanimously  recommend — 

1.  That  the  operations  of  the  United  Church  be  carried  on  under  the 
charter  of  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Church  Erection  Fund  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,"  and  that  its  location  be 
continued  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

2.  That  the  members  of  the  Boaixl  be  chosen  impartially  from  both 
branches  of  the  Church,  that  their  number  be  twenty-one,  consisting  of 
ten  ministers  and  eleven  laymen  acting  in  connection  with  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  and  that  the  entire  Board  so  formed  be  expected  to  meet  at 
least  once  a  year. 

3.  That  fifteen  members,  seven  ministei-s  and  eight  laymen,  shall  reside 
in  the  city  of  New  York  or  its  vicinity ;  that  at  an  early  day  an  amend- 
ment of  the  charter  be  obtained,  authorizing  these  fifteen  local  members 
to  act  as  trustees  of  the  fund,  but  until  such  change  shall  be  secured  nine 
of  the  fifteen  members  shall  continue  to  hold  the  said  trusteeship  under 
the  provisions  now  existing. 

4.  That  six  members  of  the  Board,  three  ministers  and  three  laymen, 
shall  be  chosen  from  the  West.  This  recommendation  is  made  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  certain  properties  held  by  the  Board  of  Church  Exten- 
sion are  temporarily  located  in  Missouri,  and  require  a  local  supervision. 
It  also  seems  desirable  that  the  Board  shall  have  representatives  on  the 
ground  who  may  secure  those  grants  of  land  which  are  so  freely  offered 
for  church  purposes  by  railroad  and  town  companies  throughout  the  West, 
also  to  have  special  oversight  in  the  matter  of  insurance  on  church  prop- 


OF    MISSIONS.  443 

ertiee — a  matter  of  great  importance,  in  which  it  is  feared  there  is  at  pres- 
ent great  neglect. 

5.  That  a  secretary  be  appointed  who  shall  reside  in  New  York,  and 
whose  functions  shall  be  similar  to  those  of  the  present  secretaries  of 
Church  Erection  and  Church  Extension  ;  also  that  the  Board  shall  have 
authority  to  api^oint  an  additional  secretary  and  define  his  duties. 

6.  While  the  Committee  aiDpreciate  and  would  earnestly  encourage  all 
local  efforts  to  build  churches  and  chapels  in  the  cities  and  in  Presbyte- 
ries by  sj^ecial  contributions,  they  unanimously  recommend  that  the  Assem- 
bly take  the  most  efficient  measures  to  secure  an  annual  contribution  from 
all  the  churches  for  the  general  work  of  the  Board.  The  suburbs  of  our 
large  cities  must  be  cared  for,  but  at  the  same  time  the  demands  of  the 
great  wastes  of  the  continent  are  most  imperative  upon  the  whole  Church. 

In  conclusion,  the  Committee  would  express  the  hope  that  this  depart- 
ment of  the  Church  work,  so  fundamental  to  all  permanent  success,  may 
be  brought  into  greater  prominence  and  receive  a  larger  degree  of  favor 
and  support.  It  should  be  not  merely  a  passive  resource  to  which  the 
needy  may  resort  for  a  stinted  dole,  but  a  powerful  aggressive  agency 
arousing  and  stimulating  the  Church  to  substantial  conquest  everywhere 
in  the  cities,  on  the  prairies,  along  the  railroads  and  on  the  far-off  shores 
of  the  Pacific.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  legal  questions  might  arise  in 
connection  with  some  of  the  points  in  this  report,  Messrs.  S.  T.  Bodine 
and  J.  C.  Havens  were  appointed  to  consult  legal  authorities  thereupon, 
and  report  to  the  Committee  at  a  subsequent  meeting. 

The  Committee  then  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Philadelphia  during  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly. 

At  a  conference  of  certain  members  of  the  Joint  Committee,  held  iu 
Philadelphia  since  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  began,  a  quorum 
not  being  present,  Mr.  Samuel  T.  Bodine  rejiorted  that  he  had  consulted 
proi^er  authorities  iu  regard  to  legal  points  iu  the  above  report,  and  had 
obtained  the  following  opinions  : 

1.  That  the  Church  Erection  Fund,  located  by  charter  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  would  be  embarrassed  if  not  imperiled  by  any  change  in  the 
place  of  business. 

2.  That  at  an  early  day  steps  should  be  taken  to  secure  a  change  in  the 
charter,  raising  the  number  of  trustees  from  nine  to  twenty-one,  of  whom 
five  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

3.  That  fifteen  of  the  twenty-one  members  of  the  Board,  namely,  seven 
ministers  and  eight  elders,  should  reside  in  the  city  of  New  York  or  its 
vicinity. — 1870,  p.  11 G. 

2.  The  Plan  for  the  Custody,  Care  and  Management  of  the  Church 
Erection  Fund,  as  Adopted  by  the  Assembly  of  1854  and  Amend- 
ed by  the  Assembly  of  1866,  N.  S. 

Preamble. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America  having,  through  the  liberality  of  the  congregations  connected 
with  this  body,  established  a  Fund  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  feeble  congre- 
gations in  erecting  houses  of  worship,  do  hereby  adopt  the  following  plan 
under  which  this  Fund  shall  be  held,  administered  and  used : 

Article  I. 

The  Fund  having  been  committed  to  the  General  Assembly  as  a  spe- 
cial trust,  no  part  of  it  as  now  established,  nor  any  additions  which  may 


444  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

hereafter  be  made  to  it,  shall  ever  be  used  for  any  other  purpose  than  that 
of  aiding  feeble  congregations  in  connection  with  the  General  Assembly 
in  erecting  houses  of  worship,  except  so  much  as  may  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  defray  the  expenses  incident  to  the  administration  of  this  plan. 

Article  II. 

The  custody,  care  and  management  of  this  Fund,  and  of  all  securities 
of  every  kind  belonging  to  it  or  growing  out  of  it,  together  with  all  claims, 
dues  and  property  that  may  at  any  time  pertain  to  it,  and  all  additions 
that  may  hereafter  be  made  to  it  by  donations,  bequests  or  otherwise, 
shall  be  committed  to  a  Board  of  Trustees,  to  be  called  "  The  Trustees  of 
the  Church  Erection  Fund  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America."  The  Board  shall  consist  of 
twenty-one  members,  being  ministers  and  elders  in  connection  with  some 
Presbytery  or  Church  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  shall 
reside  in  the  city  of  New  York  or  its  immediate  vicinity,  and  whom  the 
General  Assembly  shall  elect  by  ballot  on  a  nomination  to  be  made  at 
least  one  day  before  such  election.  The  trustees  shall  continue  in  office 
until  the  election  and  induction  of  their  successoi*s.  The  certificate  of 
the  stated  clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  necessary  to  entitle  a 
trustee  to  take  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  Board,  which  certificate  it 
shall  be  his  duty  to  furnish  as  soon  as  practicable  after  the  election. 

The  trustees  first  elected  shall  arrange  themselves  into  three  equal 
classes.  The  term  of  office  of  the  first  class  shall  expire  in  one  year  from 
their  election,  that  of  the  second  class  in  two  years,  and  that  of  the  third 
class  in  three  years.  After  the  first  election,  the  General  Assembly  shall 
annually  elect  trustees  to  supply  the  place  of  the  class  whose  term  is  about 
to  expire,  to  hold  their  office  for  three  years,  the  same  persons  always 
being  re-eligible ;  and  each  General  Assembly  shall  also  by  election  sup- 
ply any  vacancy  in  the  Board  caused  by  death,  resignation  or  otherwise. 
If  any  trustee  shall,  during  the  term  for  which  he  is  elected,  cease  to  be 
connected  with  a  Presbytery  or  Church  under  the  care  of  the  General 
Assembly,  he  shall  thereby  cease  to  be  a  member  of  the  Board,  and  the 
vacancy  shall  be  reported  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

Article  III. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Board  shall  be  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  of 
June  next,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  at  such  place  and  hour  as  the  stated 
clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  may  appoint,  who  shall  preside  until  the 
Board  is  organized  by  the  choice  of  its  president. 

Article  IV. 

The  Board  shall  make  their  own  By-Laws.  They  shall  annually,  at 
their  first  meeting  after  the  adjournment  of  the  General  Assembly,  elect 
one  of  their  number  President  of  the  Board,  and  shall  appoint  a  Secre- 
tary and  a  Treasurer,  who  shall  give  security  to  the  Board  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  his  duties.  They  shall  keep  complete  books  of  record  and 
account,  in  which  shall  be  recorded  all  their  proceedings,  and  the  true 
state  at  all  times  of  all  matters  relating  to  this  Fund,  which  records  and 
accounts,  or  any  part  of  them,  shall  at  all  times  be  open  to  the  inspection 
of  any  Committee  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  for  this  purpose. 
They  shall  also  keep  full  and  correct  copies  and  files  of  all  the  corre- 
spondence which  may  be  conducted  or  received  by  them  or  in  their  name, 
and  shall  annually  present  to  the  General  Assembly,  not  later  than  the 


OF   MISSIONS.  445 

third  day  of  its  sessions,  a  full  report  of  their  proceedings  and  of  the  state 
of  the  Fund,  together  with  any  suggestions  or  recommendations  which 
they  may  deem  necessary  or  suitable. 

Article  V. 

The  Board  are  hereby  directed,  either  by  procuring  a  special  act  of  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  or  in  accordance  with  the  existing 
statutes  of  said  State,  to  incorporate  themselves  and  their  successors  in 
office,  always  to  be  elected,  as  aforesaid  into  a  body  corporate  and  politic, 
invested  with  all  such  legal  powers  as  may  be  necessary  to  enable  them 
to  hold  and  administer  this  Fund  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of 
this  plan. 

Article  VI. 

The  Board  is  directed  to  invest  and  to  keep  at  interest  on  sufficient 
security  the  Fund  as  now  established,  and  as  the  same  shall  hereafter  be 
increased  by  gift,  bequest  or  otherwise. 

Article  VII. 

The  Board  shall  prepare  blank  forms  of  all  such  legal  and  other  papers 
as  may  be  I'equired  for  the  proper  distribution  and  management  of  the 
Fund  and  accruing  interest ;  the  forms  so  prepared  and  furnished,  and 
none  others,  shall  be  used  in  all  matters  and  transactions  relating  to  the 
Fund  to  which  they  may  be  applicable.  They  shall  designate  such  legal 
advisers  within  the  bounds  of  each  Synod  as,  by  a  correspondence  with  the 
Church  Extension  Committees  of  the  Synods,  may  be  found  desirable,  to 
examine  all  certificates  of  title  and  all  conveyances  and  other  documents 
connected  with  the  donation  of  any  part  of  the  accruing  interest,  includ- 
ing a  careful  investigation  in  regard  to  the  legal  incorporation  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  congregations  concerned,  and  they  shall  further 
have  power  to  appoint  an  agent  in  each  Synod,  and  to  require  that  all 
payments  of  money  that  may  become  due  to  this  Fund  shall  be  made  to 
such  agent. 

Article  VIII. 

In  oi'der  to  be  entitled  to  the  use  of  any  portion  of  the  accruing  inte- 
rest, each  Synod  connected  with  the  General  Assembly  shall  annually 
elect  a  Committee  on  Church  Extension,  consisting  of  at  least  five  mem- 
bers. The  stated  clerk  of  the  Synod  shall,  immediately  after  the  election 
of  the  said  Committee,  transfer  to  the  President  and  Secretary  of  the 
Board  his  certificate  of  such  election,  giving  the  name  and  residence  of 
each  member. 

Article  IX. 

All  applications  for  aid  shall  be  made,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Church  Extension  of  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  applicants 
belong,  or  within  whose  bounds  they  are  situated.  Every  such  applica- 
tion shall  be  in  writing,  and  shall  particularly  state.  The  location  of  the 
house  or  site  for  its  erection  ;  the  number  of  families  or  persons  attached 
to  the  congregation  or  that  propose  to  unite  in  building  a  house  of  wor- 
ship ;  the  description  of  the  house  which  they  propose  to  build,  with  its 
estimated  and  probable  cost,  or  the  description  and  cost  of  the  house  and 
lot  owned  by  the .  congregation ;  the  amount  of  reliable  subscriptions 
which  have  been  obtained,  and  how  much  has  been  paid  thereon ;  the 
amount  of  available  means  possessed  by  the  congregation,  if  any ;  whether 


446  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

the  congregation  is  in  debt,  and  if  so  to  what  amount  and  when  the  same 
becomes  due;  and  also  any  other  facts  which  may  aid  the  Committee  of 
the  Synod  in  judging  of  the  application.  This  application  shall  be  accom- 
panied by  the  certitieate  of  one  of  the  legal  advisers  of  the  Board  that 
the  title  to  the  lot  on  which  the  house  is  to  be  built  is  vested  in  said  con- 
gregation, and  is  free  from  all  legal  encumbrance  and  liability. 

Article  X. 

If  the  Committee  of  the  Synod,  to  whom  application  for  aid  has  been 
made  as  above  provided,  shall,  after  a  careful  examination  into  the  con- 
dition and  prospects  of  the  -congregation  so  applying,  be  satisfied  that 
such  congregation  have  done  all  that  should  reasonably  be  expected  of  - 
them,  and  that  with  the  aid  which  can  be  atibrded  from  the  accruing  inte- 
rest, and  the  voluntary  contributions  hereinafter  mentioned,  they  can  build 
or  possess  a  house  of  worship  adapted  to  their  wants  and  be  free  from 
indebtedness,  then  the  Committee  shall  sign  a  certificate  addressed  to  the 
Board,  stating  the  application,  and  that  they  have  examined  and  approve 
of  it,  and  also  stating  the  amount  which  it  is  proper  to  donate  to  the  con- 
gregation. This  certificate,  together  with  the  application  made  to  the 
Committee  of  the  Synod,  shall  be  transmitted  to  the  Board.  On  the 
receipt  thereof,  in  due  form,  the  Board  shall  as  soon  as  pi'acticable,  if  the 
application  is  granted,  forward  the  necessary  papers,  to  be  executed  by  the 
trustees  of  the  congregation,  and  to  be  approved  by  their  legal  adviser, 
or  some  other  attorney  proposed  by  the  congregation  and  accepted  by  the 
Board.  When  the  papers  so  executed,  approved  and  properly  recorded 
are  returned  to  the  Board,  they  shall  authorize  the  treasurer  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  congregation,  or  any  other  person  duly  appointed  by  them  for 
this  purpose,  to  draw  on  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  for  the  amount  thus 
applied  for  and  donated. 

Article  XI. 

The  Board  shall  not  in  any  case  donate  any  portion  of  the  accruing 
interest  to  any  congregation,  unless  such  congregation  own  in  fee  simple 
and  free  from  all  legal  encumbrance  the  lot  on  which  their  house  of  wor- 
ship is  situated,  or  on  which  they  propose  to  build,  nor  shall  any  donation 
be  made  for  the  payment  of  any  debt,  except  that  which  may  have  been 
contracted  Avithin  one  year  previous  in  erecting  a  house  of  worship. 

The  sum  donated  to  any  congregation  shall  never  be  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  amount  contributed  and  secured  by  them  for  the  house  and  lot. 

The  condition  of  all  donations  from  this  source  shall  be  that,  in  case 
the  church  or  congregation  shall  cease  to  be  connected  with  the  General 
Assembly,  or  their  corporate  existence  shall  cease,  or  their  house  of  wor- 
ship be  alienated  except  for  the  building  or  purchase  of  a  better  house  of 
worship,  they  shall  refund  to  the  Board  the  amount  which  they  have  so 
received,  w'ith  interest  from  the  time  of  receiving  it. 

The  fulfillment  of  the  above  condition  shall,  in  all  cases,  be  secured  by 
the  bond  of  the  trustees  of  the  congregation,  and  a  mortgage  on  their 
house  and  lot  made  in  favor  of  the  Board,  which  bond  and  mortgage, 
duly  executed  and  recorded,  shall  always  be  placed  in  the  possession  of 
the  Board  before  any  money  is  paid  over  to  the  congregation. 

Article  XII. 

In  accepting  this  trust  and  adopting  this  plan,  the  General  Assembly 
hereby  declares  that  the  first  article  shall  admit  of  no  alteration  or  amend- 


OF  MISSIONS.  447 

ment,  and  that  no  change  shall  be  made  in  any  other  part  of  the  plan  by 
an)^  future  General  Assembly,  except  by  an  affirmative  vote  of  two-thirds 
of  all  the  members  whose  names  have  been  entered  upon  the  roll. 

SuPrLEMENTARY   ARTICLE. 

As  supplementary  to  this  plan,  and  in  order  to  enable  the  Board  fully 
to  meet  all  the  reasonable  demancls  of  feeble  congregations  for  aid  in  erect- 
ing houses  of  public  worship,  the  General  Assembly  earnestly  recommends 
all  the  congregations  within  its  bounds  to  take  up  annual  collections  and 
transmit  them  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board,  to  be  appropriated  by  said 
Board,  and  distributed  by  gift  for  the  objects  contemplated  in  the  plan, 
and  on  tlie  conditions  and  limitations  prescribed  therein. 

And  the  better  to  secure  this  end,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  to 
present  with  their  annual  report  an  estimate  of  the  amount  probably 
needed  for  the  ensuing  year,  together  with  the  facts  and  reasons  upon 
which  such  estimate  is  based,  in  order  that  the  Assembly  may  determine 
the  amount  it  will  recommend  the  churches  to  raise  by  voluntary  contri- 
bution. 

It  was  further  Resolved,  That  the  plan  of  Church  Erection  now  adopted 
be  put  into  operation  upon,  and  take  effect  from,  the  first  day  of  August, 
1866.— 1866,  pp.  254-258. 

3.  Charter  of  the  Church  Erection  Fund. 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Trustees  of  the  Church  Erection  Fund  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbvterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. — Passed 
March  31,  1855. 

The  people  of  the  Slate  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as 

follows : 

Section  1.  Samuel  T.  Spear,  Asa  D.  Smith,  Edwin  F.  Hatfield,  .James  W.  McLane, 
Walter  S.  Griffith,  Oliver  H.  Lee,  Norman  "White,  William  E.  Dodge  and  Stephen  H. 
Thaver  (designated  fur  the  purpose  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  which  met  in  Philadelphia,  in  May,  185-4),  and  their  successors  in  office,  are 
hereby  constituted  a  body  corporate  and  politic,  by  the  name  of  "  The  Trustees  of  the 
Church  Erection  Fund  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,"  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  feeble  congregations  in  connec- 
tion with  the  said  General  Assembly  in  erecting  houses  of  worsliip,  and  by  that  name 
they  and  their  successors  shall  and  may  have  perpetual  succession  ;  provided,  that  no 
money  shall  be  furnished  by  said  corporation  for  the  erection  of  any  house  of  worship 
in  any  State  or  territory,  in  which  there  shall  exist  at  the  time  a  law  for  the  incorpo- 
ration of  religious  societies,  the  title  to  which  is  not  held  by  a  religious  corporation 
under  and  according  to  the  laws  of  the  respective  States  or  territories  in  wliich  such 
places  of  worsliip  are  located;  provided,  also,  that  the  title  shall  in  no  instance  be 
vested  in  any  priest,  bishop  or  other  ecclesiastic. 

Sec.  2.  The  said  corporation  shall  possess  the  general  powers,  and  be  subject  to  the 
provisions,  contained  in  title  3  of  chap,  xviii.  of  the  1st  part  of  the  Revised  Statutes, 
so  far  as  the  same  are  applicable  and  have  not  been  repealed  or  modified. 

Sec.  3.  The  management  and  disposition  of  the  aflairs  and  funds  of  said  corpora- 
tion shall  be  vested  in  the  individuals  named  in  the  1st  section  of  this  Act,  and  their 
successors  in  office,  who  shall  remain  in  office  for  such  period,  and  be  displaced  and  suc- 
ceeded by  others,  to  be  elected  at  such  time  and  in  such  manner  as  the  said  General 
Assembly  shall  direct  and  appoint;  and  such  election  shall  be  made,  and  the  said 
funds  shall  be  held  and  administered,  invested  and  disposed  of,  for  the  purposes  afore- 
said, in  conformit}'  with  the  provisions  of  the  plan  adopted  by  the  said  General  As- 
sembly. 

Sec.  4.  The  said  corporation  shall  in  law  be  capable  of  taking,  receiving  and  hold- 
ing any  real  or  personal  estate  which  has  been  or  may  hereafter  be  given,  devised  or 
bequeathed  to  them  for  the  purjiose  of  their  incorporation,  or  which  shall  accrue  from 
the  use  of  said  fund  ;  but  the  said  corporation  shall  not  take  and  hold  real  and  per- 
sonal estate  above  the  sum  of  two  liundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollais. 


448  FORxM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Sec.  5.  This  Act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

State  of  New  York,         \ 
Secretary's  Office.     / 
I  have  compared  the  preceding  with  the  original  law  on  file  in  this  office,  and  I  do 
hereby  certify  that  the  same  is  a  correct  transcript  therefrom,  and  of  the  whole  of  such 
original. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  of  office,  at  the  City  of  Albany,  this 
[L.  S.]  second  day  of  April,  1855. 

A.  G.  JOHNSON, 

Dep.  Secretary  of  State. 

THE  CHARTEE  AMENDED. 

An  Act  to  amend  an  Act  entitled  "An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Trustees  of  the  Church 
Erection  Fund  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,"  passed  March  31,  1855. — Passed  March  27,  1871. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do  enact  as 

folloivs: 

Section  1.  Section  one  of  the  "  Act  to  incorporate  the  Trustees  of  the  Church 
Erection  Fund  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,"  passed  March  thirty-first,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-five,  is  hereby 
amended  so  as  to  read  as  follows: 

§  1.  Joseph  Fewsiuitli,  John  Thompson,  Elijah  R.  Craven,  Norman  Seaver,  John 
Hall,  Charles  A.  Dickey,  Frank  F.  Ellinwood,  Morris  C.  Sutphen,  Henry  R.  Wilson, 
Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  Joseph  R.  Skidmore,  Frederick  G.  Burnham,  Jonathan  C.  Ha- 
vens, Otis  D.  Swan,  George  AV.  Lane,  John  P.  Crosby,  Winthrop  S.  Oilman,  Nathan 
Lane,  Hezekiah  King,  Russell  Scarrilt,  .James  M.  Brauner  (designated  for  the  pur- 
pose by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Ciuu-ch  whicii  met  in  Piiiladel- 
phia  in  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy),  and  their  successors  in  office,  are  hereby 
constituted  a  body  corporate  and  politic,  by  the  name  of  "  The  Board  of  the  Ciiurch 
Erection  Fund  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,"  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  feeble  congregations  in  connection  with 
the  said  General  Assembly  in  erecting  houses  of  worship,  and  by  that  name  they  and 
their  successors  shall  and  may  have  perpetual  succession ;  piovided,  that  no  money 
shall  be  furnished  by  said  corporation  for  the  erection  of  any  house  of  worship  in  any 
State  or  territory,  in  which  there  shall  exist  at  the  time  a  law  for  the  incorporation 
of  religious  societies,  the  title  to  wiiich  is  not  held  by  a  religious  corporation  under 
and  according  to  the  laws  of  the  respective  States  or  territories  in  which  such  places 
of  worship  are  created  ;  provided,  also,  that  the  title  shall  in  no  instance  be  vested  in 
any  priest,  bishop  or  other  ecclesiastic. 

I  2.  All  acts  done  by  said  Trustees,  in  the  proper  performance  of  their  trust,  since 
their  designation  by  said  General  Assembly,  are  hereby  ratified  and  confirmed. 

§  3.  This  Act  sliall  take  effect  immediately. 

State  of  New  York,  1 

Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  J  *  ' 

I  have  compared  the  preceding  with  the  original  law  on  file  in  this  office,  and  do 
hereby  certify  that  the  same  is  a  correct  transcript  therefrom,  and  of  the  whole  of  the 
said  original  law. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  of  office,  at  the  city  of  Albany,  this  first 
[L.  S.]  day  of  May,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventv- 

one.  D.  WILLERS,  Jr., 

Dep.  Secretary  of  State. 

VI.  RELIEF  FUND  FOR  DISABLED  MINISTERS,  AND  THE  WIDOWS  AND 
ORPHANS  OF  DECEASED  MINISTERS. 

a.  "The  Assembly  of  1849,  0.  S.,  adopted  the  following,  viz. : 
Whereas,  There  are  many  disabled  and  superannuated  ministers  in  con- 
nection with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  widows  and  families  of  Pres- 
byterian ministers  who  are  in  indigent  circumstances,  and  as  the  Church 
increases  their  number  is  likely  to  increase;  and  whereas  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  Church  to  provide  for  those  who  have  devoted  their  time  and  spent 


OF   MISSIONS.  449 

their  energies  in  her  service,  and  also  for  their  families ;  and  -whereas  no 
local  provision  can  effectually  meet  this  object,  and  no  efficient  general 
provision  has  ever  yet  been  made;  therefore, 

Resolved,  1.  That  in  order  to  constitute  a  fund  for  the  support  of  the 
widows  and  families  of  deceased  ministers,  and  for  the  relief  of  superan- 
nuated and  disabled  living  ministers,  it  is  hereby  enjoined  upon  all  our 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  to  take  such  action  as  may  secure  a  contribution 
annually. 

Resolved,  2.  That  a  column  be  added  to  the  table  of  Statistical  Reports 
for  these  contributions. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  funds  thus  contributed  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  be  disbursed  by  the 
Board  of  Publication  upon  the  recommendation  of  Presbyteries,  as  the 
funds  for  Domestic  Missions,  Education  and  Church  Extension  are  now 
appropriated. 

Resolved,  4.  That  in  order  to  the  founding  of  a  permanent  fund  for 
this  same  object,  special  contributions  and  legacies  be  invited  from  all 
parts  of  the  Church,  the  principal  of  which  shall  be  safely  invested  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  interest  to  be  added 
to  the  general  fund  provided  for  in  a  foregoing  resolution. — 1849,  p.  266, 
O.  S. 

Overture  No.  25.  A  request  from  the  Board  of  Publication,  in  answer 
to  which  the  following  minute  was  ordered,  at  the  recommendation  of  the 
Committee,  viz.  : 

The  duty  of  disbursing  the  fund  in  aid  of  superannuated  and  disabled 
ministers  and  their  families  is  hereby  transferred  from  the  Board  of  Pub- 
lication to  the  trustees  of  the  General  Assembly. — 1852,  p.  224,  O.  S. 

On  a  report  of  the  trustees  the  Assembly  adopted  the  following,  viz.: 

1.  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  to 
take  such  action  in  regard  to  this  matter  as  will  tend  to  bring  up  the 
Church  to  the  performance  of  her  duty  in  regard  thereto. 

2.  Resolved,  That  every  minister  and  church  session  be  earnestly  re- 
quested to  present  this  subject  to  their  congregation  during  the  coming- 
year,  and  obtain  a  contribution  to  the  object;  which  contribution  shall 
be  transmitted  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General 
Assembly,  to  be  disbursed  in  an  economical  way,  and  upon  an  equitable 
ratio,  upon  application  made  through  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  party 
applying  for  relief  naturally  belongs,  or  a  Committee  of  that  Presbytery  j 
the  Board  to  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly. — 1856,  p.  533,  O.  S. 

A  Committee  was  also  ap})ointed  to  digest  and  report  to  the  next  As- 
sembly a  scheme  for  future  operations. 

[See  the  report.— 1857,  p.  218.] 

b.  The  Assembly  of  1861,  N.  S.,  in  answer  to  an  overture  from  the 
Presbytery  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  "On  the  subject  of  raising  a  fund 
to  be  applied  to  the  aid  of  disabled  ministers  and  their  families,"  appointed 
a  Committee,  to  report  to  the  next  Assembly  a  plan  of  operations. — 1861, 
p.  473.  The  Committee  was  enlarged  and  continued  (1862,  p.  38);  dis- 
charged and  a  new  Committee  appointed  (1863,  p.  280).  This  Committee 
reported  (1864,  pp.  497-502),  and  the  followino;  was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  1.  That  a  fund,  to  be  called  "  The  Ministerial  Relief  Fund," 
for  the  relief  of  disabled  ministers  of  good  and  regular  standing,  in  con- 
nection with  this  body,  and  the  families  of  ministers  who  have  deceased 
W'hile  in  our  connection,  be  constituted,  to  be  supplied  by  annual  collec- 
tions in  all  our  churches,  donations  and  legacies. 

Resolved,  2.  That  in  order  to  constitute  and  maintain  such  fund,  it  is 
57 


450  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

hereby  enjoined  upon  all  our  Presbyteries  to  take  such  action  as  shall  se- 
cure from  every  church  an  annual  contribution  thereto. 

Resolved,  3.  Tliat  this  fund  be  entrusted  to  the  trustees  of  the  Presby- 
terian House,  to  be  by  thetn  disbursed  upon  the  recommendation  of  Pres- 
byteries, upon  such  principles  and  rules  of  distribution  as  they  shall  deem 
most  equal  and  beneficial. 

Resolved,  4.  That  for  the  special  oversight  and  care  of  the  interest  thus 
committed  to  them,  the  trustees  are  authorized  to  appoint  a  secretary,  pre- 
scribe his  duties  and  determine  his  salary. — 1864,  p.  502,  N.  S. 

That  every  Presbytery  be  directed  to  appoint  a  Standing  Committee, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  inquire  into  the  necessities  of  disabled  ministers, 
and  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  deceased,  with  a  view  of  bringing 
the  cases  of  such  to  the  notice  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Relief 
Fund.— 1865,  p.  30,  N.  S. 

1.  The  Present  Organization. 

The  Relief  Fund  for  Disabled  MINIt^TERs,  and  the  Widows 
AND  Orphans  of  Deceased  Ministers,  is  committed  by  the  Assembly 
to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  according  to  the  fol- 
lowing : 

The  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Ministerial  Relief  was  taken  from 
the  docket,  amended  and  adopted  as  follows : 

The  Joint  Conunittee  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the  affairs  of 
the  Fund  for  Disabled  Ministers  and  their  Families,  and  of  the  Ministerial 
Relief  Fund,  respectfully  report  to  the  Assembly  that  they  have  attended 
to  the  duty  assigned  them,  and  that  they  unanimously  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolutions: 

1.  That  the  fund  be  designated  "  The  Relief  Fund  for  Disabled  Minis- 
ters and  the  Widows  and  Orphans  of  Deceased  Ministers." 

2.  That  the  "Trustees  of  the  General  Assembly"  shall  annually,  at  as 
early  a  day  as  pi-acticable  after  the  rising  of  the  Assembly,  elect  a  secre- 
tary and  a  treasurer,  and  four  of  their  number,  who,  for  the  present  year, 
shall  be  a  Committee  to  take  charge  of  the  management  of  this  fund. 

3.  That  the  trustees  of  the  General  Assembly  be  recommended  to  cor.- 
tinue  in  office  the  present  secretaries  of  the  two  funds,  the  one  to  be  the 
secretary  of  the  Relief  Fund  and  the  other  to  be  the  treasurer. 

4.  Tliat  the  "  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House,"  and  the  "  Trustees 
of  the  General  Assembly,"  be  directed  to  pay  the  income  accruing  from 
investments  held  by  them  respectively  for  the  purposes  of  this  fund  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  Relief  Fund. — 1870,  p.  123. 

2.   The  Funds    are  Disbursed    according  to  the    following    Rules, 
approved  by  the  Assembly  of  1871. 

1.  The  stated  meetings  of  the  Committee  shall  be  held  on  the  3d  Tues- 
day of  each  month,  at  four  o'clock  p.  M.,  unless  otherwise  ordered. 

A  special  meeting  may  be  called  at  any  time  by  the  chairman,  or,  in 
case  of  his  absence,  at  the  request  of  any  two  members  of  the  Committee. 

2. -All  appropriiitions  must  be  made  on  the  recommendation  of  that 
Presbvterv  to  which  the  ap])licant  most  naturally  belongs,  or  of  a  Stand- 
ing Committee  of  that  Presbytery.  Only  members  of  the  Presbyteries  in 
connection  with  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  families  who  were  at 
their  death  in  such  connection,  are  entitled  to  aid. 

3.  Appropriations  are  made  for  one  year;  and  if  aid  is  continued,  the 
recommendations  must  be  renewed  from  year  to  year. 


OF   MISSIONS.  451 

4.  Applications  for  aid  should,  in  the  case  of  a  minister,  state  his  age, 
his  circumstances,  and  the  number  of  years  he  has  been  in  the  ministry; 
and  in  the  case  of  a  deceased  minister's  family,  the  applicaticm  should 
state  the  circumstances  of  the  widow,  and  the  sex  and  ages  of  the  orphan 
children  who  are  dependent  on  her  for  support. 

5.  While  the  responsibility  of  recommending  applicants  rests  with  the 
Presbyteries,  and  shall  largely  govern  the  action  of  the  Committee,  yet 
the  Committee  reserves  to  itself  the  right  to  appropriate  according  to  the 
merits  of  each  case  and  the  state  of  the  treasury. 

H.  Ordinarily,  appropriations  shall  be  made  semi-annually  in  two  equal 
installments. 


VII.  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  COMMITTEE  OF  MISSIONS   FOR  FREEDMEN. 

1.  The  Plan  Adopted  in  1870. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  all  the  papers  submitted,  and  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject as  we  have  been  able  to  examine  it,  your  Committee  would  recom- 
mend the  adoption  of  the  following  res(.)lutions,  to  wit : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  Assembly's  Committee  on  Freedmen,  and  the  Freed- 
men's  Department  of  the  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Home  Missions,  and 
their  secretaries,  are  hereby  commended  for  their  fidelity  and  energy  in. 
the  prosecution  of  the  work  committed  to  their  charge,  that  their  reports 
be  printed  for  circulation  in  the  churches,  and  that  they  be  directed  to 
continue  the  work  until  the  reorganizati<jn  is  completed. 

Besoked,  2.  That  the  work  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  colored 
race  in  this  country,  including  both  their  I'eligious  and  educational  inte- 
rests, shall  be  conducted  by  a  Committee  to  be  located  in  the  city  of  Pitts- 
burg, Pa.,  to  be  known  by  the  name,  style  and  title  of  "  The  Presbyte- 
rian Committee  of  Missions  for  Freedmen,"  and  that  this  Committee  shall 
consist  of  twelve  members,  of  whom  five  shall  be  a  quorum,  to  meet  on 
their  own  adjournment. 

Resolved,  3.  That  this  Committee  be  directed  to  organize  on  Thursday, 
June  16th,  at  3  o'clock  p.m.,  in  the  lecture-room  of  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  that  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Assembly 
be  directed  to  give  official  notice  to  the  members  of  their  election. 

Vacancies  occurring  in  this  Committee,  by  resignation  or  otherwise, 
maybe  filled  by  the  Committee  (until  the  meeting  of  the  next  Assembly) 
at  any  regular  meeting,  of  which  election  due  notice  has  been  given. 

Resolved,  4.  That  the  Assembly's  Committee  on  Freedmen,  and  the 
Freedmen's  Department  of  the  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Home  Mis- 
sions, are  hereby  directed,  on  the  organization  of  this  Committee,  or  at  as 
early  a  time  as  can  be  done  safely,  to  transfer  to  the  Committee  of  Mis- 
sions for  Freedmen  all  papers,  documents,  moneys  and  properties  then  in 
their  hands  or  under  their  control  pertaining  to  the  work ;  and  further, 
these  organizations  are  continued  as  at  present  constituted  for  the  purpose 
of  receiving  and  paying  over  to  the  Committee  of  Missions  for  Freedmen 
all  moneys  which  may  come  into  their  hands  for  this  work  by  legacy  or 
otherwise. 

Resolved,  5.  That  the  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Boards  of  the  Church 
to  co-operate  with  the  Committee  of  3Iissions  for  Freedmen  in  conducting 
its  work. 

Resolved,  6.  That  in  view  of  the  fact  that  only  one-third  of  our  churches 
contributed  to  this  cause  during  the  past  year,  each  Presbytery  be  required 
to  appoint  a  Committee  of  one,  whose  duty  it  shall  be,  by  correspoudeuce 


452  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

or  otherwise,  to  see  that  this  cause  is  brought  before  each  church  for  its 
generous  contribution. 

To  conclude:  In  the  judgment  of  your  Committee,  the  great  need  of 
the  Freedmen  to-day  is  a  supply  of  competent  preachers  and  teachers, 
raised  up  from  among  themselves.  For  help  in  this  matter  we  look  with 
hope  to  Lincoln  University,  at  Oxford,  Pa.  ;  to  Biddle  Memorial  Insti- 
tute, at  Charlotte,  N.  C. ;  to  the  Normal  School  of  Winchester,  Va. ;  and 
to  other  similar  institutions  established  by  our  Church.  We  urge  espe- 
cially the  necessity  of  providing  schools  where  females  may  enjoy  advan- 
tages that  may  enable  them  to  keep  pace  with  the  other  sex  in  intellectual 
and  moral  elevation. 

The  Committee  beg  leave  to  nominate  the  following  persons  to  consti- 
tute the  Presbyterian  Committee  of  Missions  for  Freedmen  : 

Ministers.— James  Allison,  D.D.,  Samuel  J.  Wilson,  D.D.,  John  Gilles- 
pie, Peter  S.  Davies,  Frederick  A.  Noble,  Elliot  E.  Swift. 

Xaymen.— Joseph  Albree,  John  C.  McComb,  Robert  C.  Totten,  Oliver 
McCliutock,  James  B.  Lyon,  George  B.  Logan. — 1870,  p.  105. 

VIII.  THE  SUSTENTATION  FUND. 

In  the  Assembly  of  1870  overtures  relating  to  the  Sustentation  Fund 
were  referred  to  a  Committee  consisting  of  M.  W.  Jacobus,  D.  D.,  Walter 
Clark,  D.  D.,  James  McCosh,  D.  D.,  Hon.  Wm.  Strong,  Hon.  Nathamel 
Ewing  and  Hugh  McAllister,  to  report  to  the  next  Assembly. — 1870, 
pp.  28  and  31.     In  1871  the  Assembly  adopted  the  following — 

Scheme  of  Sustentation. 

I.  That  all  the  charges  throughout  the  Church  be  divided  into  two 
classes — ''Full  Pastoral  Charges"  and  "  Church  Extension  (or  3Iission) 
Charges"  The  former  comprising  such  as  have  pastors  and  are  suffi- 
ciently advanced  to  pay  a  salary  of  $500,  provided  only  that  this  be 
equal  to  the  minimum  hereinafter  named  for  the  membership ;  the  lat- 
ter class  to  include  all  such  charges  as  have  stated  supplies,  and  such  pas- 
torates as  pay  less  than  $500  per  annum  of  salary  or  less  than  the  mini- 
mum rate  per  member.  Only  the  former  class  are  at  present  to  conje 
under  the  Sustentation  Scheme  for  aid.  The  latter  class,  if  needy,  are  to 
be  under  the  care  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions,  until  they  are  advanced 
to  full  pastoral  charges,  and  are  so  certified  by  vote  of  Presbytery  as  enti- 
tled to  aid  under  this  scheme. 

This  does  not  leave  the  smaller  pastorates  and  stated  supply  charges 
unprovided  for ;  they  are  classed  as  more  or  less  incipient  and  experimen- 
tal, and  they  are  to  be  treated  as  exceptional  and  s])ecial.  They  require 
aid  according  to  their  case,  sometimes  even  more  aid  for  the  time  than 
this  scheme  proposes. 

The  propriety  of  thus  beginning  with  pastoral  charges,  already  some- 
what developed,  is:  1st.  That  all  cannot  be  aided  by  this  scheme  at  the 
outset.  2d.  A  beginning  is  made  with  those  who  are  in  regular  ecclesias- 
tical relation,  in  hope  of  thus  aiding  to  bring  to  an  end  the  anomalous  and 
disorderly  system  of  stated  supplies,  that  it  may  give  place  to  the  pastoral 
relation  in  the  great  majority  of  cases ;  and  3d.  This  will  encourage  new 
churches  to  spring  up  in  prospect  of  such  help  as  they  advance. 

II.  The  aim  of  this  Sustentation  Scheme  shall  be  to  make  the  minimum 
of  salary  in  the  full  pastoral  charges  $1000  per  annum.  At  present  the 
annual  value  of  the  manse  shall  be  included  in  this,  but  ultimately,  and 
BO  soon  as  possible,  $1000  in  money  shall  be  the  minimum,  it  being  always 


OF  MISSIONS.  453 

understood  that  the  pastor  shall  be  wholly  employed  in  his  work,  and  that 
no  grant  shall  be  made  without  the  endorsement  of  the  Presbytery, 

This  is  not  "  equalizing  salaries,"  it  is  only  aiming  to  establish  a  fair  min- 
imum, and  by  the  plan  this  is  so  far  subject  to  the  inspection  of  the  Pres- 
bytery in  any  case  that  it  is  not  granted  except  on  the  presbyterial  endorse- 
ment. It  is,  therefore,  not  likely  in  any  instance  to  be  excessive.  The 
figure  is  believed  to  be  only  fair.  If,  in  some  cases,  a  smaller  sum  might 
answer,  because  of  a  less  numerous  or  less  expensive  household,  this  may 
be  reserved  for  the  Presbytery  to  indicate ;  but  who  will  say  that  it  is  too 
much,  if  a  boy-clerk  or  average  mechanic  may  claim  as  much  and  more? 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  much  of  this  sustentation  work  is  to  be  done 
by  bringing  those  churches  which  are  now  delinquent  up  to  their  proper 
rate  of  contribution  to  the  pastoral  support.  Here  the  Presbytery  may 
lawfully  insist,  for  every  call  which  is  presented  by  the  hand  of  the  Pres- 
bytery to  a  pastor  contains  an  obligation  to  pay  him  a  certain  sum,  "  in 
order  that  he  may  be  free  from  worldly  cares  and  avocations."  The  sum, 
then,  ought  in  all  fairness  to  meet  this  end.  The  Presbytery  may  so  re- 
quire. It  is  their  duty  to  search  into  the  transaction  just  at  this  point, 
and  to  demand  that  this  admitted  obligation  be  faithfully  complied  with. 
We  have  estimated  that  a  moderate  rate  would  be  an  average  of  two  cents 
per  day  for  each  member  of  the  church,  or  87.30  per  annum — not  that 
each  member  should  actually  give  this  amount,  but  that,  some  more  and 
some  less,  the  membership,  aided  by  the  congregation,  should  contribute  an 
average  equal  to  this.  This  average  rate  from  the  entire  membership 
would  give  every  minister  in  the  church  a  salary  of  one  thousand  dollars. 
Accordingl}',  it  is  hereby  provided — 

III.  That  only  those  churches  shall  be  at  present  entitled  to  aid  from 
the  Sustentation  Fund  who  are  paying  the  pastor  an  average  of  87.30  per 
annum  for  each  member. 

This  is  not  discriminating  unfairly  against  poor  charges,  for  very  few 
cases  will  be  found  where  this  rate  cannot  be  reached  with  a  little  enlarge- 
ment of  view  and  a  little  self-denial  of  the  people.  They  who  cannot 
reach  it  will  come  under  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  for  aid  as  church 
extension  charges. 

This  proviso  aims  to  screw  up  one  very  loose  part  of  our  financial 
machinery.  Not  a  few  churches  are  reported  in  our  farming  districts,  of 
200,  300  and  over  of  members,  where  the  salary  does  not  exceed  $600  or 
8800,  less  than  83  per  member,  and  even  down  to  81.50.  It  is  believed 
that  in  many  cases  this  is  from  sheer  parsimony,  while  in  exceptional 
cases  of  weak  and  struggling  churches  it  is  all  that  can  at  present  be 
done,  and  such  will  be  aided  by  the  Home  Mission  Board  as  candidates 
for  the  full  pastoral  charge.  An  incentive  will  thus  be  furnished  to  the 
smaller  churches  to  increase  their  pro  rata  of  contribution,  so  as  to  come 
within  the  scope  of  this  provision,  and  the  liability  to  abuse  is  reduced 
to  a  minimum,  because  by  the  conditions  (of  8500  salary  and  $7.30  pro 
rata.)  those  aided  are  the  young  and  enterprising  churches  wlio  pay  the 
largest  pro  rata,  while  the  aid  ceases  so  soon  as  they  reach  135  members. 
(We  find,  by  calculation,  that  of  those  between  8500  and  81000  salary  the 
larger  portion  pay  the  largest  average  salary,  but  the  smallest  pro  rata, 
and  that  the  smallest  membership  pay  the  largest  i)ercentagc.) 

IV.  It  is  further  provided,  That  each  Presbytery  be  enjoined  by  the 
General  Assembly,  through  the  Synod,  to  investigate  immediately  the 
case  of  all  churches  having  over  200  members  who  are  paying  less  than 
81000  salary,  and  that,  unless  good  and  sufficient  cause  can  be  shown  for 
the  lack,  those  churches  be  enjoined  to  raise  the  amount  to  an  average 


454  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

of  S7.30  per  member  as  the  fair  minimum  for  tho  pastor,  and  that  all 
cases  of  flagrant  neglect  be  treated  by  the  Presbytery  as  the  case  may  be, 
reporting  the  same  to  the  Synod  and  General  Assembly.  By  this  means 
we  aim  to  make  the  churches  self-sustaining  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

A  case  may  be  mentioned  which  we  would  fain  believe  is  rare  in  our 
Church  :  a  membership  of  200,  owning  forty  first-class  farms,  promising 
only  6625  salary,  and  pretending  actually  to  pay  only  $400  or  8o00  of 
this,  and  at  the  time  of  reporting  to  your  Committee  not  a  cent  of  the 
salary  had  been  paid  for  1870,  and  part  of  1869  was  yet  unpaid,  and  this 
not  on  the  frontier,  but  in  one  of  our  old  States. 

And  whereas  it  is  believed  that  much  of  the  deficiency  in  funds  comes 
from  a  failure  to  Presbyterianize  and  popularize  our  finances  with  a  view 
to  enlisting  all  the  people  ;  therefore, 

V.  It  is  provided,  That  every  church  session,  as  a  condition  of  aid  from 
this  scheme,  shall  in  co-operation  with  the  trustees  or  other  representatives 
of  the  congregation  appoint  a  Committee,  who  shall  institute  and  carry 
out  a  plan  of  weekly  or  monthly  contribution  to  this  object  and  to  all  the 
Boards  of  the  Church,  so  as  to  present  to  every  meml>er  of  the  church 
and  congregation  the  opportunity  of  such  stated  contribution,  according 
to  the  apostolic  order  (1  C«r.  xvi.  2)  ;  that  so  every  church  seeking  aid  may 
give  every  reasonable  assurance  of  self-aid,  as  an  ordinance  of  worship  iu 
the  wav  of  God's  appointment,  and  according  as  it  has  gone  well  with  them. 

VI.  That  in  like  manner  not  only  such  churches  as  are  aided  by  this 
scheme,  but  every  church  session,  be  required  by  the  General  Assembly  to 
set  on  foot  forthwith  and  earnestly  to  prosecute  a  plan  that  shall  extend 
to  every  member  of  the  congregation  an  opiX)rtunity  of  contributing  to 
this  cause  (and  to  all  the  Boards  of  the  Church),  either  by  the  envelope 
system  or  by  coUectoi-s  reaching  each  in  person,  and  that  the  Presbyteries 
be  enjoined  to  see  to  it  that  this  requirement  is  complied  with. 

Many  of  our  churches  give  nothing  to  our  great  schemes  of  beneficence. 
Many  in  our  best  churches  are  not  reached  by  the  ordinary  method.  It  is 
the  plain  duty  of  the  officers  to  afford  to  each  worshiper  the  opportunity 
to  contribute,  and  every  church  has  a  right  to  this  means  of  education  and 
cultivation  in  the  divine  life;  and  then  the  mites  are  mighty.  "  The  power 
of  the  Uttles"  as  Chalmers  pleaded  for  it,  wrought  such  distinguished  suc- 
cess for  his  church  schemes. 

VII.  To  cultivate  the  principle  of  ministerial  fraternity  and  sympathy, 
that  each  pastor  shall  aim  to  secure  from  his  i^eople  an  amount  equal  to 
at  least  one-twentieth  (and  rather  one-tenth)  of  his  own  salary  annually 
toward  supplementing  the  salaries  under  this  scheme. 

VIII.  That  each  church  be  required  to  re{>ort  through  the  Presbytery 
to  the  General  Assembly  the  pastor's  salary  actually  paid  by  them  for  the 
year,  and  any  arrearage  if  there  be  any,  and  that  this  be  published  in  a 
separate  column  of  the  Assembly's  minutes  year  by  year. 

This  is  regarded  as  of  great  importance,  in  order  thus  to  lay  l>are  the 
whole  subject  to  the  eyes  of  the  Church  at  large  and  of  the  individual 
churches;  that  thus  each  church  may  compare  what  they  are  dicing  with 
the  membersliip  and  with  the  average  of  other  churches,  so  that  the  delin- 
quent may  be  stimuhite<l  by  such  neetlful  statistics  to  a  higher  aim. 

IX.  That  each  Presbytery  shall  ap^xunt  one  efficient  member,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  examine  every  application  for  aid  under  this  scheme, 
and  to  report  to  the  Presbytery  full  information  as  to  the  prospects  of  the 
church  for  usefulness  and  growth,  and  as  to  the  possibility  of  consolidation 
or  association  with  a  neighboring  church,  and  as  to  the  amount  of  self- 
help,  with  other  conditions,  entitling  it  to  aid  under  this  scheme ;  also  to 


OF   MISSIONS.  455 

receive  moneys  from  the  churches  of  the  Presbytery,  and  to  remit  monthly 
to  the  Central  Sustentation  Committee. 

X.  That  a  Central  Committee  of  Seven  be  annually  appointed  by  the 
General  Assembly  to  supervise  this  work,  having  a  secretary,  appointed 
by  the  Assembly,  to  conduct  the  operations,  to  keep  accounts  with  the 
presbyterial  treasurers  of  sustentation,  and  every  way  and  by  all  means  to 
further  the  great  object  in  view. — 1871,  pp.  564-567. 

Rev.  Melanchthon  W.  Jacobus,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  was  elected  secretary  of 
the  Committee  on  Sustentation. — ib.,  587. 

IX.  COMMITTEE  ON  BENEVOLENCE  AND  FINANCE. 

The  Committee  was  established  by  the  Assembly  of  1871,  p.  551,  and  a 
plan  of  proceeding  adopted.     In  1872  the  Assembly — 

Resolved,  1.  That  in  order  to  the  systematizing  and  developing  of  the 
liberality  of  our  people  and  fostering  the  aggressive  interests  of  our  Church 
in  accomplishing  the  work  assigned  us  in  the  providence  of  God,  there 
shall  be  a  Committee  on  Benevolence  and  Finance,  which  shall  consist  of 
fifteen  members,  composed  largely  of  business-men  of  acknowledged  skill 
in  the  management  of  financial  afiairs.  It  shall  be  located  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  it  shall  be  its  duty  to  use  all  proper  means  to  promote 
throughout  the  Church  the  regular  and  systematic  consecration  of  prop- 
erty to  the  Lord,  and  to  superintend  the  collection  of  funds  for  the  whole 
benevolent  work  of  the  Church,  the  contributions  to  be  sent  either  directly 
to  the  treasurers  of  the  several  Boards  and  Committees  of  the  Church  or 
to  this  Committee  for  distribution,  according  to  the  direction  of  contribu- 
tors, which  distribution  shall  be  at  least  monthly.  The  treasurer  of  the 
Board  of  Home  Missions  is  designated  as  the  treasurer  of  this  Committee. 

Resolved,  2.  It  shall  receive  regular  monthly  statements  of  their  receipts 
from  all  the  Boards  of  the  Church,  that  the  financial  condition  of  these 
Boards,  as  well  as  the  actual  benevolence  of  each  congregation,  may  be  at 
all  times  before  the  Committee. 

Resolved,  3.  The  expenses  of  said  Committee  shall  not  be  a  charge  upon 
any  funds,  unless  expressly  given  for  this  purpose. 

Resolved,  4.  The  Assembly  enjoin  upon  all  the  churches  the  practice  of 
periodical  giving  to  all  causes  recommended  by  the  General  Assembly,  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  commended  in  the  word  of  God. 

Resolved,  5.  In  order  to  carry  out  this  plan,  the  General  Assembly  en- 
join upon  every  Presbytery  to  appoint  a  Standing  Committee  on  the  be- 
nevolent work  of  the  Church,  of  which  the  stated  clerk  shall  be  secretary. 
It  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  Committee  to  use  all  means  in  its  power  to 
have  brought  before  all  the  congregations  in  the  Presbytery  the  plans  that 
may  be  recommended  for  securing  contributions,  and  to  give  each  pastor 
and  session  information  of  the  wants  of  the  vaiious  objects  and  what  is 
expected  of  each  congregation.  Every  Presbytery  is  required  to  question 
each  pastor,  stated  supply  and  elder  present,  at  every  stated  meeting  in  the 
spring  and  fall,  whether  the  directions  and  recommendations  on  this  sub- 
ject have  been  complied  with,  recording  the  answers  on  the  minutes. 

Resolved,  6.  At  least  as  often  as  once  every  six  months  these  Standing 
Committees  shall  report  to  the  Committee  on  Benevolence  and  Finance, 
so  far  as  they  can,  in  relation  to  the  different  objects  for  which  contribu- 
tions have  been  made  by  the  churches  within  the  limits  of  their  respective 
Presbyteries,  with  the  amount  contributed  for  each,  together  with  such 
other  information  as  to  the  general  benevolent  work  of  their  churches 
and  Presbyteries  as  shall  seem  necessary,  or  shall  be  called  for  by  the 
Committee. 


456  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

Resolved,  7,  No  church  not  complying  with  the  directions  of  the  Assem- 
bly to  make  collections  for  the  several  Boards  shall  receive  aid  from  the 
funds  of  the  Church. — 1872,  p.  o9. 

X.  TRUSTEES   OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  HOUSE. 

For  the  history  of  successive  steps  which  led  to  the  appointment  of 
the  Board,  see  New  Digest,  p.  404.  In  1854  the  Assembly  directed  the 
trustees  to  obtain  a  charter  from  the  Legislature,  which  is  as  follows, 
viz.: 

AX  ACT  TO   INCORPOKATE  THE   TRUSTEES  OF  THE   PRESBYTE- 
RIAN HOUSE. 

Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  Stales 
of  America  which  lield  its  sessions  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Cluirch,  on  Washington 
Snuare,  in  the  city  of  Piiiladelphia,  in  May,  Anno  Domini  one  thousand  eigiit  hun- 
dred and  tifty-fonr,  did  appoint  John  A.  Brown,  Samnel  H.  Perl<ins,  Cliarles  S.  Wnrts, 
Matthias  W.  Baldwin  and  .John  C.  Farr,  trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Publication 
House,  and  recommended  that  the  said  Board  obtain  an  act  of  incorporation  under 
the  laws  of  this  State,  and  that  the  saiil  act  should  contain  a  general  provision,  autiior- 
izing  tlie  said  trustees  lo  hold  in  trust  for  said  Assembly  any  property  committed  to 
them  by  donations,  bequests  or  otherwise  ; 

And  whereas,  Several  gentlemen  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  feeling  tlie  necessity 
of  some  suitable  place  for  the  business  of  the  societies  and  cliurches  connected  with 
tiie  said  Assembly,  purchased  a  property  for  that  purpose  wiiicii  they  are  desirous 
of  conveying  to  the  said  trustees ; 

And  whereas,  The  said  trustees  will  labor  under  serious  disadvantages  as  to  receiv- 
ing and  holding  the  title  of  said  property,  as  well  as  any  that  may  be  committed  to 
them  by  donations,  bequests  or  otherwise  in  trust  for  said  Assembly  ;  therefore. 

Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Iheprese7itutives  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Pennxyh'ania  in  General  Assembli/  met,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same, 
That  .John  A.  Brown,  Samuel  H.  Peri<ins,  Charles  S.  Wurts,  Matthias  \V.  Baklwin 
and  .John  C.  Farr,  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  this  Commonwealtli,  and  their 
successors,  are  hereby  constituted  and  dechired  to  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate  by 
the  name  of  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House,"  aud  as  such  shall  have  per- 
petual succession,  and  be  able  to  sue  and  be  sued,  and  to  purchase  and  receive,  take 
and  hold,  to  them  and  their  successors  for  ever,  lands,  tenements  and  hereditaments, 
goods,  money  anil  chattels,  and  all  kinds  of  [iroperty  and  estate,  which  may  be  de- 
vised or  bequeathed  or  given  to  tiiem,  or  to  said  Assemljly  for  tliem,  and  the  same  to 
sell,  alien,  demise  and  convey,  also  to  make  a  common  seal,  anil  the  same  to  alter  and 
renew  at  tlieir  pleasure,  and  also  lo  make  such  rides,  by-laws  and  ordinances  as  may 
be  needful  for  the  government  of  said  corporation,  and  not  inconsistent  with  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  this  State:  Provided  alwayx,  That  the 
clear  yearly  income  of  the  real  estate  held  by  the  said  corporation  shall  not  at  any 
time  exceed  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars. 

Sec.  2.  That  the  trustees  above  named  siiall  hold  their  office  till  tlie  lirst  day  of 
June,  Anno  Domini  one  thou<and  eight  iuuulred  and  lifty-tive,  and  until  their  suc- 
cessors are  duly  (jualitied  to  take  their  jilaces,  who  shall  be  chosen  by  the  said  Assem- 
bly and  their  successors,  who  may  at  any  annual  meeting  increase  the  nundjer  of  said 
trustees  lo  ten,  if,  in  their  judgment,  the  interest  of  the  churches  imder  their  care  re- 
quire it. 

Sec.  3.  That  the  said  Assembly  and  their  successors  shall,  at  their  annual  meeting 
in  each  and  every  year,  wherever  held,  elect  at  least  five  trustees,  who  shall  hold 
their  office  for  one  year,  and  until  their  successors  are  elected  and  (pialified  ;  I'rorided, 
That  the  said  corporators  shall  be  citizens  of  Pennsylvania. 

Sei'.  4.  Thai  the  trustees  hereby  incorporated,  and  their  successors,  shall,  subject  lo 
the  direction  of  the  said  Assembly  and  their  successors,  have  full  power  to  manage  all 
funds,  property  and  eilecls  committed  to  their  care  by  gilt,  purchase,  bequest  or  other- 
wise, aud  to  execute  any  trusts  confided  to  them  by  the  said  General  Assembly  or 
their  successors,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  deemed  most  advantageous,  and  not  con- 
trary to  law  or  the  intention  of  the  donor  or  testator. 

Sec.  o.  That  the  Act  entitled  "  An  Act  lo  incorporate  the  Trustees  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Presbyterian  Publication  House,"  api)roved  the  thirteenth  day  of  April,  Anno 


OF   MISSIONS.  457 

Domini  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-five,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  re- 
pealed. 

HENRY  K.  STRONG, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
WM.  M.  HIESTER, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

2.  The  Charter  Accepted. — Duties  and  Po"wers  of  the  Trustees. 

Whereas,  The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  by  an  Act  ap- 
proved by  the  governor,  April  21,  1855,  incorporated  "  The  Trustees  of 
the  Presbyterian  House,"  in  Philadelphia,  Avho  are  by  said  Act  to  be 
elected  by  this  body  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  By  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America :  1.  That  the  said  charter  be  and  the  same  is 
hereby  accepted,  and  that  the  trustees  created  by  said  Act  of  incorpora- 
tion be  directed  to  perform  all  the  duties  required  by  their  appointment. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  said  trustees  be  directed  to  give  such  ofiicial  noti- 
fication to  the  proper  authorities  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  as  may  be 
necessary,  of  the  acceptance  of  the  charter  by  the  General  Assembly. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  Assembly  do  now  elect  ten  trustees  under  this 
charter,  five  of  whom  shall  be  ministers  and  five  laymen,  all  of  whom 
shall  be  connected  with  some  Presbytery  or  church  under  the  care  of  the 
General  Assembly. 

Resolved,  4.  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  shall  be  at  such  time 
and  place  as  shall  be  fixed  by  the  trustee  first  elected,  or  in  case  of  his 
inability  to  act,  the  trustee  next  elected,  who  shall  act  as  chairman,  until 
the  Board  is  constituted  by  the  election  of  a  President  and  Secretary. 

Resolved,  5.  That  the  trustees,  at  their  first  meeting,  be  directed  to  divide 
themselves  into  two  portions,  and  in  such  manner  that  there  shall  always 
be  in  the  Board  five  ministers  and  five  laymen. 

Resolved,  6.  That  in  electing  these  trustees  a  nomination  shall  be  made 
in  the  Assembly,  and  that  the  election  shall  be  by  ballot,  on  the  day  fol- 
lowing that  on  which  the  nomination  is  made. 

Resolved,  7.  That  these  trustees  be  directed  to  keep  an  accurate  record 
of  all  their  proceedings,  and  report  the  same  annually  to  the  Assembly. 

Resolved,  8.  That  these  trustees  be  directed  to  take  such  measures  for 
raising  the  amount  pledged  by  the  last  Assembly  for  the  pui'chase  of  the 
"Presbyterian  House"  as  they  may  deem  expedient  and  proper. — 1855, 
p.  26,  N.  S. 

Quorum  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

The  Assembly  decides  that  five  members  of  the  trustees  shall  be  a  quo- 
rum for  the  transaction  of  business. — 1864,  p.  487. 

Legal  Title  to  the  House  secured  through  the  Liberality  of  John  A.  Broivn. 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  notice  with  pleasure  the  manifes- 
tation of  promptness  and  liberality  in  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  the  Presbyterian  House,  John  A.  Brown,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia, 
\i\m  by  a  munificent  donation  has  secured  to  the  trustees  the  legal  title 
of  the  Presbyterian  House. — 1857,  p.  410,  N.  S. 

3.  The  Trustees  to  Act  as  the  Corporators  of  the  Publication  Com- 
mittee. 

Resolved,  By  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
58 


458  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

United  States  of  America  that  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House" 
be,  and  they  hereby  are,  authorized  and  directed  to  act  in  their  corpo- 
rate capacity  as  trustees  of  the  Permanent  Committee  of  this  Assembly, 
called  "The  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee,"  as  fully  and  in  the 
same  manner  as  if  "The  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee"  Avere 
themselves  constituted  a  corporation  by  the  same  authority  which  incor- 
porated "  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House." — 1857,  p.  410,  N.  S. 

4.  Declaration  of  Trust.— The  House  held  for  the  Publication 

Committee. 

The  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee  respectfully  present  to  the 
General  Assembly  the  following  overture  : 

Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of  1854  authorized  the  acceptance  of 
the  property  Nos.  1334  and  1336  Chestnut  street,  Philadelphia,  upon 
certain  conditions  which  have  since  been  complied  with,  and  the  legal 
title  to  said  property  was  accordingly  on  the  fourth  day  of  February, 
1859,  vested  for  the  Assembly  in  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian 
House,"  but  no  trust  has  ever  been  declared  of  the  same;  and 

Whereas,  In  view  of  all  the  circumstances  attending  the  acquisition  of 
said  property,  and  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  designed,  it  is  desirable 
that  the  General  Assembly  should  declare  the  trust  upon  which  the  said 
property  is  and  shall  be  held.  The  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee 
overture  the  Assembly  to  adopt  the  following  Resolutions  and  Declaration 
of  Trust : 

Wliereiis,  Among  other  trusts,  the  legal  title  of  the  property  Nos.  1334 
and  1336  Chestnut  street,  Philadelphia,  is  held  for  the  Assembly  by  the 
"Trustees  of  tlie  Presbyterian  House,"  but  no  trust  has  ever  been  declared 
of  the  same,  and  circumstances  render  it  ex])edient  and  desirable  that  the 
trusts  upon  which  said  property  is  and  shall  be  held  should  be  formally 
declared  ;  and 

Wherms,  The  trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House  did,  by  resolution 
adopted  March  27,  1863,  express  their  desire  that  the  Publication  Com- 
mittee should  ask  the  Assembly  for  a  formal  declaration  that  the  property 
Tsos.  1334  and  1336  Chestnut  street,  Philadelphia,  is  and  shall  be  held  by 
the  trustees  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Publication  Committee;  there- 
fore. 

Resolved,  1st,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America  do  hereby  declare  that  the  property  Nos. 
1334  and  1336  Chestnut  street,  Philadelphia,  is  and  shall  be  held  by  the 
trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House  to,  for  and  upon  the  following  uses, 
intents  and  purposes;  that  is  to  say:  In  trust  to  permit  and  suffer  the 
Presbyterian  Publication  Committee,  subject  to  the  said  General  Assem- 
bly and  their  successors,  to  let  and  demise,  use,  occupy  and  enjoy  the  said 
property  and  every  part  thereof;  to  receive  and  take  the  rents  and  income 
thereof,  they  paying  all  the  taxes  and  ground-rent  thereon,  and  all  |)roper 
and  necessary  repitirs,  and  other  expenses  and  charges  thereon;  anci  that 
the  said  trustees  shall  have  power,  at  the  request  of  the  said  Publication 
Committee,  to  mortgage  and  improve  the  said  property,  or  any  part 
thereof; 

liexolved,  2d.  That  the  trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House  be,  and  they 
hereby  are,  directed  to  execute  under  their  corporate  seal,  and  deliver  to 
the  said  Publication  Committee,  such  deed  or  deeds  of  declaration  of 
trust  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  with  all  such  powers,  authorities,  limita- 
tions and  provisions  as  shall  be  settled  and  advised  by  a  Committee  of 


OF   MISSIONS.  459 

three  legal  gentlemen,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Assembly,  to  be  requisite 
and  necessary  for  the  fully  carrying  into  effect  these  resolutions. 

JOHN  W.  DULLES, 
Secretary  of  the  Pres.  Publication  Committee. 
Philadelphia,  May,  26,  1863. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  overture,  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  Samuel  H.  Perkins,  Esq.,  Samuel  C.  Perkins,  Esq.,  and  Hon. 
Joseph  Allison  as  the  Committee  of  legal  gentlemen  referred  to  in  the  last 
resolution. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1863,  p.  274,  N.  S. 

The  trustees  report  further  that,  in  accordance  with  the  direction  of  the 
last  General  Assembly,  they  have  executed  under  their  corporate  seal,  and 
have  delivered  to  the  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee,  the  deed  of 
declaration  of  trust  prescribed  by  the  Assembly. — 1864,  p.  539,  N.  S. 

5.  Title  Executed  to  the  Board  of  Publication. 

The  trustees  further  report  that,  in  accordance  with  the  direction  of  the 
last  General  Assembly,  they  have  conveyed  to  "the  Trustees  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Board  of  Publicatjou"  the  house  and  lot  Nos.  1334  and  1336 
Chestnut  street. — 1871,  p.  671. 

6.  Trusts  Transferred.— Ministerial  Relief  Fund. 

The  trustees  report  that,  in  accordance  with  the  commitment  by  the 
last  General  Assembly  of  the  management  of  the  Ministerial  Kelief 
Fund  to  the  trustees  of  the  General  Assembly,  they  have  discharged  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Ministerial  Relief  Fund  Agency,  and  have 
directed  the  treasurer  of  said  Committee  to  pay  to  the  treasurer  of  "  the 
Relief  Fund  for  Disabled  Ministers  and  the  Widows  and  Orphans  of  De- 
ceased Ministers"  the  funds  belonging  to  the  Ministerial  Relief  Fund. 
They  have  also  directed  their  own  treasurer  to  pay  to  the  treasurer  of  the 
Relief  Fund  the  interest  which  from  time  to  time  shall  accrue  from  the 
Permanent  Fund, — 1871.  p.  671. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

OF  MODERATORS. 


I.  It  is  equally  necessary  in  the  judicatories  of  the  Church,  as  in 
other  Assemblies,  that  there  should  be  a  moderator  or  president,  that 
the  business  may  be  conducted  with  order  and  despatch. 

II.  The  moderator  is  to  be  considered  as  possessing,  by  delegation 
from  the  whole  body,  all  authority  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
order,  for  convening  and  adjourning  the  judicatory,  and  directing  its 
operations  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Church.  He  is  to  propose 
to  the  judicatory  every  subject  of  deliberation  that  comes  before  them. 
He  may  propose  wdmt  appears  to  him  the  most  regular  and  speedy 
way  of  bringing  any  business  to  issue.     He  shall  prevent  the  mem- 


460  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

bers  from  interrupting  each  other,  and  require  them,  in  speaking,  al- 
ways to  atldress  the  chair.  He  shall  prevent  a  speaker  from  deviating 
from  the  subject,  and  from  using  personal  reflections.  He  shall  si- 
lence those  who  refuse  to  obey  order.  He  sliall  prevent  members  who 
attempt  to  leave  the  judicatory  without  leave  obtained  from  him.  He 
shall  at  a  proper  season,  when  the  deliberations  are  ended,  put  the 
question  and  call  the  votes.  If  the  judicatory  be  equally  divided,  he 
shall  possess  the  casting  vote.  If  he  be  not  willing  to  decide,  he  shall 
put  the  question  a  second  time ;  and  if  the  judicatory  be  again  equally 
divided,  and  he  decline  to  give  his  vote,  the  question  shall  be  lost.  In 
all  questions  he  shall  give  a  concise  and  clear  state  of  the  object  of 
the  vote;  and  the  vote  being  taken,  shall  then  declare  how  the  ques- 
tion is  decided.  And  he  shall  likewise  be  empowered,  on  any  extra- 
ordinary emergency,  to  convene  the  judicatory,  by  his  circular  letter, 
before  the  ordinary  time  of  meeting. 

The  Moderator  not  Necessarily  a  Member  of  the  Judicatory. 

The  moderator  and  clerk  are  ministerial  officers  of  the  judicatory.  In 
respect  of  their  office,  they  are  servants  merely,  and  not  members,  of  the 
body. 

Nor  does  the  Constitution,  explicitly  at  least,  require  the  moderator  to 
be  chosen  from  the  members  of  the  judicatory.  It  does,  indeed,  pi-escribe 
(chap,  xix.,  sec.  ii.)  that  in  a  certain  contingency  "  he  shall  possess  the 
casting  vote."  And  as  voting  is  the  act  of  a  member,  the  implication 
seems  to  offer  itself  that  the  moderator  himself  must  be  a  member.  But 
against  this  implication  some  other  facts  of  the  Constitution  may  be  cited. 
Thus  (Form  of  Government,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  iii.)  there  is  the  provision  for 
inviting,  in  certain  contingencies,  a  minister  to  moderate  the  church  ses- 
sion who  is  not  the  pastor  of  the  church,  and  of  course  not  a  member  of 
the  session;  while  the  general  law  of  "Moderators"  (chap,  xix.)  gives  him 
the  casting  vote.  Then,  again,  the  "  Form  of  Government,"  chap,  xii., 
sec.  vii.,  prescribes,  concerning  the  General  Assembly,  that  "  the  moder- 
ator of  the  last  Asseml)ly,  if  present,  or  in  case  of  his  absence  some  other 
minister,  shall  preside  until  a  new  moderator  be  chosen."  Under  this  pro- 
vision it  is  not  necessary  that  the  minister  called  to  preside  in  the  Assem- 
bly should  himself  be  in  commission. — New  Digest,  p.  173, 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  merely  for  organization.  True;  but  the 
whole  principle  seems  to  be  involved.  For  the  time  being  one  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Assembly  is  its  moderator,  and  as  such  has  a  casting  vote  on 
the  numberless  issues  which  nuiy  be  raised  between  the  formation  of  the 
roll  and  the  choice  of  a  new  moderator ;  and  in  the  former  case,  pertain- 
ing to  church  sessions,  no  such  limitation  for  mere  organization  exists. 

Hence  these  two  points  are  clearly  recognized :  1st.  That  it  is  not  essen- 
tial to  the  idea  of  a  moderator  that  he  be  a  member ;  2d.  That  the  privi- 
lege of  a  casting  vote  does  not  necessarily  imply  membership. — 1861,  pp. 
457,  458,  N.  S. 

[The  moderator  has  none  other  than  the  casting  vote,  see  xii.,  sec.  i.,  7. 
For  general  principles  as  to  moderators,  see  Rules  for  Judicatories;  also, 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  i.,  above.] 

III.  The  moderator  of  the  Presbytery  shall  be  chosen  from  year  to 


OF   CLEEKS.  461 

year,  or  at  every  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  as  the  Presbytery  may 
tliink  best.  TJie  moderator  of  the  Synod  and  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly shall  be  chosen  at  each  meeting  of  those  judicatories,  and  the 
moderator,  or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  another  member  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  shall  open  the  next  meeting  with  a  sermon,  and  shall 
hold  the  chair  till  a  new  moderator  be  chosen. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

OF  CLERKS. 


Every  judicatory  shall  choose  a  clerk  to  record  their  transactions, 
whose  continuance  shall  be  during  pleasure.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  clerk,  besides  recording  the  transactions,  to  preserve  the  records 
carefully,  and  to  grant  extracts  from  them,  whenever  properly  re- 
quired; and  such  extracts  under  the  hand  of  the  clerk  shall  be  consid- 
ered as  authentic  vouchers  of  the  fact  which  they  declare,  in  any  ec- 
clesiastical judicatory,  and  to  every  part  of  the  Church. 

The  Clerk  not  Necessarily  a  Member  of  the  Judicatory. 

The  moderator  and  clerk  are  ministerial  officers  of  the  judicatory.  In 
respect  of  their  office,  they  are  servants  merely,  and  not  members,  of  the 
body. 

Of  the  clerk  this  would  seem  to  be  unquestionably  true.  The  Constitu- 
tion knows  nothing  of  the  temporary  clerk,  as  distinguished  from  the  stated 
clerk.  As  far  as  any  provision  of  the  "Book"  is  involved,  it  is  plain  that 
a  judicatory  may  select  any  convenient  person,  though  not  a  member,  to 
record  its  transactions  and  discharge  all  other  duties  pertaining  to  a  clerk. 
For  the  part  of  those  duties  usually  devolving  upon  a  temporary  clerk,  we 
believe  it  is  no  infrequent  thing  for  a  Presbytery  to  employ  a  licentiate  or 
other  person  not  a  member  of  the  body. — 1861,  p.  457,  N.  S. 

See  under  chap,  xii.,  sec.  i.,  10,  for  sundry  acts  I'elating  to  clerks. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


OF   VACANT   CONGREGATIONS   ASSEMBLING    FOR   PUBLIC 

WORSHIP. 

Considering  the  great  imjiortance  of  weekly  assembling  of  the 
people  for  the  public  worship  of  God,  in  order  thereby  to  improve 
their  knowledge,  to  confirm  their  habits  of  worship  and  their  desire 
of  the  public  ordinances,  to  augment  their  reverence  for  the  most  high 
God,  and  to  promote  the  charitable  affections  which  unite  men  most 
firmly  in  society,  it  is  recommended  that  every  vacant  congregation 


462  rOEM    OF    GOVERXMEXT. 

meet  together  on  the  Lord's  clay  at  one  or  more  places,  for  the  purpose 
of  prayer,  singing  praises  and  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures,  together 
with  the  works  of  such  approved  divines  as  the  Presbytery,  within 
whose  bounds  they  are,  may  recommend,  and  they  may  be  able  to 
procure;  and  that  the  elders  or  deacons  be  the  persons  who  shall  pre- 
side and  select  the  portions  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  other  books  to  be 
read ;  and  to  see  that  the  whole  be  conducted  in  a  becoming  and  or- 
derly manner. 

1.  Vacant  Congregations  to  Meet  for  Worship  on  the  Lord's  Day. 

In  consequence  of  an  overture  which  was  brought  in,  the  Synod  earn- 
estly recommend  to  all  vacant  congregations  under  tlieir  care  to  meet  to- 
gether every  Lord's  day,  at  one  or  more  places,  for  the  purpoee  of  prayer 
and  praise  and  reading  tlie  holy  Scriptures,  together  with  the  works  of 
such  approved  divines  as  they  may  be  able  to  procure,  and  that  the  elders 
be  the  persons  who  shall  pray  and  select  the  portions  of  Scripture  and 
other  books,  to  be  read  by  any  proper  person  whom  they  may  appoint. — 
1786,  p.  526. 

2.  Elders  of  Vacant  Congregations  should  be  Interrog'ated  as  to 

the  Observance  of  the  Rule. 

An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi  requesting  the  General 
Assembly  to  recommend  to  the  Board  of  Publication  to  issue  suitable 
books  of  sermons  and  helps  for  devotion,  to  be  used  by  vacant  congrega- 
tions, and  to  inquire  whether  ruling  elders  representing  such  congregations 
should  be  interrogated  concerning  the  observance  of  the  recommendation 
contained  in  chap.  xxi.  of  the  Form  of  Government. 

Answered  afiirmatively. — 1847,  p.  401,  O.  S. 

3.  Right  of  Ruling  Elders,  in  the  Absence  of  the  Pastor,  to  Ex- 

plain the  Scriptures  and  to  Exhort. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi  approved,  except  "that  on  page 
10  of  these  minutes  Synod  takes  exception  to  the  minutes  of  the  Lou- 
isiana Presbytery,  because  that  Presbytery  considered  it  not  inconsistent 
with  the  principles  of  our  Church  for  ruling  elders,  in  the  absence  of  the 
pastor,  to  read  the  Scriptures  and  explain  them,  and  to  endeavor  to  en- 
force the  truth  upon  the  conscience  by  suitable  exhortations.  The  Assem- 
bly believe  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  was  right  according  to  chap.  xxi. 
of  our  Form  of  Government." — 1856,  p.  538,  O.  S. 

[Next  year  tlie  Assembly  refused  to  modify  the  above. — 1857,  p.  4L] 


CHAPTER   XXH. 

OF  COMMISSIONERS  TO  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

I.  The  commissioners  to  the  General  Assembly  shall  always  be 
appointed  by  the  Presbytery  from  which  they  come,  at  its  last  stated 
meeting  immediately  preceding  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly, 
provided  that  there  be  a  sufficient  interval  between  that  time  and  the 


OF   COMMISSIONERS   TO  THE   GENERAL   ASSE^SIBLY.  463 

meeting  of  the  Assembly  for  the  commissioners  to  attend  to  their 
duty  in  due  season ;  otherwise  the  Presbytery  may  make  the  appoint- 
ment at  any  stated  meeting,  not  more  than  seven  months  preceding 
the  meeting  of  the  Assembly.  And  as  much  as  possible  to  prevent  all 
fliilure  in  the  representation  of  the  Presbyteries,  arising  from  unfore- 
seen accidents  to  those  first  appointed,  it  may  be  expedient  for  each 
Presbytery,  in  the  room  of  each  commissioner,  to  appoint  also  an  alter- 
nate commissioner  to  supply  his  place,  in  case  of  necessary  absence. 

1.  The  Rule  not  Enforced  in  case  of  Missionary  Presbyteries. 

a.  The  Committee  on  Elections  reported  that  Rev.  James  W.  Moore  had 
been  nominated  or  selected  by  the  Presbytery  of  Arkansas  at  their  meet- 
ing in  last  September,  but  that  the  Presbytery  had  been  prevented  by  high 
Avaters  from  meeting  since  then,  and  consequently  there  could  be  no 
election.  On  motion,  Mr.  Moure  was  admitted  to  a  seat. — 1846,  p.  197, 
O.  S. 

b.  In  reply  to  a  protest  on  this  case,  the  Assembly  says:  "The  member 
admitted  to  a  seat  represents  a  body  occupying  the  remote  confines  of  our 
ecclesiastical  territory — a  body  whose  delegates  must  travel  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles  to  reach  the  usual  place  of  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly; 
a  body  too  whose  meetings  are  liable  to  be  interrupted  by  insurmountable 
difficulties,  and  in  whom  a  technical  irregularity,  occasioned  by  such  dif- 
ficulties, may  justly  plead  exemption  from  a  rigorous  application  of  the 
letter  of  the  law.  To  exclude  from  a  participation  in  the  privileges  of 
this  body  one  who  had  surmounted  so  many  and  such  formidable  obsta- 
cles to  reach  our  place  of  meeting  because  of  an  informality  in  his  title, 
■which  does  not,  as  this  Assendily  judges,  violate  the  spirit  of  the  Consti- 
tution, would  be  to  subject  a  zealous  and  self-denying  minister  and  a  whole 
Presbytery  to  a  serious  grievance,  and  to  discourage  the  zeal  of  those  wiio 
of  all  others  most  need  our  sympathv  and  fostering  care." — 1846,  p.  215, 
O.  S. 

c.  A  reference  to  the  ^Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1844  will 
show  that  the  Rev.  William  S.  Rogers,  a  commis>ioner  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Lodiana,  in  Northern  India,  was  admitted  without  scruple  to  a 
seat  in  that  body,  though  it  is  evident  that  his  appointment  must  have 
been  made  beyond  the  limits  of  time  prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  The 
peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case  no  doubt  influenced,  and  we  believe 
authorized,  that  Assembly  to  act  as  they  did  in  the  premises. — 1846,  p. 
214,  O.  S. 

d.  Mr.  Joseph  B.  Junkin,  ruling  elder  of  the  Presbytery  of  the  Creek 
Kation,  produces  such  evidence  tiiat  it  is  the  desire  of  his  Presbytery  that 
he  should  represent  it  as  a  connnissioner  in  this  Assembly,  that,  consider- 
ing the  remote  situation  of  the  Presbytery,  the  difficulty  of  his  po.sition, 
and  the  whole  bearing  of  the  case,  Mr.  Junkin  may  be  safely  allowed  to 
take  his  seat,  without  the  iVssendily  thereby  establishing  any  precedent  to 
operate  beyond  the  immediate  case.  The  Committee  is  therefore  of  opin- 
ion that,  though  he  was  not  regularly  elected,  he  ought  to  be  allowed  to 
take  his  seat  as  a  mend:)er  of  the  body. — 1853,  p.  426,  O.  S. 

e.  In  the  following  case  it  appeared  from  the  evidence  that  the  brethren 
of  the  mission  designed  to  make  the  appointment.  No  communication, 
however,  had  been  received  from  them  since  the  meeting  of  the  Pres- 
bytery. 


464  foe:m  of  goveexmext. 

The  Eev.  J.  L.  Scott,  missionary  in  Northern  India,  being  present  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Furrukhabad  without  a  commission,  but  with  evidence 
of  having  been  duly  appointed,  was,  on  motion  of  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckenridge, 
from  the  Committee  on  Elections,  admitted  to  a  seat,  and  regularly  en- 
rolled.—1853,  p.  430,  O.  S. 

2.  No  Election  throug-h  Presbytery  Failing  to  Meet. 

a.  The  Committee  on  Elections  further  reported,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Da- 
vid M.  Smith,  that  it  appeared  to  their  satisfaction  that  the  Presbytery  of 
Columbia  failed  to  form  a  quorum  at  the  time  at  which  their  stated 
spring  meeting  should  have  been  held  according  to  adjournment;  that 
there  were  present  two  ministers  and  ruling  elders  from  a  majority  of  the 
churches,  the  Presbytery  consisting  only  of  five  ministers;  that  those  pres- 
ent requested  that  the  Assembly  would  receive  Mr.  Smith  as  a  commis- 
sioner from  their  Presbytery,  in  which  request  two  of  the  absent  members 
have  expressed  their  concurrence  in  writing;  and  that  it  is  believed  that 
the  appointment  of  Mr.  Smith  would  have  been  unanimous  had  the  Pres- 
bytery formed  a  quorum  ;  and  further,  that  the  Committee  are  divided 
upon  the  question  whether,  under  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Smith  ought 
or  ought  not  to  be  admitted  to  a  seat.  It  was  moved  that  Mr.  Smith  be 
admitted  to  a  seat.  After  debate  the  question  was  decided  in  the  nega- 
tive.—1843,  p.  171,  O.  S. 

b.  The  same  Committee  also  reported  that  Hamilton  Smith,  a  ruling 
elder  from  the  Presbytery  of  Upper  iSIissouri,  had  appeared  without  a 
commission,  but  with  a  written  request  from  several  ministers  and  ruling 
elders  of  that  Presbytery,  wliich  had  been  able  to  secure  no  quorum  for 
two  vears  past,  that  he  be  allowed  to  sit  as  commissioner.  Admitted. — 
I860,  p.  538,  O.  S. 

c.  The  Rev.  L.  M.  Miller,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Elec- 
tions, presented  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  the  Rev. 
George  W.  Chamberlain  was  ordered  to  be  enrolled : 

The  Committee  on  Elections  would  report  that  the  Rev.  George  "W. 
Chamberlain,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  is  present  with- 
out a  commission.  Mr.  Chamberlain  asks  admission  to  the  Assembly  on 
this  ground  :  He  was  appointed  a  commissioner  regularly  to  the  Assem- 
bly of  last  year,  and  attended.  He  has  remained  in  this  country  ever 
since,  doing  work  in  behalf  of  his  mission  in  that  country.  Only  three 
ministers  belonging  to  that  Presbytery  remained  in  Brazil.  A  meeting 
was  appointed  in  which  it  was  intended  to  recommission  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain. Just  previous  to  the  time  indicated,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Simonton,  one  of 
the  Presbyters,  died,  and  thus  prevented  organization.  The  members  re- 
maining desire  that  he  may  be  permitted  to  re])resent  that  Presbytery  in 
this  Assembly.  The  only  principle  which  liears  upon  the  case  is  found  in 
the  Digest  on  page  286,  sec.  129.  The  Committee  recommends  that  the 
Assemblv  act  upon  the  questicm  of  liis  admissio)i  without  discussion. — 
1868,  p.  620,  O.  S. 

d.  That  Rev.  Ira  M.  Condit,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Canton,  is  bearer  of 
an  informal  appointment,  signed  by  all  the  members  of  Presbytery  who 
were  in  Canton  at  the  time;  when,  however,  a  quorum  could  not  be  as- 
senibled  on  account  of  the  absence  of  several  members  in  this  country. 

He  was  admitted  to  a  seat. — 1869,  p.  890,  O.  S. 


OF    COMMISSIONERS    TO    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY.  465 

3.   Commissioners  should  Attend   to  the  Close  of   the   Session. — 
Presbyteries  to  Call  their  Commissioners  to  Account. 

a.  Whereas,  Many  members  of  the  General  Assembly  are,  from  year  to 
year,  in  the  habit  of  asking  leave  of  absence  long  before  its  sessions  are 
closed  ;  and  whereas,  in  receiving  and  acting  ui)on  these  ajiplications, 
much  of  the  time  of  the  Assembly  is  consumed,  and  much  of  the  most 
imporiant  business  has  to  be  transacted  by  few  members ;  therefore, 

Reaolved,  1.  That  the  Presbyteries  be  directed  to  pay  pai'ticular  atten- 
tion to  the  following  minute,  found  in  vol.  i.,  p.  308,  of  Printed  Extracts, 
and  also  in  Digest,  p.  76,  viz. :  "  The  Presbyteries  are  informed  that  their 
commissioners  should  attend  with  the  expectation  that  the  sessions  will 
be  of  two  weeks'  continuance,  and  that  arrangements  should  be  made  ac- 
cordingly. 

Resolved,  2.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  to  inform  their 
commissioners,  when  they  accept  an  appointment,  that  it  is  expected  they 
will  continue  in  the  Assembly  until  the  close  of  its  sessions,  unless  some 
unforeseen  and  imperious  reason  should  require  them  to  ask  leave  of  ab- 
sence. 

Beso/ved,  3.  That  each  Presbytery  require  their  commissioners  to  report 
whether  they  attended  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  the  Avhole  time,  and 
that  the  report  of  the  commissioners  on  this  subject  be  recorded  on  the 
minutes  of  the  Presbytery. — 1824,  p.  119. 

b.  The  Committee  on  Leave  of  Absence  beg  leave  to  submit  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  that,  Avhereas  it  both  fulfills  the  requirements  of  our  ex- 
cellent Church  polity,  and  facilitates  the  business  of  the  Assembly,  and 
also  should  be  regarded  as  both  a  duty  and  a  privilege,  for  elders  as  well 
as  ministers  to  attend  its  sessions  ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  elders  and  ministers  who  from  time  to  time  may  repre- 
sent the  Presbyteries  in  General  Assembly  be  earnestly  requested  to  ar- 
range their  business,  as  far  as  possible,  before  leaving  home,  that  they  may 
remain  to  the  end  of  its  sessions,  and  thus  fulfill  their  high  commissions,, 
and  enjoy  the  valued  privileges  as  members  of  the  highest  judicatory  of 
our  Church. 

The  resolution  was  adopted. — 1862,  p.  38,  N.  S. 

c.  On  the  recommendation  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  Leave  of  Ab- 
sence, it  was — 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  its  Pres- 
byteries, as  far  as  possible,  the  appointment  as  commissioners  of  those 
only  who  are  able  and  willing  to  remain  to  the  close  of  its  sessions,  to  the 
end  that  all  the  work  of  the  Assembly  may  be  performed  by  all  its  mem- 
bers.—1867,  p.  499,  N.  S. 

[See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  ii.] 

4,  Commissioners  from  Ne"W  Presbyteries. 

a.  The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  an  overture  on  the  subject  of 
admitting  commissioners  from  newly-formed  Presbyteries  to  seats  in  thia 
house  reported  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  adopted,  viz.: 

1,  Resolved,  That  it  be  adopted  as  a  standing  rule  of  this  house  that 
commissioners  from  newly-formed  Presbyteries  shall,  before  taking  their 
seats  as  members  of  this  body,  produce  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  Pres- 
bvteries  to  which  they  belong  have  been  regularly  organized  according  to 
the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  and  are  in  connection  with  the  General 
Assembly. 

2.  Resolved,  also,  That  such  commissioners  shall  be  entitled  to  furnisk 

59 


466  FORM    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

the  evidence  required  in  the  foregoing  resolution  before  the  house  shall 
proceed  to  the  choice  of  a  moderator. — 1822,  p.  48. 

h.  Resolved,  1.  That  no  commissioner  from  a  newly-formed  Presbytery 
shall  be  permitted  to  take  his  seat,  nor  shall  such  commissioner  be  re- 
ported by  the  Committee  on  Commissions,  until  the  Presbytery  shall  have 
been  duly  reported  by  the  Synod  and  recognized  as  such  by  the  Assembly, 
and  that  the  same  rule  apply  when  the  name  of  any  Presbytery  has  been 
changed. 

2.  When  it  shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  General  Assembly 
that  any  new  Presbytery  has  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  unduly  in- 
creasing the  representation,  the  General  Assembly  will,  by  a  vote  of  the 
majority,  refuse  to  receive  the  delegates  of  Presbyteries  so  formed,  and 
may  direct  the  Synod  to  which  such  Presbytery  belongs  to  reunite  it  to 
the  Presbytery  or  Presbyteries  to  which  the  members  were  before  attached. 
—1837,  p.  446. 

6.  Oonamissioners  not  Ruling  Elders  under  the  Plan  of  Union. 

[Under  the  "Plan  of  Union"  in  several  cases  members  of  "Standing 
Committees"  not  ordained  elders  were  admitted  as  commissioners  to  the 
Assembly.— 1820,  pp.  721-724;  1826,  pp.  164,  178,  181;  1831,  p.  318. 
Growing  out  of  the  last  case  was  the  following :] 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  General  Assembly  the  appointment 
by  some  Presbyteries,  as  has  occurred  in  a  few  cases,  of  members  of  Stand- 
ing Committees  to  be  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  is  inexpedient 
and  of  questionable  constitutionality,  and  therefore  ought  not  in  future  to 
be  made. 

The  yeas  and  nays  on  this  resolution  were  taken  and  required  to  be  re- 
corded, and  are  as  follows,  viz.,  yeas  81,  nays  54. — 1831,  p.  338. 

The  next  year  the  commissions  of  two  "  members  of  Standing  Commit- 
tees, instead  of  ruling  elders,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Grand  River,"  were 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Commissions,  and  by  it  reported  to  the  As- 
sembly as  withdrawn  by  the  person  presenting  them. — 1832,  pp.  354-356. 

The  Committee  also  reported  that  Mr.  Erastus  Upson,  a  Standing  Com- 
mittee-man from  the  Presbytery  of  Oswego,  had  been  appointed  a  member 
of  this  body.  A  motion  was  made  to  refer  this  case  to  the  Committee  on 
Elections,  which  was  negatived. 

It  was  then  resolved  that  Mr.  Upson  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  appli- 
cation.—1833,  p.  392. 

6.  A  Commissioner,  having  taken  his  Seat,  may  not  Resign  it  to 
his  Alternate  or  Principal. 

[From  the  origin  of  the  General  Assembly,  it  was  frequent  usage  for 
the  principal  to  resign  his  seat  to  the  alternate,  and  vice  versa.  Put  in 
1827  the  f<tllowing  act  was  adopted  :] 

The  Committee  to  whom  were  referred  Overtures  Nos.  4  and  5,  contain- 
ing resolutions  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Richland  and  Charleston  Union,  dis- 
apj)roving  the  practice  of  permitting  members  of  the  General  Assembly 
"at  various  stages  of  the  sessions  to  resign  their  seats  to  others  called  alter- 
cates," made  the  following  rej)ort,  viz.: 

These  overtures  present  two  points  of  inquiry : 

1.  Whether  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  according  to  a  fair  inter- 
pretation, permits  the  practice  complained  of  by  these  Presbyteries. 

2.  If  this  practice  is  allowed  by  the  Constitution,  whether  it  is  expedi- 
ent that  it  should  be  continued. 


OF   COMMISSIONERS   TO   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  467 

As  to  the  first  question,  the  only  authority  on  this  subject,  as  far  as  ap- 
pears to  your  Committee,  is  found  in  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xxii,, 
sec.  i.,  in  these  words:  "And  as  much  as  possible  to  prevent  all  failure  in 
the  representation  of  the  Presbyteries,  arising  from  unforeseen  accidents  to 
those  first  appointed,  it  may  be  expedient  for  each  Presbytery,  in  the  room 
of  each  commissionei",  to  appoint  also  an  alternate  commissioner  to  supply 
liis  place  in  case  of  necessary  absence." 

The  first  remark  obviously  presenting  itself  here  is  that  the  language 
quoted,  so  far  from  making  the  appointment  of  alternates  necessary,  con- 
tains nothing  more  than  a  recommendation  of  the  measure  expressed  in 
very  gentle  terms. 

In  the  next  place,  although  the  terms  of  the  article  may  be  so  inter-  • 
preted  as  to  make  it  provide  for  the  necessary  absence  of  a  commissioner 
at  any  time  during  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly,  yet  it  appears  most  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
was  to  provide  for  those  unforeseen  events  which  might  altogether  pre- 
vent the  attendance  of  the  primary  commissioners.  For  it  is  not  at  all 
probable  that  wise  men,  in  drawing  up  a  Constitution  for  a  Church  judi- 
cature of  the  highest  dignity,  whose  business  is  often  both  very  important 
and  extremely  difficult,  would  provide  for  a  change  in  the  members  of 
the  court  after  it  should  be  constituted  and  become  deeply  engaged  in 
the  transaction  of  weighty  affairs  and  the  investigation  of  certain  perplex- 
ing questions.  A  measure  of  this  kind  is,  the  Committee  believe,  without 
example,  and  therefore  the  construction  which  would  support  it  is  thought 
to  be  erroneous. 

If  in  this  case  the  Committee  have  judged  correctly,  they  are  much 
more  confident  in  the  remarks  that  the  Constitution  does  not  justify  the 
practice,  now  very  common,  of  the  arrangements  for  convenience  made  by 
the  primary  commissioner  and  his  alternate,  according  to  which  the  one 
or  the  other,  as  the  case  may  be,  takes  his  seat  for  a  few  days  in  the  As- 
sembly, resigns  it,  and  goes  to  his  secular  business. 

But,  secondly,  if  it  should  be  determined  that  the  Constitution  permits 
these  changes  in  some  instances,  the  Committee  are  constrained  to  believe 
that  the  practice  is,  on  the  whole,  entirely  inexpedient — 

1.  Because  it  creates  dissatisfaction  among  many  brethren,  as  well 
those  who  have  complained  of  it  as  others  who  have  held  their  peace. 

2.  It  gives  an  invidious  advantage  to  the  neighboring  Presbyteries  over 
those  which  are  remote. 

3.  It  may  be  the  occasion  of  a  number  of  abuses  against  which  the  As- 
sembly ought  to  guard,  but  which  the  Committee  do  not  think  it  needful 
to  specify. 

4.  But,  chiefly,  it  often  embai'rasses  and  retards  the  pi'oceedings  of  the 
Assembly,  because  members  of  Committees  resign  to  alternates  before  the 
Committees  to  which  they  belonged  have  finished  their  business  or  received 
a  discharge  from  the  house;  because  new  members  coming  into  the  As- 
sembly in  the  midst  of  business  often  cannot  possibly  understand  it  suffi- 
ciently to  decide  on  it  wisely,  and  because  speeches  made  in  relation  to 
matters  imperfectly  understood  often  shed  darkness  and  throw  perplexity 
over  them,  and  thus  very  much  time  is  wasted  in  discussions  which  profit 
nothing. 

Finally,  the  practice  is  thought  to  be  derogatory  to  the  dignity  and 
usefulness  of  the  General  Assembly.  For  these  reasons  the  Committee 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Constitution,  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xxii.,  sec.  i.,  which 


468  FOEM   OF   GOVEENMENT. 

allows  commissioners,  after  holding  their  seats  for  a  time,  to  resign  them 
to  their  alternates,  or  which  allows  alternates  to  sit  for  a  while  and  then 
resign  their  places  to  their  principals,  is  erroneous ;  that  the  practice  grow- 
ing out  of  this  construction  is  inexpedient,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  discon- 
tinued. 

The  above  report  was  accepted,  and  the  resolution  with  which  it  closes 
was  adopted.— 1827,  p.  209,  210.  See  1872,  p.  68,  above,  chap,  ix.,  sec. 
vi.,  9. 

7.  Rule  Dispensed  with  under  Peculiar  Circumstances. 

a.  Rev.  Jacob  D.  JNIitchell  informed  the  Assembly  that,  as  the  alternate 
named  in  the  commission  from  West  Hanover,  his  principal.  Rev.  James 
Wharey,  not  being  present,  he  had  at  the  commencement  of  the  Assembly 
taken  his  seat  as  a  member,  and  that  Mr.  Wharey  had  now  arrived,  hav- 
ing been  detained  in  the  providence  of  God.  Mr.  IVIitchell  moved  that 
he  have  leave  to  resign  his  seat  in  favor  of  Mr.  Wharey.  It  was  then 
moved  and  carried  that,  under  the  })eculiar  circumstances  of  the  case,  the 
standing  rule  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  Mr.  Wharey  be  admitted  a 
member  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Mitchell.— 1836,  p.  245. 

6.  The  Rev.  Thomas  P.  Hunt,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Luzerne,  stated  to 
the  Assembly  that,  owing  to  peculiar  circumstances,  he  as  alternate  had 
taken  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  house,  and  that  he  wished  to  resign  it 
to  Rev.  John  Dorrance,  the  principal  named  in  the  commission. 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case  which 
were  stated  at  large  by  Mr.  Hunt,  this  request  be  granted,  and  that  Mr. 
Dorrance's  name  be  inserted  on  the  roll  instead  of  Mr.  Hunt's. — 184.-1, 
p.  368,  O.  a    See  also  1847,  p.  382,  O.  S. 

e.  Alexander  Swaney,  minister  of  the  Presbytery  of  Steubenville,  hav- 
ing obtained  leave  of  absence,  his  alternate.  Rev.  C.  C.  Beatty,  D.  D., 
was,  on  motion  of  Judge  Leavitt,  admitted  to  a  seat. — 1850,  p.  459. 
See  1851,  p.  24,  O.  S. 

d.  On  motion  of  Dr.  Hornblower,  the  name  of  Theodore  Litle,  ruling 
elder  from  the  Presbytery  of  Passaic,  was  substituted  for  that  of  Harvey 
Law,  who  has  occupied  a  seat  as  commissioner  from  that  Presbytery  since 
the  fourth  day  of  our  session. — 1861,  p.  321,  0.  S. 

II.  Each  commissioner,  before  his  name  shall  be  enrolled  as  a 
member  of  the  Assembly,  shall  produce  from  his  Presbytery  a  com- 
mission under  the  hand  of  the  moderator  and  clerk,  in  the  following 
or  like  form,  viz. : 

The  Presbytery  of  being  met  at  on  the 

day  of  doth  hereby  appoint  bishop  of  the  congre- 

gation of  [or  ruling  elder  in  the  congregation 

of  ,  as  the  case  may  be]  (to  which  the  Presbytery  may,  if 

they  think  proper,  make  a  substitution  in  the  following  form) ;  or  in 
case   of  his  absence,  tlien  bishop  of  the  congregation  of 

[or  ruling  elder  in  the  congregation  of  , 

as  the  case  may  be],  to  be  a  commissioner  on  behalf  of  this  Presbytery 
to  the  next  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  to  meet  at  on  the  day 

of  ,  A.  D.  or  wherever  and  whenever  the  said  As- 


OF   COMMISSIOXEES  TO   THE  GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  469 

sembly  may  happen  to  sit;  to  consult,  vote  and  determine  on  all 
things  that  may  come  before  that  body,  according  to  the  principles 
and  Constitution  of  this  Church  and  the  word  of  God.  And  of  his 
diliscence  herein  he  is  to  render  an  account  at  his  return. 

o 

Signed  by  order  of  the  Presbytery, 

3Iode)-ator. 

Clerk. 

And  the  Presbytery  shall  make  record  of  the  appointment. 

1.  Irregularities  and  Defects  in  Comnaissions.— Commissioner  Re- 
ceived. 

a.  Without  a  commission,  but  brings  testimony  of  appointment. — 
1792,  p.  48;  1793,  p.  65;  1794,  p.  79;  1795,  p.  94;  1806,  p.  347;  1816, 
p.  605  ;  1821,  p.  7,  and  imssim. 

b.  Commission  signed  only  by  the  stated  clerk. — 1795,  p.  94;  1830,  p.  281. 

c.  Not  in  due  form.— 1828,  p.  226  ;  1829,  p.  254 ;  1858,  p.  574,  N.  S. ; 
1852,  O.  S.,  and  jJcissim. 

d.  Wanting  the  date  of  the  year  of  appointment. — 1831,  p.  317. 

e.  Wanting  signature  of  moderator. — 1831,  p.  317  ;  1833,  p.  389;  1834, 
p.  422 ;  1835,  p.  465. 

/.  Extract  from  the  Minutes  signed  by  stated  clerk. — 1834,  p.  422; 
1835,  p.  465 ;  1837,  p.  415  ;  1849,  N.  S. ;  1851,  O.  S.,  and  pasmn. 

g.  Wants  the  signature  of  the  clerk.— 1834,  p.  422 ;  1836,  p.  238 ; 
1839,  p.  8,  N.  S. 

A.  Dated  more  than  seven  months  since. — 1834,  p.  422. 

i.  From  Presbyteries  whose  organization  has  not  yet  been  reported 
officially  to  the  General  Assembly. — 1855,  p.  265,  O.  S. ;  1865,  p.  528, 
O.  S. ;  1868,  p.  597,  O.  S.        _ 

h.  The  Committee  on  Elections  also  reported  that  they  had  satisfactory 
proof  that  it  was  the  wish  of  the  presbytery  of  Allahabad,  in  Northern 
India,  that  the  Rev.  L.  G.  Hay  should  represent  said  Presbytery  in  the 
General  Assembly,  but  that,  on  account  of  the  rebellion  in  India  and  con- 
sequent confusion,  the  Presbytery  had  not  held  a  formal  election,  and  the 
Committee  refer  the  case  to  the  Assembly. 

On  motion,  it  w-as  ordered  that  he  be  admitted  to  a  seat,  and  his  name 
was  accordingly  enrolled. — 1858,  p.  262,  O.  S. 

I.  The  Assembly  met.  The  Committee  on  Elections  presented  a  report, 
which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

The  Rev.  T.  Ewing,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Saltsburg,  and  Ruling  Elder 
James  E.  Brown,  of  the  same  Presbytery;  Rev.  Albert  Williams,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  California;  Rev.  N.  L.  Upham,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Rari- 
tan  ;  Rev.  J.  B.  Dunn,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry  ;  Ruling  Elder 
E.  J.  Crane,  of  the  Presbytery  of  California;  Ruling  Elder  William  P. 
Emery,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Raritan,  have  regular  commissions,  lacking 
the  signatures  of  the  moderators  of  their  respective  Presbyteries,  and  hav- 
ing only  those  of  the  stated  clerks ;  that  the  Rev.  Ira  M.  Condit,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Canton,  is  bearer  of  an  informal  appointment,  signed  by  all 
the  members  of  Presbytery  who  were  in  Canton  at  the  time,  when,  how- 
ever, a  quorum  could  not  be  assembled,  on  account  of  the  absence  of  seve- 
ral members  in  this  country  ;  that  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Monteith,  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Oregon,  has  a  letter  from  the  Stated  Clerk  of  that  Presbytery,  cer- 
tifying his  appointment  and  promising  that  his  commission,  which  has  not 


470  FORM   OF   GOVERNMENT. 

come  to  hand,  should  be  duly  forwarded  ;  that  the  Eev.  H.  M.  Shockley, 
of  the  Presbytery  of  White  Water ;  Rev.  James  Harper,  D.  D.,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Carlisle ;  Rev.  I.  J.  Henderson,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Balti- 
more ;  Ruling  Elder  James  Pomeroy,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Huntingdon  ; 
Ruling  Elder  Samuel  Culbertson,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Zanesville,  have 
lost  or  forgotten  their  commissions,  but  have  offered  sufficient  testimony, 
as  the  Committee  regard  it,  from  their  respective  fellow-commissioners  or 
others,  to  justify  their  admission  ;  that  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Barnard,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Waukesha,  has  a  commission  signed  by  the  stated  clerk, 
and  another  signed  by  the  moderator  of  his  Presbytery,  which  together 
form  a  valid  commission,  and  the  Committee  recommended  that  the  fore- 
going names  be  all  added  to  the  roll. — 1869,  p.  889,  O.  S.  See  also  chap, 
xii.,  sec.  i..  Form  of  Government. 

[The  usage  is  that  when  satisfactory  evidence  is  given  of  the  actual  ap- 
pointment of  the  commissioner  his  name  is  enrolled.] 

2.  The  Assembly  ■will  not  go  Behind  a  Comniission. 

[In  the  case  below  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  informed  the  Assembly 
that  Mr.  Bissell  had  not  been  set  apart  as  an  elder,  but  appointed,  as  was 
supposed,  in  accordance  with  the  Plan  of  Union.  In  answer  to  a  protest 
the  Assembly  reply]  : 

INIr.  Bissell  was  admitted  by  the  Assembly  for  the  following  reasons : 

1.  The  commission  which  Mr.  Bissell  produced  was  in  due  form,  and 
signed  by  the  proper  officers  of  the  Presbytery. 

2.  Every  Presbytery  has  a  right  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  its 
own  members,  and  it  is  amenable  to  Synod,  and  not  to  the  General  As- 
sembly, except  by  way  of  appeal  or  reference  or  complaint  regularly 
brought  up  from  the  inferior  judicatories,  which  has  not  been  done  in  the 
present  case. 

3.  It  would  be  a  dangerous  precedent,  and  would  lead  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  order  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  to  permit  unauthorized  verbal 
testimony  to  set  aside  an  authenticated  written  document. — 1826,  p.  181. 

III.  In  order  as  far  as  possible  to  procure  a  respectable  and  full 
delegation  to  all  our  judicatories,  it  is  proper  that  the  expenses  of 
ministers  and  elders  in  their  attendance  on  these  judicatories  be  de- 
frayed by  the  bodies  which  they  respectively  represent. 

1.  The  Commissioners'  Fund.— Former  Plans. 

[The  Assembly  of  1792,  p.  59,  ordered  "that  each  Presbytery  pay  their 
own  commissioners  for  the  future,  and  for  attending  the  present  Assem- 
bly." In  1803,  p.  279,  the  expense  of  attending  the  Assembly  from  dis- 
tant Presbyteries  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  body  by  overture,  and 
a  Committee  appointed.  On  its  report,  p.  282,  the  subject  was  referred  to 
the  Presbyteries,  with  directions  to  report  to  the  next  Assembly.  In  1804, 
p.  311,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz.:] 

Besolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  the 
Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
earnestly  to  advise  the  churches  under  their  care  to  make  an  annual  col- 
lection, to  be  specially  ajipropriated  to  aid  in  the  payment  of  the  expenses 
of  the  commissioners  from  the  more  distant  parts  of  the  country,  to  enable 
them  to  attend  the  General  Assembly,  and  that  the  money,  when  collected, 
be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  of  the  corporation,  and  paid  to 


OF   COMMISSIONERS  TO   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  471 

the  persons  who  may  attend  as  commissioners  under  tlie  direction  of  the 
General  Assembly. 

A  more  comprehensive  plan,  looking  to  collections  in  all  the  churches, 
was  adopted  by  the  Assembly  of  1806,  pp.  369-371.  See  also  1807,  pp. 
385,  386  ;  1822,  p.  56. 

In  1833,  p.  410,  the  Assembly  urgently  pressed  the  necessity  of  contri- 
bution to  the  common  fund  on  all  the  churches  under  its  care. 

2.  During  the  Separation. 

a.  Resolved,  That  while  the  Assembly  would  not  interfere  with  any  ar- 
rangements that  any  Presbytery  may  choose  to  make  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  its  own  delegates,  we  would  enjoin  it  upon  the  weak  Presbyteries 
to  see  to  it  that  their  churches  contribute  as  largely  as  possible,  and  that 
the  more  able  ones,  and  especially  such  as  are  not  very  remote  from  the 
place  where  the  Assembly  meets,  be  required  to  have  collections  taken  up 
in  their  churches  for  a  common  commissioners^  fund  to  aid  the  weaker  Pres- 
byteries in  defraying  the  expenses  of  their  delegates. — 1847,  p.  395,  O.  S. 

b.  The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  of  mileage  presented 
a  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows: 

The  commissioners'  fund  is  distributed  at  the  present  time  in  the  follow- 
ing manner :  The  money  contributed  for  the  general  fund  is  paid  into  the 
hands  of  the  Committee  on  Mileage,  and  distributed  to  such  commissioners 
as  claim  it  (whose  Presbyteries  have  contributed  anything  to  the  fund,  and 
who  have  not  otherwise  been  paid),  according  to  the  number  of  miles  each 
has  traveled  to  the  place  of  meeting. 

This  mode  of  distribution  appears  to  be  as  simple  and  equitable  as  any 
that  can  be  adopted,  and  the  Committee  recommend  that  it  remain  un- 
changed. 

Our  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xxii.,  sec.  iii.,  makes  it  proper  for  each 
Presbytery  to  pay  its  own  commissioners;  consequently,  if  any  Presbytery 
shall  choose  to  do  so,  the  Assembly  cannot  require  them  to  contribute  to 
the  general  fund.  But  it  is  most  earnestly  recommended  to  the  older  and 
abler  Presbyteries,  in  view  of  the  wide  extent  of  our  Church,  and  the  great 
importance  of  our  rising  Presbyteries  being  represented  in  the  meetings 
of  the  Assembly,  if  they  shall  choose  to  exercise  their  right  to  pay  their 
own  commissioners  in  full,  that  they  be  particular  in  making  additional 
collections  for  the  general  fund,  so  that  the  younger  and  feebler  Presby- 
teries may  be  fully  represented.  And  it  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  the 
stated  clerk  to  give  due  notice  of  this  recommendation  previous  to  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. — 1851,  p.  24,  N,  S. 

See  also  1856,  pp.  216,  217,  N.  S. 

c.  [In  1857  the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  adopted  the  following  plan,  which  was 
acted  upon  up  to  the  time  of  the  reunion,  viz.:] 

That  each  Presbytery  be  earnestly  requested  to  contribute  annually 
their  full  proportion  toward  the  expenses  of  our  General  Assemblies. 

That  this  proportion  be  determined  by  the  number  of  communicants 
connected  witli  the  Presbytery. 

That  the  rate  j:)er  capita  for  the  next  Assembly  be  five  (5)  cents  for 
each  communicant. 

That  each  Presbytery  be  at  liberty  to  apportion  their  quota  among 
their  churches  as  they  shall  deem  best. 

That  the  Standing  Committee  on  Mileage,  annually  appointed,  estimate 
and  report  the  probable  amount  that  will  be  needed  to  defray  the  traveling 
expenses  of  the  commissioners  and  the  contingent  expenses  of  the  next 
succeeding  Assembly,  together  with  the  rate  that  will  be  adequate. 


472  FORM    OF   GOVERNMENT. 

That  on  or  before  the  fourth  day  of  the  sessions  of  each  Assembly  the 
amount  thus  contributed  be  paid  to  the  Committee  on  Mileage,  and  a  bill 
be  presented  by  each  commissioner  of  his  necessary  traveling  expenses 
and  mileage. 

That  these  bills,  having  been  duly  audited  by  the  Mileage  Committee, 
be  paid  as  fully  as  the  funds  will  permit,  after  appropriating  an  amount 
sufficient  to  defray  the  contingent  expenses  of  the  Assembly. 

That  each  minister  and  vacant  church  connected  with  those  Presbyter- 
ies who  have  contributed  their  full  quota  to  this  fund  be  entitled  to  a  copy 
of  the  annual  minutes. 

That  in  order  to  avail  themselves  of  the  privileges  of  this  plan,  the  Pres- 
byteries must  contribute,  and  forward  to  the  Assembly,  their  full  propor-. 
tion  of  this  fund  as  thus  determined. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1857,  pp.  399,  400,  N.  S. 

3.  The  Rule  as  Adopted  at  the  Reunion. 

It  is  affirmed,  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xxii.,  sec.  iii.,  that,  in  order 
as  far  as  possible  to  procure  a  respectable  and  full  delegation  to  all  our 
judicatories,  it  is  proper  that  the  expenses  of  ministers  and  elders,  in  their 
attendance  on  these  judicatories,  be  defrayed  by  the  bodies  which  they 
respectively  represent. 

The  jirinciple  is  thus  established  that  provision  should  be  made  for  the 
payment  of  the  traveling  expenses  of  commissioners  to  the  General  As- 
sembly. This  provision  should  be  made  by  the  Presbyteries.  As  far  as 
possible,  the  feebler  Presbyteries  should  be  aided  in  this  matter  by  the 
stronger.  It  appears  just  and  reasonable,  and  so  has  been  found  by  expe- 
rience, that  the  estimated  contingent  expenses  of  each  Assembly  and  the 
traveling  expenses  of  the  commissioners  in  coming  to  and  returning  from 
the  Assembly  should  be  fully  met  by  the  apportionment  of  the  whole 
amount  among  the  several  Presbyteries  according  to  the  number  of  their 
communicants  respectively. 

It  is  therefore  recommended — 

1.  That  the  Standing  Committee  on  Mileage,  annually  appointed,  be 
instructed  to  present  an  estimate  of  the  probable  amount  that  will  be  needed 
by  the  next  General  Assembly  in  order  to  meet  their  contingent  expenses 
and  the  traveling  expenses  of  their  commissioners,  v.'ith  a  statement  of  the 
per  capita  rate,  based  on  the  number  of  communicants  that  will  be  needed 
to  secure  the  amount. 

2.  That  the  Presbyteries,  at  their  stated  meeting  next  following  the  ad- 
journment of  the  General  Assembly,  appoi'tion  the  amount  required  of 
their  churches  as  they  deem  best. 

3.  That  the  churches  be  instructed  to  ]xiy  over  their  respective  appor- 
tionments at  the  stated  meeting  of  their  Presbyteries  next  preceding  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  ;  the  whole  amount  due  from  the  Presby- 
tery to  be  forwarded  to  the  Assembly  by  their  commissioner. 

4.  That  as  early  as  the  fifth  day  of  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  the 
apportionment  of  each  Presbytery  be  paid  in  full,  and  a  bill  of  the  neces- 
sary traveling  expenses  of  its  commissioners  be  presented  to  the  Standing 
Committee  on  Mileage. 

5.  That  the  Mileage  Committee,  after  appropriating  from  the  whole  sum 
an  amount  sufficient  to  meet  the  estimate(l  contingent  expense  of  the 
Assembly,  be  instructed  to  audit  these  bills  and  pay  them  pro  raia,  if 
approved,  as  far  as  the  funds  will  permit. 

6.  That  in  order  to  avail  themselves  of  the  proceeds  of  this  fund,  the 


OF   COMMISSIONERS   TO   THE   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.  473 

Presbyteries  must  contribute  their  full  proportion  to  it  according  to  the 
per  capita  rate. 

7.  That  every  minister  and  every  vacant  church  contributing  to  this 
fund,  connected  with  the  Presbyteries  thus  complying  with  the  provisions 
of  this  plan,  be  entitled  to  a  copy  of  the  annual  minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

8.  That  the  commissioners  from  Presbyteries  in  foreign  lands  receive 
their  necessary  traveling  expenses  j^ro  rata  from  their  place  of  residence 
in  this  country. — 1870,  pp.  59,  60. 

Resolved,  That  the  presbyterial  assessments  for  the  Commissioners'  and 
Contingent  Funds  for  the  General  Assembly  of  the  year  1871  be  fixed  at 
six  cents  per  capita. 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  are  hereby  instructed  to  apportion  their 
assessments  among  their  various  churches,  to  notify  each  church  of  the 
amount  required  therefrom,  and  to  enjoin  upon  and  require  of  each  ses- 
sion the  prompt  collection  thereof. 

Resolved,  That  hereafter  the  Assembly  will  expect  and  require  from 
each  Presbytery  represented  therein,  excepting  foreign  Presbyteries,  the 
payment  in  full  of  its  entire  assessment,  according  to  its  last  pi'eceding 
report  of  membership,  irrespective  of  any  delinquencies  on  the  part  of 
particular  churches. — 1870,  p.  100. 

4.  Presbyteries  Enjoined  to  Secure  the  Full  Quota,  and  those  De- 
linquent Censured. 

One  hundred  and  forty-four  (144)  Presbyteries  have  reported  to  your 
Committee.  Of  this  number  all  but  three  (3)  have  paid  in  fidl,  except- 
ing those  among  freedmen  and  missionary  stations.  The  exceptions  are 
the  Presbyteries  of  Columbus,  Shenango  and  Lyons,  who  have  paid  the 
balance  remaining  in  the  hands  of  their  commissioners  after  deducting 
their  expenses,  or  $141,  out  of  an  assessment  of  6498.24. 

Eight  (8)  Presbyteries  have  not  reported  to  the  Committee,  viz.,  ^Ma- 
honing,  St.  Clairsville,  Dubuque,  Iowa,  Transylvania,  Long  Island,  Blairs- 
ville  and  Utica,  their  total  assessment  being  81617.12. 

Three  (3)  of  these  Presbyteries,  viz.,  St.  Clairsville,  Iowa  and  Blairs- 
ville,  have  declined  by  a  majority  vote  to  report  to  the  fund. 

Believing  that  this  fund  is  based  upon  the  soundest  principles  of  justice 
and  wisdom,  and  that  its  proper  administration  is  vital  to  the  best  inte- 
rests of  the  Assembly,  your  Committee  would  call  most  earnest  attention 
to  the  fact  of  the  great  increase  in  the  number  of  Presbyteries  who  are 
disregarding  its  provisions,  and  are  taking  the  funds  raised  for  this  pur- 
pose into  their  own  hands. 

With  the  exception  of  the  freedmen  and  missionary  Presbyteries,  but 
five  (5)  of  the  whole  number  of  Presbyteries  failed  to  report  in  full  to 
the  Assembly  of  1871.  No  action  having  been  taken  thereon,  and  the 
silence  of  the  Assembly  seeming  thus  to  give  consent  to  such  irregulari- 
ties, we  have  now  eleven  (11)  Presbyteries,  or  an  increase  of  six  (6)  in  a 
single  year,  placing  themselves  outside  of  and  above  the  regulations  of 
the  Assembly,  and  three  of  them  by  a  deliberate  vote  of  the  bodies  them- 
selves. A  similar  increase  for  a  very  brief  term  of  years  will  inevitably 
undermine  and  do  away  with  the  practical  workings  of  this  fund,  and 
render  it  impossil^le  to  obtain  a  full  and  free  re2:)resentation  of  all  the 
Presbyteries  on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly. 

The  Committee  cannot  avoid  the  conviction  that  those  commissioners 
who  have  withheld  from  this  fund  moneys  specially  raised  and  designated 

60 


474  FORM   OF   GOVERNME]!fT. 

by  the  Presbyteries  for  it,  and  appropriated  them  for  the  payment  of  their 
own  expense;?,  deserve  the  censure  of  the  Assembly,  and  that  those  Pres- 
byteries which,  after  deliberation,  have  voted  to  disregard  a  plain  standing 
rule  of  the  Assembly  are  still  more  deserving  of  its  censure. 

This  fund  should  be  sacredly  guarded.  All  the  churches  and  Presby- 
teries should  cheerfully  and  promptly  contribute  their  quota  to  it,  as  the 
wise  and  only  provision  by  which  the  feeble  and  more  remote  Presbyteries 
can  be  represented,  and  under  the  present  system  the  expenses  of  the  As- 
sembly fairly  provided  for. 

We,  therefore,  recommend  that  this  Assembly  enjoin  upon  all  the  Pres- 
byteries to  take  such  action  at  their  next  meeting  as  shall  secure  the  quota 
from  each  of  the  churches  within  their  bounds,  and  that  such  full  appor- 
tionment be  faithfully  sent  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Assenibly,  according 
to  the  rules  adopted  by  this  body  in  1870. — Minutes,  pp.  59-60. 

We  further  recommend  that  the  assessment  for  the  General  Assembly's 
Fund  for  1873  be  fixed  at  six  (6)  cents  per  member. — 1872,  p.  84. 

Out  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  (153)  Presbyteries,  which  number 
excludes  a  part  of  the  freedmeu  and  foreign  Presbyteries,  one  hundred 
and  fifty-three  (153)  have  reported  themselves  to  your  Committee,  and 
paid  their  assessments  in  full,  leaving  not  a  delinquent  Presbytery  nor  a 
single  deficient  dollar.  And  two  of  these  Presbyteries,  Boston  and  Ore- 
gon, the  farthest  east  and  the  farthest  west,  have  overpaid  their  assess- 
ments— an  in-egularity  which  your  Committee  assumed  to  permit  without 
express  authority. 

One  hundred  and  fifty-eight  (158)  Presbyteries,  which  number  includes 
the  freedmeu  and  a  few  foreign  Presbyteries,  have  presented  to  your 
Committee  claims  for  mileage  amounting  to  the  sum  of  §23,741.20.  which 
claims  have  been  paid  in  fall. — 1873,  p.  545. 


BOOK  II. 

OF  DISCIPLINE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES   OF  DISCIPLINE. 

I.  Discipline  is  the  exercise  of  that  authority,  and  the  application 
of  that  system  of  laws,  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  appointed 
in  his  Church. 

That  our  blessed  Saviour  for  the  edification  of  the  visible  Church,  which 
is  his  body,  hath  ap})ointed  othcers  not  only  to  preach  the  gospel  and  ad- 
minister the  sacraments,  but  also  to  exercise  discipline  for  the  preservation 
both  of  truth  and  fluty,  and  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  these  officers  and 
upon  the  whole  Church,  in  whose  name  they  act,  to  censure  or  cast  out 
the  erroneous  and  scandalous,  observing  in  all  cases  the  rules  contained 
in  the  word  of  God. — Form  of  Government,  chap,  i.,  sec.  iii. 

II.  The  exercise  of  discipline  is  highly  important  and  necessary. 
Its  ends  are  the  removal  of  offences,  the  vindication  of  the  honor  of 
Christ,  the  promotion  of  the  purity  and  general  edification  of  the 
Church,  and  also  the  benefit  of  the  offender  himself. 

Prompt  Discipline  best  Fitted  to  Secure  a  Happy  Issue. 

It  is  further  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly  that  had  the  improper  con- 
duct of  the  appellant  been  made  a  subject  of  discipline  at  an  earlier 
period,  a  more  happy  issue  might  have  been  reached.  The  Assembly  for- 
mally and  affectionately  urges  on  the  appellant  a  submission  to  the  sen- 
tence of  his  brethren  and  a  speedy  return  to  the  path  of  duty  and  privi- 
lege.—1859,  p.  547,  O.  S. 

III.  An  offence  is  anything  in  the  principles  or  practice  of  a 
church  member  which  is  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  or  which,  if  it 
be  not  in  its  own  nature  sinful,  may  tempt  others  to  sin  or  mar  their 
spiritual  edification. 

[See  Larger  Catechism,  Questions  104-148.] 

Moral  Questions. 

1.  Breach  of  Sabbath  Observance. 

While,  therefore,  we  earnestly  entreat  our  fellow-citizens  of  every  class 
to  "  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy,"  the  Assembly  do  hereby 

475 


/ 


476  OF   DISCIPLIXE. 

in  a  special  manner  enjoin  it  upon  the  church  ses.sions  to  watch  over  their 
brethren  with  tenderness  and  great  fidelity  in  respect  to  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  to  exercise  wholesome  discipline  on  those  who  by  trav- 
eling or  other  ways  presume  to  trample  upon  this  sacred  institution ;  and 
■we  further  enjoin  it  upon  the  Presbyteries  annually  to  institute  inquiries 
of  the  eldership  as  to  the  manner  in  which  this  injunction  has  been  at- 
tended to  in  their  respective  churches. — 1853,  p.  323,  N.  S. 

[See  Deliverances  upon  the  Sabbath  at  large,  under  Directory  for  Wor- 
ship, chap.  i.  Questions  pertaining  to  the  seventh  commandment  under 
Directory  for  Worship,  chajD.  xi.,  sees,  ii.,  iii.] 

2.  Theatrical  Exhibitions  and  Dancing  Condemned. 

a.  On  the  fashionable,  though,  as  we  believe,  dangerous,  amusements 
of  theatrical  exhibitions  and  dancing  we  deem  it  necessary  to  make  a  few 
observations.  The  theatre  we  have  always  considered  as  a  school  of  im- 
morality. If  any  person  wishes  for  honest  conviction  on  this  subject,  let 
him  attend  to  the  character  of  that  mass  of  matter  which  is  generally  ex- 
hibited on  the  stage.  We  believe  all  will  agree  that  comedies  at  least, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  are  of  such  a  description  that  a  virtuous  and  modest 
person  cannot  attend  the  representation  of  them  without  the  most  painful 
and  embarrassing  sensations.  If,  indeed,  custom  has  familiarized  the  scene, 
and  these  painful  sensations  are  no  longer  felt,  it  only  proves  that  the 
person  in  question  has  lost  some  of  the  best  sensibilities  of  our  nature, 
that  the  strongest  safeguard  of  virtue  has  been  taken  down,  and  that  the 
moral  character  has  undergone  a  serious  depreciation. — 1818,  p.  GOO. 

b.  Dancing  a  Dangerous  Amusement,  and  to  he  Discouraged. 

AVith  respect  to  dancing,  we  think  it  necessary  to  observe  that,  however 
plausible  it  may  appear  to  some,  it  is  perhaps  not  the  less  dangerous  on 
account  of  that  plausibility.  It  is  not  from  those  things  which  the  world 
acknowledges  to  be  most  wrong  that  the  greatest  danger  is  to  be  appre- 
hended to  religion,  especially  as  it  relates  to  the  young.  When  the  prac- 
tice is  carried  to  its  highest  extremes,  all  admit  the  consequences  to  be  fatal, 
and  why  not,  then,  a])prehend  danger  even  from  its  incipient  stages?  It 
is  certainly  in  all  its  stages  a  fascinating  and  an  infatuating  practice.  Let 
it  once  be  introduced,  and  it  is  ditficult  to  give  it  limits.  It  steals  away 
our  precious  time,  dissipates  religious  impressions  and  hardens  the  heart. 
To  guard  you,  beloved  brethren,  against  its  wiles  and  its  fascinations,  we 
earnestly  recommend  that  you  will  consult  that  sobriety  which  the  sacred 
pages  require.  We  also  trust  that  you  will  attend  with  the  meekness  and 
docility  becoming  the  Christian  character  to  the  admonitions  on  this  sub- 
ject of  those  whom  you  have  chosen  to  watch  for  your  souls.  And  now, 
beloved  brethren,  that  you  may  be  guarded  from  the  dangers  we  have 
pointed  out  and  from  all  other  dangers  which  beset  the  path  of  life  and 
obstruct  our  common  salvation,  ancl  that  the  great  Head  of  the  Church 
may  have  you  in  his  holy  keeping,  is  our  sincere  and  affectionate  prayer. 
Amen.— 1818,  p.  690. 

c.  Promiscuous  Dancing  calls  for  Faithful  and  Judicious  Discipline. 

Resolved,  That  the  fashionable  amusement  of  promiscuous  dancing  is 
so  entirely  unscriptural,  luid  eminently  and  exclusively  that  of  "the  world 
which  lieth  in  wickedness,"  and  so  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  and  with  that  pro])riety  of  Christian  deportment  and  that  purity 
of  heart  which  his  followers  are  bound  to  maintain,  as  to  render  it  not 


GEXEEAL   PEINCIPLES   OF   DISCIPLINE.  477 

only  improper  and  injurious  for  professing  Christians  either  to  partake  in 
it,  or  to  qualify  their  children  for  it  by  teaching  them  the  art,  but  also  to 
call  for  the  faithful  and  judicious  exercise  of  discipline  on  the  part  of 
church  sessions  when  any  of  the  members  of  their  churches  have  been 
guilty.-1843,  p.  14,  N.  S. 

Reaffirmed.— Minutes,  1853,  p.  340,  N.  S.     See  also  1867,  p.  513,  N.  S. 

d.  Social  Dances  and  Private  Theatricals. 

Overture  No.  5.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  pro- 
posing the  following  questions,  viz. : 

1st.  Are  social  dances  and  private  theatricals  included  under  the  head 
of  "dancing  and  stage  plays,"  mentioned  in  the  Larger  Catechism, 
amongst  "the  sins  forbidden  iu  the  seventh  commandment"? 

2d.  Is  it  the  duty  of  the  church  sessions  to  exercise  discipline  npon 
those  members  of  the  Church  who  send  their  children  to  dancing  schools, 
or  who  give  and  attend  dancing  parties?  and  if  so,  ought  such  discipline 
to  be  carried  to  the  extent  of  exclusion  from  the  sacraments,  where  other 
means  fail  of  producing  reformation? 

The  Committee  recommended  the  following  reply,  which  was  adopted  : 

To  the  first  question  : 

That  whilst  the  pleasures  of  the  ball-room  and  the  theatre  are  primarily 
intended  by  the  "dancing  and  stage  plays"  forbidden  in  the  answer  to  the 
loOth  question  in  the  Larger  Catechism,  the  spirit  of  the  prohibition  ex- 
tends to  all  kindred  amusements  which  are  calculated  to  awaken  thoughts 
and  feelings  inconsistent  with  the  seventh  commandment,  as  explained  by 
the  Saviour  in  Matt.  v.  27,  28.— 1860,  p.  21,  O.  S. 

e.  Promiscuous  Social  Dancing  and  Dancing  ScJiools. 

To  the  second  question  : 

That  whilst  we  regard  the  practice  of  promiscuous  social  dancing  by 
members  of  the  Church  as  a  mournful  inconsistency,  and  the  giving  of 
parties  for  such  dancing  on  the  part  of  the  heads  of  Christian  fiimilies  as 
tending  to  compromise  their  religious  profession,  and  the  sending  of  chil- 
dren by  Christian  parents  to  the  dancing  school  as  a  sad  error  in  family 
discipline ;  yet  we  think  that  the  session  of  each  church  is  fully  compe-  \/ 
tent  to  decide  when  discipline  is  necessary,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  A 
should  be  administered. — 1860,  p.  21,  O.  S. 

/.   Theatres  and  Card-])laying. 

In  regard  to  so  much  of  the  above  overture  as  refers  to  "  theatres  and 
theatre-going,"  this  Assembly  rcafhrms  the  action  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly (»f  181Sr  [See  Minutes,  p.  690,  and  New  Digest,  pp.  262,  263.]  In 
this  action  the  Assembly  declared  the  theatre  to  be  "a  school  of  immo- 
rality." This  Assembly,  seeing  no  occasion  to  modify  the  utterance  then 
given,  earnestly  exhorts  all  the  members  of  the  Church  in  their  practice 
to  av(jid,  and  by  their  influence  to  discountenance,  all  such  "dangerous" 
amusements,  as  being  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  detri- 
mental to  the  best  interests  of  piety  in  the  heart. 

In  respect  to  "  the  custom  of  fashionable  card-playhig,"  referred  to  by 
the  memorialists,  and  represented  as  being  "countenanced  in  many  of  our 
Christian  households,"  and  also  "  participated  iu  by  members  of  our 
churches,"  this  Assembly  would  affectionately  exhort  all  the  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  to  ])ractice  the  most  careful  watchfulness  in 
avoiding  all  recreations  and  amusements,  whether  iu  the  form  specified  in 


478  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

the  memorial  or  otherwise,  which  are  calciUatccl  to  impair  spirituality, 
lessea  Christian  influence  or  bring  discredit  upon  their  profession  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  Christ.— 1«65,  p.  45,  N.  S. 

g.   The  Opera,  the  Theatre,  the  Dance  and  Card-jAaxjlng. 

A  paper  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  opera,  the  theatre,  the  dance  and  card-playing,  vvas  referred  to 
a  Committee,  consisting  of  the  Rev.  Herrick  Johnson,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Wil- 
liam E.  Moore  and  Mr.  Alexander  Whilldin,  to  report  at  the  adjourned 
meeting. 

The  Special  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  a  paper  on  the  subject  of 
amusements  presented  their  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows: 

The  question  of  popular  amusements  is  one  that  cannot  be  settled  by 
statute.  It  has  to  do  with  the  spirit  and  the  life  of  Christianity  rather 
than  with  the  letter  of  its  law.  Hence  the  impossibility  of  s])eciHc  enact- 
ment. But  the  very  fact  of  its  near  and  vital  connection  with  spiritual 
life  justifies  and  demands  for  it  a  thoughtful  consideration. 

What  scriptural  guidance  have  Ave  in  the  matter?  What  posture  ought 
the  Church  to  assume  toward  so-called  popular  amusements  ?  A  sweep- 
ing condemnation  of  them  would  be  a  sweeping  folly.  To  say  of  them  all 
that  they  are  inherently  and  positively  sinful  is  simply  to  say  what  is  not 
true.  And  to  protest  against  suitable  recreation  would  be  to  protest 
against  a  mental  and  moral  necessity.  A  long-visaged  and  sombre-hued 
piety  is  not  after  the  order  of  the  gospel.  That  makes  recognition  of  the 
laugh,  the  joy  of  life;  has  no  frown  for  the  play-side  of  our  natuiT,  bids 
us  serve  the  Lord  with  gladness.  Nowhere  so  much  as  in  the  heart  of 
God's  people  should  joy  have  her  home  and  go  rippling  out  in  the  chan- 
nels of  deed  and  speech. 

But  what  is  suitable  Christian  recreation?  We  are  without  a  specific 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  "  for  each  specific  form  of  pleasure.  But  this  is  by 
no  means  to  acknowledge  that  we  are  without  scriptural  guidance.  The 
spirit  is  broader  and  deeper  than  the  letter.  There  are  general  prineij^les 
whose  profound  and  subtle  reach  makes  it  impossible  that  they  should  be 
framed  by  a  law.  Those  that  bear  on  this  question  of  popular  amuse- 
ments are  three : 

I.  The  first  general  principle  has  respect  to  the  relation  which  Chris- 
tians sustain  to  each  other.  It  is  discussed  in  Rom.  xiv.,  and  in  1  Cor. 
viii.  Christian  liberty  in  things  indifferent  is  there  distinctly  recognized, 
but  it  is  bounded  and  limited  by  a  higher  law.  We  must  not  abuse  our 
liberty  to  the  offence  of  our  brethren.  We  must  bridle  our  knowledge 
with  charity.  We  are  bidden  to  beware  how  we  tamper  with  the  sancti- 
ties of  a  brother's  conscience,  and  to  beware  how  we  trifle  with  the  neces- 
sities of  a  brother's  weakness.  The  law  of  conscience  and  the  law  of  love 
are  far  more  sacred  and  more  precious  and  more  to  be  regarded  than  the 
law  of  liberty.  To  the  child  of  God  they  ought  to  be  always  paramount. 
To  assert  independence  at  the  expense  of  wounding  a  brother's  conscience 
is  "  to  sin  against  Christ."  "  It  is  good  neither  to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink 
wine,  nor  anything  whereby  thy  brother  stuml)leth."  Of  course  a  merely 
personal,  puerile,  wretched  scrupulosity  is  not  to  be  foisted  upon  the 
Church  for  its  government.  But  amusements  whose  tendencies  are  inher- 
ently and  almost  inevitably  to  excess,  where  the  weak  and  the  unstable 
may  stumble  and  perish,  and  against  which  there  is  a  general  Christian 
conscience,  are  decisively  condemned  by  this  plain  word  of  God. 

II.  The  second  general  principle   has  respect  to  the  relation  which 


GENERAL    PRINCIPLES   OF    DISCIPLINE.  479 

Christians  sustain  to  the  world.  It  is  negative  and  summed  up  in  this: 
"Be  not  conformed  to  this  world."  It  is  a  relation  of  nonconformity. 
Christians  are  to  be  unlike  the  world,  and  distinguishable  from  it.  This 
idea  of  separateness  runs  through  all  the  warp  and  woof  of  Scripture. 
And  it  clearly  does  not  imply  a  separation  from  the  grossly  evil  of  the 
world.  This  is  specifically  and  positively  commanded.  Christians  are 
pledged  and  sworn  to  obedience  by  their  veiy  profession.  The  separation 
involved  in  nonconformity  is  from  Avorldliness — from  the  worldly  s])irit. 
It  is  a  demand  that  the  whole  tone  and  bent  and  current  and  spirit 
of  the  Christian  life  shall  be  different  from  that  of  the  worldly  life — so 
different  that  it  shall  be  manifest  to  the  world  that  the  people  of  God 
are  pilgrims  and  strangers  on  the  earth  ;  that  they  are  walking  with  God  ; 
that  they  are  a  peculiar  people,  called  out  of  the  world  while  still  remain- 
ing in  it ;  God's  witnesses  ;  living  epistles  ;  the  salt  of  the  earth  ;  distinct- 
ive, chosen,  set  apart,  recognizable  everywhere  as  having  been  with  Jesus, 
and  as  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation.  Let  Christians  apply  to  their 
lives  this  one  central,  prominent,  gospel  idea  of  nonconformity,  let  them 
press  it  on  all  their  conduct  until  they  give  unmistakable  exhibition  of 
the  spirit  of  these  unmistakable  words  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,  and  it 
will  go  very  far  to  settle  this  whole  question  of  rational  or  irrational 
amusements. 

III.  The  third  general  principle  has  respect  to  the  relation  which  Chris- 
tians sustain  to  Christ.  It  is  positive,  and  summed  up  in  this:  "Whatso- 
ever ye  do,  in  word  or  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 
Broad,  comprehensive,  universal  in  its  applicability,  yet  most  specific, 
after  all,  in  its  fundamental  conditions — "  Whatsoever  ye  do."  In  another 
place,  applied  to  the  every-day  necessity  and  act  of  our  life — eating  and 
drinking;  applicable,  therefore,  to  our  recreations.  It  is  scriptural  con- 
demnation of  every  form  of  social  diversion  in  which  a  Christian  cannot 
indulge  "in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  It  is  divine  endorsement  of 
whatever  is  done  by  a  child  of  God,  into  which  he  may  go,  and  out  of 
which  he  may  come,  and  through  the  progress  of  which  he  may  continue, 
"without  there  being  one  moment  when  it  would  be  in  any  way  inconsist- 
ent for  him  to  ask  his  Lord's  approval  of  him  there,  and  of  what  he  is 
doing,  and  witnessing  and  countenancing  and  supporting. 

Let  this  principle  be  honestly  and  conscientiously  applied.  It  will  set- 
tle many  a  doubt.  It  will  condemn  many  a  popular  amusement.  It  bars 
out  every  indulgence  that  cannot  be  had  in  consistent  and  loving  remem- 
brance of  our  Lord.  Amusements  that  undermine  the  health  and  waste 
vitality;  amusements  by  which  the  weak  and  lame  are  so  often  turned  out 
of  the  way  only  to  stumble  and  perish  ;  amusements  that  make  it  appear 
a*  if  God's  children  were  as  eager  after  and  intent  upon  the  gayeties  and 
festivities  of  the  world  as  the  children  of  the  world  themselves ;  amuse- 
ments making  it  essential  for  Christians  to  take  positions  that  ought  to 
bring,  if  they  do  not  bring,  the  blood  to  their  faces;  amusements  that 
compel  Christians  to  witness  scenes,  and  to  hear  quips  and  jests,  soiling 
their  si)irits  with  suggested  uncleanness, — these  all,  and  all  like  these,  are 
branded  with  condemnation  by  this  divine  precept.  No  true  disciple  of 
Christ  can  give  himself  to  such  amusements  "  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus." 

We  close  as  we  began.  This  whole  question  must  be  taken  out  of  the 
domain  of  abstract  casuistry.  It  is  not  so  much  a  question  of  absolute 
right  and  wrong  as  of  conscience  and  charity.  The  spirit  of  our  life  is 
far  more  important  than  the  letter  of  our  law.  The  rule  of  love  is  higher 
than  the  law  of  liberty.     Christianity  antagonizes  worldliness,  it  does  not 


480  OF   DISCIPLTXE. 

conform  to  it.  The  Church  should  deal  with  it  not  so  much  by  the  axe 
of  discipline  as  by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  Yet,  without  a  doubt,  the 
very  law  of  love  may  sometimes  require  a  kind,  considerate,  thoughtful 
exercise  of  the  disciplinary  power  of  the  Church.  But  our  chief  appeal 
must  be  to  the  conscience.  Our  main  reliance  must  be  on  the  spirit  and 
the  life  demanded  by  a  whole-hearted  surrender  and  commitment  to  the 
Lord  Jesus.  Those  who  are  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  can  scarcely 
allow  themselves  indulgence  in  any  business  or  recreation,  any  work  or 
play,  into  which  and  through  which  and  out  of  which  they  cannot  con- 
sistently go,  with  ever  present  and  affectionate  remembrance  of  Him  "  who 
gave  himself  for  us  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity  and  purify 
us  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works." — ISBd,  pp. 
487-489,  N.  S. 

2.  Gambling,  Lotteries,  Horse-racing,  Betting,  etc. 
o.   These  Sins  to  be  Denounced  and  Avoided. 

The  vice  of  gambling  has  also  been  forced  upon  our  attention.  We 
indeed  hope  that  few,  or  i)erhaps  none,  of  our  actual  professors  have  in- 
dulged themselves  in  the  practice  of  what  they  consider  as  coming  under 
the  denomination  of  gambling.  But  perhaps  there  are  some  addicted  to 
this  practice  who  have  evinced  a  predilection  for  our  Church  and  forms 
of  worshijj,  and  who  are  not  unwilling  to  receive  the  word  of  admonition 
from  us.  Such  we  would  earnestly  exhort  to  consider  in  the  most  serious 
manner  the  consequences  of  the  course  they  are  pursuing,  and  the  awful 
lessons  which  the  experience  of  the  world  is  every  day  exhibiting  on  this 
subject.  But  it  is  our  duty  further  to  testify  that  all  encouragement  of 
lotteries  and  purchasing  of  lottery-tickets,  all  attendance  on  horse-racing 
and  betting  on  such,  or  any  other  occasions,  and  all  attempts  of  whatever 
kind  to  acquire  gain  without  giving  an  equivalent,  involve  the  gambling 
principle  and  participate  in  the  guilt  which  attaches  to  that  vice. — 1818, 
p.  690. 

b.  The  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  subject  of  lotteries,  which  was 
laid  on  the  table,  was  taken  up  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  although  so  often  sanctioned  by  legislative  acts,  although  the  pro- 
ceeds of  lotteries  have  not  unfrequently  been  appropriated  to  benevolent 
and  religious  objects,  although  many  wise  and  good  men  have,  in  periods 
past,  by  their  participation  or  agency  given  countenance  to  lotteries,  yet 
your  Committee  cannot  view  them  in  any  other  light  than  that  of  h-j/al- 
ized  gauibling. 

It  would  require  vobimes  to  record  all  the  evils  resulting  from  this  sys- 
tem of  predatory  speculation.  It  adds  nothing  to  the  wealth  of  the  com- 
munity. It  too  often  takes  from  the  uninformed  poor  the  property 
obtained  by  labor  and  skill,  and  transfers  the  same  without  the  least  equiv- 
alent into  the  hands  of  the  idle  and  unworthy.  It  thus  becomes  the 
means  of  introducing  and  extending  habits  of  gambling  in  all  forms. 
Hundreds  of  families  yearly  are  reduced  to  dependence  and  beggary,  and 
not  unfrequently  its  deluded  victims  terminate  their  miserable  existence 
in  this  world  by  suicide. 

Contemplating  this  multitude  of  evils  to  individuals,  to  families  and  to 
the  comnuinity  at  large,  your  Committee  beg  leave  to  submit  the  follow- 
ing resolutions : 

Resolved,  1.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  Assembly  all  lotteries 
should  be  discountenanced  by  every  professed  member  of  the  I'resbyteriau 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES   OF   DISCIPLINE.  481 

Church,  as  immoral  in  their  nature  and  ruinous  in  their  effects  upon  indi- 
vidual character  and  the  public  welfare. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  purchase  and  sale  of  lottery  tickets  should  be 
avoided  by  every  member  of  our  Church,  even  when  the  professed  object 
of  the  lottery  may  be  praiseworthy,  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  allowable  to  do 
evil  that  good  may  come. 

Resolved,  8.  That  all  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the  General  As- 
sembly be  and  they  hereby  are  recommended  to  take  order  on  the  subject 
of  lottery  gambling,  to  press  the  consideration  of  it  and  its  attendant 
evils  upon  ministers  and  sessions,  and  to  adopt  such  plans  of  operation  as 
may  free  the  Church  from  all  participation  in  this  sin,  enlighten,  arouse 
and  direct  public  opinion,  and  save  our  country  from  this  and  every  other 
species  of  gambling. — 1830,  p.  306, 

3,  Duelists  Excluded  from  Church  Privileges,  and  Ministers  rec- 
ommended to  Refuse  Attendance  on  the  Funeral  of  a  Fallen 
Duelist. 

The  General  Assembly,  having  taken  into  serious  consideration  the 
unhappy  prevalence  of  the  practice  of  dueling  in  the  United  States,  and 
being  anxiously  desirous  to  contribute  what  may  be  in  their  power,  con- 
sistently with  their  character  and  situation,  to  discountenance  and  abolish 
this  practice — 

Resolved  wumhnously,  That  they  do,  in  the  most  unequivocal  manner, 
declare  their  utter  abhorrence  of  the  practice  of  dueling  and  of  all  meas- 
ures tending  thereto,  as  originating  from  the  malevolent  dispositions  of 
the  human  heart,  and  a  false  sense  of  honor,  as  a  remnant  of  Gothic  bar- 
barism, as  implying  a  presumptuous  and  highly  criminal  appeal  to  God 
as  the  sovereign  Judge,  as  utterly  inconsistent  with  every  just  principle 
of  moral  conduct,  as  a  direct  violation  of  the  sixth  commandment,  and 
destructive  of  the  peace  and  happiness  of  families ;  and  the  Assembly  do 
hereby  recommend  it  to  the  ministers  in  their  connection  to  discounte- 
nance, by  all  proper  means  in  their  power,  this  scandalous  practice. 

Resolved  also,  That  it  be  and  it  is  hereby  recommended  to  all  the  min- 
isters under  the  care  of  the  Assembly  that  they  scrupulously  refuse  to 
attend  the  funeral  of  any  person  who  shall  have  fallen  in  a  duel,  and  that 
they  admit  no  person  who  shall  have  fought  a  duel,  given  or  accepted  a 
challenge,  or  been  accessary  thereto,  unto  the  distinguishing  privileges  of 
the  Church,  until  he  manifest  a  just  sense  of  his  guilt,  and  give  satisfactory 
evidence  of  repentance. — 1805,  p.  339. 

4.  Slavery  and  Slaveholding. 
Overture  on  Selling  a  Sleeve,  a  Member  of  the  Church. 

The  following  resolution  was  submitted  to  the  Assembly,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  a  person  who  shall  sell  as  a  slave  a  member  of  the 
Church,  who  shall  be  at  the  time  of  sale  in  good  standing  and  unwilling 
to  be  sold,  acts  inconsistently  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  ought  to 
be  debarred  from  the  communion  of  the  Church. 

After  considerable  discussion  the  subject  was  committed  to  Dr.  Green, 
Dr.  Baxter  and  jNIr.  Burgess,  to  prepare  a  report  to  be  adopted  by  the 
Assembly,  embracing  the  object  of  the  above  resolution,  and  also  express- 
ing the  opinion  of  the  Assenibly  in  general  as  to  slavery. 

[The  report  of  the  Committee]  being  read,  was  unanimously  adopted 
and  i^eferred  to  the  same  Committee  for  publication.     It  is  as  follows,  viz, : 

The  General  Assembly  "if  the  Presbyterian  Church  having  taken  into 
61 


482  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

consideration  the  subject  of  slavery,  think  proper  to  make  known  their 
sentiments  upon  it  to  the  churches  and  people  under  their  care. 

We  consider  the  voluntary  enslaving  of  one  part  of  the  human  race  by 
another  as  a  gross  violation  of  the  most  precious  and  sacred  rights  of 
human  nature,  as  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  law  of  God  which  requires 
us  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  and  as  totally  irreconcilable  with  the 
spirit  ind  principles  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  which  enjoin  that  "all  things 
whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them." 
Slavery  creates  a  paradox  in  the  moral  system ;  it  exhibits  rational,  ac- 
countable and  immortal  beings  in  such  circumstances  as  scarcely  to  leave 
them  the  power  of  moral  action.  It  exhibits  them  as  dependent  on  the 
will  of  others  whether  they  shall  receive  religious  instructions ;  whether 
thev  shall  know  and  worship  the  true  God  ;  whether  they  shall  enjoy  the 
ordinances  of  the  gospel ;  wliether  they  shall  perform  the  duties  and  cher- 
ish the  endearments  of  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  cliildren,  neigh- 
bors and  friends ;  whether  they  shall  preserve  their  chastity  and  purity, 
or  regard  the  dictates  of  justice  and  humanity.  Such  are  some  of  the 
consequences  of  slavery — consequences  not  imaginary,  but  which  connect 
themselves  with  its  very  existence.  The  evils  to  which  the  slave  is  always 
exposed  often  take  place  in  fact,  and  in  their  very  worsi  degree  and  form ; 
and  where  all  of  them  do  not  take  place — as,  we  rejoice  to  say,  in  many 
instances,  through  the  influence  of  the  principles  of  humanity  and  religion 
on  the  mind  of  masters,  they  do  not — still,  the  slave  is  deprived  of  his  nat- 
ural right,  degraded  as  a  human  being,  and  exposed  to  the  danger  of 
passing  into  the  hands  of  a  master  who  may  inflict  upon  him  all  the 
hardships  and  injuries  which  inhumanity  and  avarice  may  suggest. 

From  this  view  of  the  consequences  resulting  from  the  practice  into 
which  Christian  people  have  most  inconsistently  fallen,  of  enslaving  a  por- 
tion of  their  brethren  of  mankind — for  "God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth" — it  is  manifestly  the 
duty  of  all.  Christians  who  enjoy  the  light  of  the  present  day,  when  the 
inconsistency  of  slavery  both  witii  the  dictates  of  humanity  and  religion 
has  been  demonstrated  and  is  generally  seen  and  acknowledged,  to  use 
their  honest,  earnest  and  unwearied  endeavors  to  correct  the  errors  of 
former  times,  and  as  speedily  as  possible  to  efflice  this  blot  on  our  holy 
religion,  and  to  obtain  the  complete  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  Chris- 
tendom, and,  if  possible,  throughout  the  world. 

We  rejoice  that  the  Church  to  which  we  belong  commenced  as  early  as 
any  other  in  this  country  the  good  work  of  endeavoring  to  put  an  end  to 
slavery,  and  that  in  the  same  work  many  of  its  members  have  ever  since 
been  and  now  are  among  the  most  active,  vigorous  and  efficiiMit  laborers. 
AVe  do  indeed  tenderly  sym])athize  with  those  portions  of  our  Church  and 
our  country  where  the  evil  of  slavery  has  been  entailed  upon  them — where 
a  great,  and  the  most  virtuous,  part  of  the  community  abhor  slavery  and 
wish  its  extermination  as  sincerely  as  any  others — but  where  the  number 
of  slaves,  their  ignorance,  and  their  vicious  habits  generally,  render  an  im- 
mediate and  universal  emancipation  inconsistent  alike  with  the  safety  and 
happiness  of  the  master  and  slave.  With  those  who  are  thus  circutn- 
staaced  we  repeat  that  we  tenderly  sympathize.  At  the  same  time,  we 
earnestly  exhort  them  to  continue,  and,  if  possible,  to  increase,  their  exer- 
tions to  cflect  a  total  abolition  of  slavery.  We  exhort  them  to  suffer  no 
greater  delay  of  slavery.  We  hope  that  those  portions  of  the  American 
Union  whose  inhabitants  are  by  a  gracious  Providence  more  favorably 
circumstanced  will  cordially  anil  liberally  and  earnestly  co-operate  with 
tlxeir  brethren  iu  bringing  about  the  great  end  contemplated. 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES    OF    DISCIPLINE.  483 

We  recommend  to  all  the  members  of  our  religious  denominaticu  not 
only  to  i^ermit,  but  to  facilitate  and  encourage,  the  instruction  of  their 
slaves  in  the  principles  and  duties  of  the  Christian  religion,  by  granting 
them  liberty  to  attend  on  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  when  they  have 
opportunity,  by  favoring  the  instruction  of  them  in  the  Sabbath-school 
Avherever  those  schools  can  be  formed,  and  by  givmg  them  all  otiier  proper 
advantages  for  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  their  duty  both  to  God  and  to 
man.  We  are  perfectly  satished  that  it  is  incumbent  on  all  Christians  to 
communicate  religious  instruction  to  those  who  are  under  their  authority, 
so  that  the  doing  of  this  in  the  case  before  us,  so  far  from  operating,  as 
some  have  apprehended  that  it  might,  as  an  incitement  to  insubordination 
and  insurrection,  wcndd,  on  the  contrary,  operate  as  the  most  powerful 
means  for  the  prevention  of  those  evils. 

We  enjoin  it  on  all  church  sessions  and  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of 
this  Assembly  to  discountenance,  and  as  far  as  possible  to  prevent,  all 
cruelty  of  whatever  kind  in  the  treatment  of  slaves,  especially  the  cruelty 
of  separating  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  children,  and  that  which 
consists  in  selling  slaves  to  those  who  will  either  themselves  deprive  these 
unhappy  people  of  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  or  who  will  transport  them 
to  places  where  the  gospel  is  not  proclaimed,  or  where  it  is  forbidden  to 
slaves  to  attend  upon  its  institutions.  And  if  it  shall  ever  happen  that  a 
Christian  professor  in  our  communion  shall  sell  a  slave  who  is  also  in 
communion  and  good  standing  with  our  Church,  contrary  to  his  or  her 
will  and  inclination,  it  ought  immediately  to  claim  the  jiarticular  atten- 
tion of  the  proper  church  judicature;  and  unless  there  be  such  peculiar 
circumstances  attending  the  case  as  can  but  seldom  happen,  it  ought  to  be 
followed  without  delay  by  a  sus'pension  of  the  otlender  from  all  the  privi- 
leges of  the  church  till  he  repent  and  make  all  the  reparation  in  his  power 
to  the  injured  party. — 1818,  p.  692. 

[We  have  given  the  deliverance  of  1818  upon  the  subject  of  slavery 
as  containing  substantially  the  whole  testimony  of  the  Church  upon  an 
evil  now  happily  done  away.  For  the  full  discussion  of  the  subject,  see 
New  Digest,  pp.  266-295,  Baird's  Digest,  pp.  817-825,  and  the  annual 
Minutes,  1862,  p.  24,  N.  S. ;  1863,  p.  244,  K  S.;  1861,  p.  333,  O.  S. ; 
1863,  p.  55,  O.  S. ;  1869,  p.  297,  O.  S.] 

6.  Intemperance. 

[In  1811  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  presented  to  the  Assembly  one  thousand 
copies  of  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "An  inquiry  into  the  eti'ects  of  ardent 
s])irits  upon  the  human  body  and  mind."     At  the  same  session  it  was — ] 

Iie-'^olved,  That  the  Rev.  Drs.  jMiller,  Miledoler  and  Romeyn,  Rev. 
Slessrs.  James  Richards,  McNeice,  Ezra  Styles  Ely  and  Gardiner  Spring, 
Dr.  John  R.  B.  Rodgers,  Col.  Henry  Rutgers  and  Mr.  Divie  Bethune,  be 
a  Committee  to  endeavor  to  devise  measures  which,  when  sanctioned  by 
the  General  Assembly,  may  have  an  influence  in  preventing  some  of  the 
numerous  and  threatening  mischiefs  which  are  experienced  throughout 
our  country  by  the  excessive  and  intemperate  use  of  spirituous  liquors, 
and  that  this  Committee  be  authorized  to  correspond  and  act  in  concert 
with  any  persons  who  may  be  appointed  or  associate  for  a  similar  purpose, 
and  that  the  Committee  hereby  appointed  report  to  the  next  General 
Assembly.— 1811,  p.  474. 

[Upon  the  report  of  this  Committee  the  next  yar,  it  was — ] 

b.  Resolved,  1.  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  the  ministers  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  United  States  to  deliver  public  discourses,  as  often 


484  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

as  circumstances  may  render  expedient,  on  the  sin  and  mischiefs  of  intem- 
perate drinking,  in  which,  as  well  as  on  all  suitable  occasions,  both  public 
and  private,  it  will  be  proper  pointedly  and  solemnly  to  warn  their  hear- 
ers, and  especially  members  of  the  church,  not  only  against  actual  intem- 
j)erance,  but  against  all  those  habits  and  indulgences  which  may  have  a 
tendency  to  produce  it. 

2.  That  it  be  enjoined  on  all  church  sessions  within  the  bounds  of  the 
General  Assembly  that  they  exercise  a  special  vigilance  and  care  over  the 
conduct  of  all  persons  in  the  communion  of  their  respective  churches  with 
regard  to  this  sin,  and  that  they  sedulously  endeavor  by  private  warning  and 
remonstrance,  and  by  such  public  censures  as  different  cases  may  require, 
to  purge  the  Church  of  a  sin  so  enormous  in  its  mischiefs  and  so  disgrace- 
ful to  the  Christian  name. 

3.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  ministers  and  other  officers  and  mem- 
bers of  our  Church  that  they  exert  themselves  to  diffuse  as  extensively  as 
possible  among  their  congregations  and  the  community  at  large  such 
addresses,  sermons,  tracts  or  other  printed  compositions  on  this  subject  as 
may  have  a  tendency  to  produce  a  suitable  impression  against  the  use  of 
ardent  spirits,  and  to  recommend  sobriety  and  temperance. 

4.  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  officers  and  members  of  our  Church 
to  take  such  measures  as  may  be  judged  proper  and  effectual  for  reducing 
the  number  of  taverns,  and  other  places  of  vending  liquors  by  small  meas- 
ure, in  all  those  parts  of  our  country  in  which  either  their  excessive  num- 
bei's  or  the  improper  character  of  such  places  render  them  a  public 
nuisance. 

It  is  believed  that  the  evils  arising  from  these  sources  are  incalculably 
great,  and  that  by  prudent  management -they  admit,  under  Providence, 
of  very  considerable  diminution. — 1812,  p.  511. 

c.  Abstinence  from  the  Common  Use  of  Ardent  Spirits  tirged. 

In  the  pastoral  letter  of  1818  the  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to 
the  officers  and  members  of  our  Church  to  abstain  even  from  the  com- 
mon use  of  ardent  spirits.— 1818,  p.  689. 

d.   On  the  Formation  of  the  American  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Tem- 
perance. 

The  Assembly  Resolved,  That  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  will  with  all  readiness  of  mind  co-operate  with  their  Christian 
brethren  of  every  denomination,  together  with  every  other  friend  of  our 
country  and  of  hunumity,  in  one  great  national  effort  to  accomplish  a 
universal  change  in  the  habits  and  customs  of  our  country  relative  to  the 
intemperate  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. — 1827,  p.  214. 

e.  Day  of  Fasting  and  Prayer  Appointed. 

Re'<olved,  That  in  view  of  the  exceedingly  heinous  nature  of  the  sin  of 
intemperance  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  as  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
authority  and  moral  government  of  God ;  its  widespread  prevalence,  in- 
fecting, us  we  are  not  without  reason  to  apprehend,  some  members,  and 
even  ofKcers,  of  the  Churcli ;  the  dreadful  miseries  it  inllicts  on  society  in 
all  its  interests,  physical,  political,  moral  and  religious,  and  especially  iu 
view  of  the  great  guib.  that  rests  on  the  Church  in  this  matter,  not  merely 
from  so  many  of  her  members  participating  in  it,  while  others  with  thought- 
less insensibility  minitter  the  means  of  its  indulgence  to  its  deluded  vie- 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES   OF  DISCIPLINE.  485 

tims,  but  especially  in  having  greatly  failed,  as  the  light  of  the  world  and 
the  salt  of  the  earth,  by  her  instructions,  her  example,  her  prayers,  and 
her  vigorous  efforts  every  way,  to  stay  the  plague: — 

The  General  Assembly  do  appoint  the  fourth  Thursday  of  January,  1829, 
a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  aud  prayer,  with  special  reference  to  this  sin, 
and  recommend  to  all  the  people  of  their  communion  its  solemn  observ- 
ance as  such.  Moreover,  they  give  it  in  charge  to  all  their  ministers  who 
may  officiate  on  this  occasion,  by  prayer  and  study  to  have  their  minds 
thoroughly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  greatness  of  this  sin,  and  to 
endeavor  so  to  conduct  the  exercises  of  the  sanctuary  that  all  the  people 
to  whom  they  may  minister  may  be  brought  most  fully  under  the  same 
impression,  and  aroused  to  a  vigorous  exertion  of  all  the  means  which 
duty  and  sound  discretion  dictate,  for  arresting  this  hatei'ul  and  desolating 
abomination. — 1828,  p.  244. 

6.  Entire  Abstinence  from  the  Use  of  Ardent  Spirits. 

a.  The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Temperance  was  taken  up,  and  after 
mature  consideration  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly  regard  with  devout  gratitude  and  praise 
the  great  success  which  has  attended  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of  the  cause 
of  temperance  during  the  past  year,  as  evinced  in  the  increase  of  the  num- 
ber and  zeal  of  temperance  societies,  in  the  diminution  of  the  sale  of 
ardent  spirits,  and  in  the  existence  of  a  strong  aud  increasing  public  sen- 
timent against  the  use  of  it. 

2.  That  they  cordially  approve  and  rejoice  in  the  formation  of  temper- 
ance societies  on  the  principle  of  entire  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits,  as  expressing  disapprobation  of  intemperance  in  the  strongest  and 
most  efficient  manner,  and  making  the  most  available  resistance  to  this 
destructive  and  widespreading  evil. 

3.  That  they  deeply  deplore  the  apathy  manifested  by  many  professing 
Christians  toward  the  cause  of  temperance,  while  many  distinguished  per- 
sons who  make  no  religious  profession  are  prompt  and  powerful  fellow- 
laborers  with  Christians  in  this  worthy  and  divinely  sanctioned  cause. 
And  especially  do  they  grieve  and  wonder  that  members  of  our  churches, 
in  view  of  an  evil  so  debasing  and  so  awful  in  its  prospective  bearings  on 
all  the  interests  of  the  country,  should  not  only  take  no  part  in  the  exer- 
tions of  their  brethren  and  fellow-citizens  against  intemperance,  but  by 
using  and  trafficking  in  ardent  spirits  be  actively  engaged  in  promoting  it. 

4.  That  they  earnestly  recommend,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  forming 
of  temperance  societies  in  the  congregations  under  their  care,  and  that  all 
members  of  the  churches  adopt  the  principle  of  entire  abstinence  from 
the  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

5.  That  as  friends  of  the  cause  of  temperance  this  Assembly  rejoice  to 
lend  the  force  of  their  example  to  that  cause  as  an  ecclesiastical  body  by 
an  entire  abstinence  themselves  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits. — 1829, 
p.  262. 

h.  Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly  considers  itself  called  ujion  to  make 
a  public  acknowledgment  of  the  goodness  of  God  for  the  unparalleled 
success  with  which  he  has  crowned  the  efforts  of  those  who  are  actively 
concerned  in  the  promotion  of  temperance. 

2.  That  the  experience  of  the  past  year  furnishes  additional  and  most 
abundant  evidence  of  the  wisdom  aud  importance  of  the  plan  adopted  by 
the  American  Temperance  Society. 

3.  That  this  Assembly  feels  bound  to  repeat  a  former  recommendation 


486  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

to  the  ministers,  elders  and  members  of  the  churches  under  its  care,  to 
discountenance  the  uso  of  distilled  liquors,  not  only  by  abstaining  them- 
selves from  the  use  of  such  liquors,  but  by  actively  jiromoting  every  pru- 
dent measure  devised  for  the  purpose  of  furthering  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance. 

4,  That  this  Assembly  earnestly  recommends  to  all  persons  for  whose 
spiritual  interests  it  is  bound  to  consult  that  they  i\tvor  the  formation  of 
temperance  societies  on  the  plan  of  entire  abstinence. — 1830,  p.  298. 

c.  The  Assemlily  recommend  to  all  the  members  of  the  churches 
under  their  care  to  be  found  the  fast,  unflinching  and  active  friends  of 
temperance,  abstaining  from  all  forms  and  fashions  which  would  coun- 
tenance to  any  extent  the  sin  of  intemperance,  avoiding  even  the  appear- 
ance of  evil,  disentangling  themselves  from  all  implication  with  the  traffic 
and  manufacture,  and  especially  presenting  in  their  whole  lives  a  standing 
and  unvarying  exemplitication  of  the  only  true  principle  of  temperance — 
total  abstinence  from  everything  that  will  intoxicate. — 1840,  p.  15,  N.  S. 

cl.   Wines  and  Fermented  Liquors  Discountenanced. 

In  1864  the  Assembly  (T»J".  S.)  reiterates  the  sentiments  and  recommen- 
dations of  former  Assemblies,  and  calls  upon  its  ministers  and  the  mem- 
bers of  its  churches  to  renew  their  eff'orts  in  this  direction,  and  espe- 
cially to  refrain  from  the  use  of  cider,  beer  and  ale  as  a  beverage,  and 
also  from  the  manufacture  and  similar  use  of  domestic  wines. — 1864,  p. 
508,  N.  S. 

e.  Entire  Abstinence  Recommended. 

The  Assembly  of  1865  (O.  S."),  in  answer  to  an  overture  asking  for  such 
a  deliverance  by  the  General  Assembly  as  may  encourage  virtuous  and 
pliilantliropic  men  in  their  efforts  to  purge  our  country  from  this  gigantic 
evil,  adopted  the  following  minute: 

The  General  Assembly  has  repeatedly  expressed  its  earnest  desire  for 
the  universal  prevalence  of  temperance  among  the  people  of  this  land. 
But  as  a  new  exigency  has  arisen,  growing  out  of  the  demoralizing  tend- 
ency of  war,  this  Assembly  enjoins  upon  all  their  ministers,  ruling  elders 
and  church  members  to  use  their  influence  upon  those  around  them,  par- 
ticularly on  our  young  men  now  returniug  from  the  army,  and  on  our 
youth  in  academies  and  colleges,  to  practice  entire  abstinence  from  all 
intoxicating  drinks  as  a  beverage,  which  it  is  believed  is  the  only  sure 
protection  against  drunkenness.  Intemperance  is  a  great  sin  against 
God,  as  well  as  a  bitter  curse  to  man,  obstructing  the  progress  of  the  gos- 
pel of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  world,  and  weakening  its  power  (jver 
the  hearts  of  men.  Hence  it  is  an  imperative  duty,  required  alike  by  piety 
and  patriotism,  to  do  whatever  may  be  practicable  "to  stem  the  torrent 
that  is  sweeping  myriads  into  the  vortex  of  irretrievable  ruin."  Espe- 
cially should  there  be  the  frequent  utterance  of  friendly  warning  to  the 
young  and  inconsiderate,  "  Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not,"  accompa- 
nied by  a  correspoiiding  example.  This  simple  and  efl^ective  remedy, 
carried  into  all  the  walks  of  life,  will  make  our  nation  as  prosperous  and 
happy  in  peace  as  it  has  been  heroic  and  victorious  in  war. — 1865,  p,  570, 

o.  s. 

Resolved,  That  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  drinks  as  a  beve- 
rage is  demanded  from  every  Christian  by  the  condition  of  society,  the 
purity  of  the  Church  and  the' word  of  God. — 1866,  p.  274,  N.  S. 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES  OF   DISCIPLINE.  487 


7.  Manufacture  and  TraflQc  in  Ardent  Spirits. 

a.  That  while  this  Assembly  would  by  no  means  encroach  upon  the 
rights  of  private  judgment,  it  cannot  but  express  its  very  deep  regret  that 
any  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ  should  at  the  present  day  and  under 
existing  circumstances  feel  themselves  at  liberty  to  manufacture,  vend 
or  use  ardent  spirits,  and  thus,  as  far  as  their  influence  extends,  coun- 
teract the  efibrts  now  making  for  the  promotion  of  temperance. — 1830, 
p.  298. 

h.  2.  That  the  practice  of  sending  out  ardent  spirits  to  be  used  as  a 
drink  by  the  unevangelized  and  partially  civilized  nations  and  tribes  of 
men  is  in  our  view  a  violation  of  the  principles  and  precepts  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  and  ought  to  be  abandoned  throughout  the  world. 

3.  That  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits,  to  be  used  as  a  drink  by  any  people, 
is  in  our  judgment  morally  wrong,  and  ought  to  be  viewed  as  such  by  the 
churches  of  Jesus  Christ  universally. — 1834,  p.  445. 

[In  the  narrative  for  1837  the  Assembly  say :] 

c.  It  is  with  the  utmost  surprise  and  ])i\\\\  that  we  learn  from  the  reports 
of  two  or  three  Presbyteries  that  some  of  their  members,  and  even  ruling 
elders,  still  manufacture  and  sell  ardent  spirits.  These  things  ought  not 
so  to  be.  They  are  a  stumbling-block  to  many,  and  have  a  manifest  tend- 
ency to  bring  overwhelming  calamities,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  on 
society  at  large.  No  church  can  shine  as  a  light  in  the  world  while  she 
openly  sanctions  and  sustains  any  practices  which  are  so  evidently  destruc- 
tive of  the  best  intex'ests  of  society. — 1837,  p.  510. 

d.  Mcnj  the  Maniifactiire  or  Sale  be  made  a  Term  of  Communion  f 

Overture  No.  15.  The  question  Avhether  the  manufacturer,  vender  or 
retailer  of  intoxicating  drinks  should  be  continued  in  the  full  communion 
of  the  Church.  The  Committee  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  fol- 
lowing resolution,  viz. :  That  whilst  the  Assembly  rejoice  in  the  success  of 
the  temperance  reformation,  and  will  use  all  lawful  means  to  promote  it, 
they  cannot  sanction  the  adoption  of  any  new  terms  of  communion. 
Which  was  adopted.— 1842,  p.  16,  O.  S. 

8.  The  Manufacture  and  Sale  of  Intoxicating  Drinks  an  Offence. 

The  following  paper,  offered  by  Dr.  Elliott,  in  the  Assembly  of  1865, 
•was  adopted,  as  expressing  the  views  of  the  Church,  viz.: 

The  great  increase  of  intemperance  throughout  the  land,  especially  in 
our  towns  and  large  cities,  renders  it  imperative  on  the  Church  to  put 
forth  her  influence  to  arrest  it  in  its  destructive  progress.  But  to  render 
her  influence  effective  she  must  purge  herself  from  all  participation  in  the 
sin  by  removing  from  her  pale  all  who  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  for  use  as  a  common  beverage. 

When  a  person  has  been  admitted  to  sealing  ordinances  in  Christ's 
house,  he  ought  not  to  be  excluded  but  upon  grounds  which  are  sanc- 
tioned by  the  word  of  God  and  the  discipline  of  the  Church  ;  and  where 
such  exclusion  takes  place,  it  is  always  founded  upon  an  alleged  offence 
against  the  authority  and  laws  which  Christ  has  established  in  his  house. 
Hence,  one  of  the  ends  of  discipline,  as  laid  down  in  our  standards,  is 
"the  removal  of  offences"  from  the  Church  of  Christ.  In  the  very  out- 
set, then,  it  becomes  necessary  to  ascertain  what  is  an  offence.  In  our 
Book  of  Discipline  it  is  defined  to  be  "anything  in  the  principles  on  prac- 
tice of  a  church  member  which  is  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  or  which, 


488  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

if  it  be  not  in  its  own  nature  sinful,  may  tempt  others  to  sin,  or  mar  their 
spiritual  edification."  (Chap,  i.,  sec.  iii.)  That  the  practice  of  manufactur- 
ing and  retailing  intoxicating  drinks  is,  in  its  own  nature,  sinful,  we  do 
not  affirm,  and  need  not  therefore  consider  it,  in  this  sense,  an  offence 
against  the  laws  of  Christ's  house.  But  that  it  tempts  others  to  sin  and 
mars  their  spiritual  edification  is  too  obvious  to  require  proof  The  re- 
tailer is  the  proximate  agent  in  tempting  many  to  drink  to  drunkenness,, 
and  in  forming  in  others  the  appetite  for  strong  drink  wliich  leads  to  bru- 
tal intoxication.  In  doing  this  he  offends  against  God's  children,  who  are 
grieved  at  his  conduct,  which  is  productive  of  such  injurious  results  both 
to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  On  tliese  grounds,  therefore,  he  is  guilty 
of  an  "offence"  against  the  word  of  God,  which  is  very  explicit  in  setting 
its  seal  of  condemnation  on  such  conduct.  In  the  eighth  chapter  of  his 
First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  the  ajiostle  has  decided  this  point  with 
great  precision.  In  the  church  of  Corinth  some  thought  it  to  be  right  to 
eat  meat  which  had  been  oftered  to  idols,  others  thought  it  wrong.  The 
matter  was  submitted  to  the  apostle,  who  decided  that  although  the  act 
■svas  not  in  its  own  nature  sinful,  yet  if  it  became  the  occasion  of  offence 
or  injury  to  a  weak  brother  it  ought  not  to  be  done.  "But  meat  com- 
mendeth  us  not  to  God  ;  for  neither,  if  we  eat,  are  we  the  better ;  neither, 
if  we  eat  not,  are  we  the  worse.  But  take  heed  lest  by  any  means  this 
liberty  of  yours  become  a  stumbling-block  to  them  that  are  weak.  For 
if  any  man  see  thee  which  hast  knowledge  sit  at  meat  in  the  idol  temple, 
shall  not  the  conscience  of  him  that  is  weak  be  emboldened  to  eat  those 
things  which  are  oftered  to  idols,  and  through  thy  knowledge  shall  the 
Aveak  brother  perish  for  whom  Christ  died  ?  But  when  ye  so  sin  against 
the  brethren  and  wound  their  weak  conscience,  ye  sin  against  Christ. 
Wherefore,  if  meat  make  my  brother  to  oft'end,  I  will  eat  no  flesh  while 
the  world  standeth,  lest  I  make  my  brother  to  offend."  According  to  this 
decisit)n  of  the  apostle,  therefore,  men  ''sin  against  Christ"  when  they 
"sin  against  the  brethren"  by  doing  that  which,  though  not  sinful  in  it- 
self, becomes  a  stumbling-block  to  them,  and  tempts  them  to  the  commis- 
sion of  sin.  Against  such  a  course  the  apostle  guards  professing  Chris- 
tians, and  declares  that  he  had  determined  to  avoid  it. 

Now,  the  apostle's  decision  in  regard  to  the  ctiot-  at  Corinth  applies  to 
the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  when  manuftictured  and  sold  for  a  common 
beverage.  When  prepared  and  sold  fi)r  this  purpose,  those  who  do  so 
"sin  against  the  brethren  and  wound  their  weak  conscience,"  and  thus 
"sin  against  Christ."  Hence  they  are  guilty  of  "an  offence,"  their  con- 
duct being  "  C(jntrary  to  the  word  of  God." 

Thus  far  the  subject  appears  very  plain.  That  a  manufacturer  and  re- 
tailer of  intoxicating  drinks  for  the  purpose  mentioned  is  guilty  of  an 
oftence  j)rovcd  to  be  such  from  Scripture,  the  foregoing  remarks  clearly 
demonstrate.  But  is  it  such  an  offence  as  ought  to  exclude  persons  from 
the  full  privileges  of  the  Church?  In  maintaining  the  affirmative  of  this 
question,  it  is  important  to  i-emark  that  whatever  would  prevent  the  ad- 
mission of  a  person  to  the  sealing  ordinances  of  the  Church,  on  his  first 
apjilication,  ought,  if  found  in  connection  with  his  character  or  conduct 
after  his  admission,  to  exclude  him  from  her  communion.  This  is  so  evi- 
dent as  to  require  no  proof  What,  then,  would  be  considered  a  sufficient 
bar  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  privileges  of  the  Church  ?  To  this  we 
reply  that  anything  in  the  principles  or  practice  of  the  applicant  for  ad- 
mission which  greatly  impaired  or  destroyed  the  credibility  of  his  pro- 
fession of  faith  in  Christ  would  be  a  sufficient  ground  of  refusal.  For  the 
ground  of  admission,  as  jiresented  both  in  the  word  of  God  and  the  stand- 


GENERAL   PEINCIPLES  OF   DISCIPLINE.  489 

ards  of  the  Church,  is  a  credible  profession  of  faith  in  the  Son  of  God. 
In  the  case  of  the  jailer,  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  and  even  of  Simon  Ma- 
gus, who  afterward  apostatized,  a  credible  profession  was  required  and  ex- 
hibited before  they  were  admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  society  of  the 
faithful.  The  same  principle  is  recognized  in  our  standards.  "Those 
who  are  admitted  to  sealing  ordinances  shall  be  examined  as  to  their 
knowledge  and  piety."  (Dir.  Wor.,  chap,  i.,  sec.  iii.)  (See  also  chap,  iv., 
sec.  iv.)  From  these  passages  it  is  manifest  that  such  a  profession  as  in- 
volves credible  evidence  of  Christian  character,  in  which  knowledge  and 
piety  are  essential  elements,  is  required  by  our  Book  of  those  who  would 
be  admitted  to  sealing  ordinances.  Such  being  the  case,  whatever  essen- 
tially impairs  or  destroys  this  evidence  bars  the  way  to  their  admission. 
Accordingly,  it  is  provided  that  "  such  as  are  found  to  be  ignorant  or 
scandalous,  notwithstanding  their  profession  of  the  faith  and  desire  to 
come  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  ought  to  be  kept  from  that  sacrament,  by  the 
power  which  Christ  has  left  in  his  Church,  until  they  receive  instruction 
and  manifest  their  reformation."  (L.  Cat.,  2, 173.)  Ignorance  and  immo- 
rality of  conduct  are  here  indicated  as  sufficient  grounds  on  which  to  re- 
fuse an  applicant  admission  to  the  table  of  the  Lord.  The  reason  is  that 
where  either  or  both  exist  there  is  a  want  of  credible  evidence  of  Chris- 
tian character;  and  where  this  is  wanting,  the  person  ought  not  to  be  ad- 
mitted. And  on  the  same  ground,  a  person  who  has  been  admitted,  if  he 
be  afterward  found  to  be  ignorant  or  scandalous,  and  thus  destitute  of  the 
evidence  of  Christian  character,  ought  to  be  excluded. 

In  the  case  which  we  are  considering,  the  person  in  question  does  not 
give  credible  evidence  in  favor  of  his  Christian  character.  He  does  not 
give  such  satisfaction  with  respect  to  his  "  knowledge  and  piety  "  as  is  suf- 
ficient to  entitle  him  to  continue  in  the  full  privileges  of  the  Church  as  a 
member  in  good  standing.  For  the  man  who,  at  the  present  time,  is  ig- 
norant of  the  effects  of  the  practice  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intox- 
icating drinks  as  a  common  beverage,  in  tempting  others  to  sin  and  "  mar- 
ring their  spiritual  edification,"  must  be  criminally  regardless  of  what  is 
going  on  around  him.  And  he  who,  knowing  this,  perseveres  in  the  prac- 
tice, evinces  a  state  of  heart  directly  the  reverse  of  that  which  is  pro- 
duced by  "the  grace  of  God,"  that  "teaches  us  that,  deuying  ungodliness 
and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly  in  this 
present  world."  On  the  ground,  therefore,  that  his  profession  of  religion 
is  destitute  of  the  attributes  which  are  necessary  to  render  it  credible,  he 
ought  not  to  be  continued  in  the  communion  of  the  Church,  nor  certified 
as  a  member  in  good  standing. 

"We  are  aware  that  it  has  been  objected  to  this  view  of  the  case  that  it 
is  establishing  a  new  term  of  communion  not  before  known  in  the  Church. 
But  upon  the  principles  laid  down  and  established,  it  is  not.  We  have 
seen  that  credible  evidence  of  Christian  character,  involving  the  exhibi- 
tion of  "  knowledge  and  piety,"  is  the  old  term  of  communion  laid  down 
in  God's  word  and  the  standards  of  our  Church.  It  has  also  been  made 
to  appear  that  the  practice  of  manufacturing  and  retailing  intoxicating 
drinks  as  a  beverage  is  a  sin  against  the  brethren  and  against  Christ,  and 
while  persevered  in  vitiates  this  evidence  and  works  a  forfeiture  of  the 
privileges  of  Christian  communion.  If  the  practice  of  the  Church  has 
been  to  any  extent  favorable  to  the  admission  or  continuance  of  such  per- 
sons in  her  communion,  it  only  proves  that  the  Church,  in  tliese  cases,  has 
overlooked  or  neglected  to  enforce  the  true  principles  of  her  standards. 
It  cannot  be  fairly  drawn  into  argument  to  prove  that  the  principle  is  not 
there,  or,  if  there,  that  it  ought  not  to  be  applied  in  this,  as  in  other  cases 
62 


490  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

of  visible  offence  against  Christ  and  his  Church.  We  conclude,  therefore, 
that  it  is  not  adopting  any  new  term  of  communion  to  exclude  persons 
from  sealing  ordinances  on  the  ground  of  their  manufacturing  and  vend- 
ing intoxicating  drinks  as  a  beverage.  On  the  coutrar}-,  it  is  only  falling 
back  upon  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  and  the  Constitution  of  the  Church, 
which  requires  visible  Christianity,  in  a  credible  form,  of  those  who  would 
partake  of  these  ordinances,  and  refuses  the  privilege  to  those  who  by 
overt  acts  of  oifeuce  fail  to  present  such  evidence. — 1865,  p.  571,  O.  S. 


0.  Prohibitory  Laws. 

a.  The  following  resolution  upon  the  subject  of  temperance  was  unani- 
mously adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  continue  to  view  with  deep  interest 
the  progress  of  the  temperance  reformation,  most  intimately  connected  with 
the  vital  interests  of  men  for  time  and  eternity,  and  they  do  especially 
hail  its  new  phase  through  the  action  of  several  State  Legislatures  by 
which  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  is  entirely  prohib- 
ited. They  commend  this  new  system  of  legislation  to  the  attention  and 
support  of  all  ministers  and  churches  connected  with  this  body  for  its 
blessed  results  already  experienced,  and  as  able,  if  universally  adopted,  to 
do  much  to  seal  up  the  great  fountains  of  drunkenness,  pauperism  and 
crime,  and  relieve  humanity  of  one  of  its  most  demoralizing  and  distress- 
ing evils.— 1854,  p.  503,  N.  S. 

h.  Whereas,  Intemperance  is  the  great  antagonist  of  domestic  peace  and 
social  happiness,  of  sound  morality  and  pure  Christianity,  and  at  war  with 
all  the  dearest  interests  of  man  for  this  world  and  the  future;  and  whereas, 
the  experience  of  two  hundred  years  proves  that  this  evil  can  never  be 
removed  or  effectively  resisted  while  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks  is 
continued,  it  being  necessary  if  we  would  stop  the  effect  to  remove  the 
cause ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  Assembly,  as  lovers  of  our  holy  religion,  of  our 
country  and  our  race,  and  as  office-bearers  in  the  Church,  can  but  feel  a 
lively  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  temperance  reform. 

Resolved,  2.  That  we  here  record  our  devout  thanksgiving  to  almighty 
God  for  the  recent  unparalleled  progress  of  this  reform,  as  evinced  by  the 
action  of  the  Legislatures  of  thirteen  States  and  two  Territories  of  our 
Union,  in  the  passage  of  laws  prohibiting  entirely  the  traffic  in  all  intoxi- 
cating beverages. 

Resolved,  3.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  body  laws  prohibiting  the  sale 
of  intoxicating  drinks  can  interfere  with  the  rif/his  of  no  man,  because  no 
man  has  a  right  of  any  name  or  nature  inconsistent  with  the  public  good 
or  at  war  with  the  welfare  of  the  comnuinity,  it  being  a  well-known  and 
universally-acknowledged  maxim  of  law  thai  "No  man  has  a  right  to  use 
his  own  to  the  injury  of  his  neighbor." 

Resolved,  4.  That  we  earnestly  recommend  to  the  ministers  and  congre- 
gations in  our  connection,  and  to  all  others,  to  persevere  in  vigorous  efforts 
until  laws  shall  be  enacted  in  every  State  and  Territory  of  our  beloved 
country  prohibiting  entirely  a  traffic  which  is  the  principal  cause  of  the 
drunkenness,  and  its  consequent  pauperism,  crime,  taxation,  lamentation, 
war  and  ruin  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  with  which  the  country  has 
so  long  been  afflicted. — 1855,  pp.  30,  31,  N.  S. 


GENERAL    PRIXCIPLES    OF    DISCIPLINE.  491 


10.  Relation  of  Temperance  and  other  Moral  Societies  to  the 

Church. 

a.  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  spiritual  body,  to  which  have  been 
given  the  ministry,  oracles  and  ordinances  of  God  for  the  gathering  and 
perfecting  of  the  saints  in  this  life  to  the  end  of  the  world.  It  is  the  great 
instrumentality  of  the  Saviour,  through  which,  by  his  eternal  Spirit,  he 
dispenses  salvation  to  the  objects  of  his  love.  Its  ends  are  holiness  and 
life,  to  the  manifestation  of  the  riches  and  glory  of  divine  grace,  and  not 
simply  morality,  decency  and  good  order,  which  may  to  some  extent  be 
secured  without  faith  in  the  Redeemer  and  the  transforming  efficacy  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  laws  of  the  Church  are  the  authoritative  injunc- 
tions of  Christ,  and  not  the  covenants,  however  benevolent  in  their  origin 
and  aim,  which  men  have  instituted  of  their  own  will;  and  the  ground  of 
obligation  which  the  Church,  as  such,  inculcates,  is  the  authority  of  God 
speaking  in  his  word,  and  not  pledges  of  honor  which  create,  measure  and 
dehne  the  peculiar  duties  of  all  voluntary  associations.  In  this  kingdom 
of  God  the  holy  Scriptures  are  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  manners,  and  no 
church  judicatory  ought  to  pretend  to  make  laws  which  shall  bind  the 
conscience,  or  to  issue  recommendations  which  shall  regulate  manners, 
without  the  warrant,  explicit  or  implied,  of  the  revealed  will  of  God.  It 
is,  hence,  beside  the  province  of  the  Church  to  render  its  courts,  which 
God  ordained  for  spiritual  purposes,  subsidiary  to  the  schemes  of  any 
association  founded  in  the  human  will  and  liable  to  all  its  changes  and 
caprices.  No  court  of  Christ  can  exact  of  his  people  to  unite  with  the 
temperance,  moral  reform,  colonization,  or  any  other  society  which  may 
seek  tbeir  aid.  Connection  with  such  institutions  is  a  matter  of  Christian 
liberty.  Their  objects  may  be  in  every  respect  worthy  of  the  countenance 
and  support  of  all  good  men,  but  in  so  far  as  they  are  moral  and  essen- 
tially obligatory,  the  Church  promotes  them  among  its  own  members — 
and  to  none  others  does  its  jurisdiction  extend — by  the  means  which  God 
has  ordained  for  the  edification  of  his  children.  Still,  in  the  exercise  of 
their  Christian  liberty  as  good  citizens,  as  patriotic  subjects  of  the  State, 
from  motives  of  pliilanthropy  and  from  love  to  God,  Christian  jDeople 
may  choose  to  adopt  this  particular  mode  of  attempting  to  achieve  the 
good  at  which  all  moral  societies  proi'ess  to  aim  ;  they  have  a  right  to  do 
so,  and  the  Church,  as  long  as  they  endorse  no  false  principles  and  coun- 
tenance no  wrong  practices,  cannot  interfere  with  them.  Recognizing 
these  propositions  as  the  truths  of  the  word  of  God,  this  General  Assem- 
bly, as  a  coui't  of  Jesus  Christ,  cannot  league  itself  with  any  voluntary 
society,  cannot  exact  of  those  who  are  subject  to  its  discipline  to  do  so,  but 
must  leave  the  whole  matter  where  the  Scriptures  leave  it — to  the  pru- 
dence, philanthropy  and  good  sense  of  God's  children,  each  man  having 
a  right  to  do  as  to  him  shall  seem  good. 

These  societies  must  appeal  not  to  church  courts,  but  to  church  mem- 
bers. When  they  proclaim  principles  that  are  scriptural  and  sound,  it  is 
not  denied  that  the  Church  has  a  right,  and  under  certain  circumstances 
may  be  bound,  to  bear  testimony  in  their  favor;  and  when,  on  the  other 
hand,  they  inculcate  doctrines  which  are  infidel,  heretical  and  dangerous, 
the  Church  has  a  right  to  condemn  them.  In  conftn-mity  with  these 
statements  the  General  Assembly  has  no  hesitation  in  cordially  approving 
of  abstinence  from  intoxicating  drinks  as  a  matter  of  Christian  expedi- 
ency, according  to  the  words  of  the  apostle  in  Romans  xiv.  21,  "It  is  good 
neither  to  eat  flesh  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  anything  whereby  thy  brother 
stumbleth,  or  is  offended,  or  is  made  weak,"  and  in  expressing  its  affection- 


492  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

ate  interest  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  would  recommend  to  its  min- 
isters and  elders  who  have  become  connected  with  temperance  societies  to 
use  every  effort  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  any  other  principle  as  the 
ground  of  their  pledge,  and  to  throw  around  these  institutions  those  safe- 
guards which  shall  be  the  means  of  rescuing  them  from  the  excesses  to 
which  they  are  liable  from  influences  opposed  to  or  aside  from  the  gospel 
of  Christ.— 1848,  p.  58,  O.  S. 

No.  3.  A  memorial  from  the  National  Temperance  Society  asking  the 
Assembly  to  send  delegates  to  a  national  temperance  convention.  The 
Committee  recommend  as  an  answer,  that  while  this  Assembly  approves 
all  proper  efibrts  made  to  suppress  intemperance,  it  declines  to  send  dele- 
gates, in  its  name,  to  the  proposed  convention.     Adopted. — 1873,  p.  504. 

h.  In  answer  to  an  overture  pi-aying  the  Assembly  to  give  the  temperance 
cause  a  proper  prominence  among  the  means  of  reform  sustained  by  the 
Church,  and  especially  suggesting  that  if.  it  would  arrange  or  recommend 
that  some  proper  temperance  movement  should  sustain  the  same  relation 
to  the  churches  as  the  tract,  the  Bible  and  the  missionarary  causes  do, 
both  morally  and  financially,  it  would  be  of  immense  advantage  to  the 
cause,  replied  as  follows : 

In  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  petitioners,  the  Assembly  are 
willing  to  assign  to  the  cause  of  temperance  a  relation  to  our  Churcli  not 
dissimilar  to  that  which  has  been  given  to  the  benevolent  objects  with 
which  it  is  compared.  But  with  none  of  these  do  we  maintain  any  other 
connection  than  that  which  their  own  moral  power  secures  upon  the  free 
afiection  and  esteem  of  our  members.  Very  cheerfully  and  earnestly 
would  this  Assembly  commend  the  cause  of  temperance  to  all  the  minis- 
ters and  members  of  our  Church,  and  urge  them  heartily  to  co-operate 
with  every  judicious  effort  in  a  Christian  spirit  to  promote  it;  that  pastors 
frequently  preach  upon  the  subject,  and  especially  that  no  countenance  be 
given  to  those  social  usages  by  which  great  temptations  to  intemperance 
are  thrown  before  their  fellow-men. — 1860,  p.  262,  N.  S. 

11.  Authority  of  the  Deliverances  on  Temperance. 

Overture  No.  16,  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Pittsburg  and  of  Philadel- 
phia Central,  asking  the  Assembly  for  further  action,  clear  and  unmistak- 
able, in  regard  to  the  manufacture,  sale  and  use  as  a  beverage  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors.     The  Committee  recommend  the  following  answer: 

This  General  Assembly,  believing  the  manufacture,  sale  and  use  of 
alcoholic  stimulants  as  a  beverage  to  be  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  God's 
word,  and  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  claims  of  Christian  duty,  reiterate 
the  testimonies  of  former  Assemblies  on  this  subject. 

The  Assembly  also  affirm  their  conviction  of  the  reprehensible  comp/ieity 
in  the  guilt  of  the  aforesaid  traffic  of  those  who  knowingly  rent  their 
premises  for  such  purpose  or  endorse  licenses  that  legalize  it. 

And  further  to  give  emphasis  to  the  action  now  taken  and  the  utter- 
ances of  former  Assemblies  above  referred  to,  the  Board  of  Publication 
are  directed  to  print  an  abstract  of  such  former  testimonies  as  cover  the 
point&  referred  to  in  the  overtures,  and  send  a  copy  thereof  to  every  pas- 
tor and  stated  supply  within  our  bounds,  with  the  direction  of  the  Assem- 
bly to  read  the  same  publicly  from  their  respective  pulpits. 

Finally,  the  Assembly  recommend  the  general  circulation  of  a  temper- 
ance literature  as  tending  to  inform  and  arouse  the  pul)lic  conscience  with 
reference  to  the  evils  of  intemperance.  And  to  aid  in  this  they  urge  upon 
the  attention  of  the  Board  of  Publication  the  publishing,  in  addition  to 


GENERAL    PRINCIPLES    OF    DISCIPLINE.  493 

those  now  on  their  catalogue,  of  such  other  treatises  as  shall  be  adapted 
to  this  end.— 1871,  p.  590. 

12.  "Willful  Absenting  One's  Self  from  the  Ordinances  of  God's 

House. 

a.  The  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  case  of  the  appeal  of 
Alexander  Frazer  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Buffalo  refusing  to 
sustain  his  appeal,  and  affirming  the  decision  of  the  lower  courts  suspend- 
ing him  from  the  communion  of  the  Church  on  the  charge  of  a  willful 
absenting  of  himself  from  the  ordinances  of  God's  house  for  the  space  of 
a  year  and  a  half,  is  that  the  appeal  be  not  sustained,  but  the  decision  of 
the  Synod  affirmed : 

First.  Because  the  conduct  charged,  if  the  appellant  was  justly  charge- 
able with  such  conduct,  was  a  high  offence. 

Second.  Because  it  was  openly  acknowledged  in  court  by  the  appellant 
that  he  was  chargeable  with  the  offence  charged,  and  this  is  not  denied  by 
any  jiarty. — 1859,  p.  546-7,  0.  S. 

b.  [In  the  appeal  of  Alexander  Gordon  vs.  the  Synod  of  Buffalo.] 
The  Assembly  deem  any  detailed  expression  of  opinion  in  this  case  sup- 
erseded by  the  minute  already  adopted  in  relation  to  the  case  of  Mr.  Fra- 
zer (see  a,  above),  to  which  this  corresponds  in  its  leading  features.  .  .  . 
It  is  further  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly  that  had  the  improper  conduct 
of  the  appellant  been  made  a  subject  of  discipline  at  an  earlier  period,  a 
more  happy  issue  might  have  been  reached.  The  Assembly  formally  and 
affectionately  urges  on  the  appellant  a  submission  to  the  sentence  of  his 
brethren  and  a  speedy  return  to  the  path  of  duty  and  privilege. — 1859, 
p.  547,  O.  S. 

e.  The  Assembly  took  up  Judicial  Case  No.  6,  being  the  complaint  of 
the  Rev.  N,  West,"  D.  D.,  against  the  Synod  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Rowland  had  absented  himself  from  the  ordinances  of  the  Second 
Church  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  for  some  months.  Upon  application  for 
his  certificate  the  session  gave  him  a  certificate,  omitting  the  words  "  at 
present  in  good  and  regular  standing,'"  and  substituting  for  them  a  testimo- 
nial to  his  previous  good  Christian  character,  inserting  at  the  same  time 
a  statement  of  the  fact  of  his  recent  absence  from  the  ordinances  of  the 
church.  Mr.  Rowland  brought  a  comjilaint  against  the  session  before  the 
Presbytery  of  Nassau,  and  the  Presbytery  sustained  the  complaint.  Mr. 
West  complained  to  the  Synod  against  the  Presbytery.  The  Synod  of 
New  York,  by  a  vote  of  10  to  sustain,  12  to  sustain  in  part,  and  21  not  to 
sustain,  sustained  the  complaint  of  Rev.  N.  West  against  the  Presbytery, 
and  then,  in  its  final  minute,  ordered  a  letter  in  the  usual  form  to  be  given 
to  jNIr.  Rowland.  Against  the  decision  of  the  Synod  in  adopting  this 
minute  Mr.  West  complains.  .  .  . 

Dr.  Rodgers  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  N.  West,  D.  D.,  be  sustained, 
and  the  decision  of  the  Synod  in  its  final  minute  be  and  it  hereby  is 
reversed  ;  and  further  that  the  Synod  erred  in  prescribing  to  the  session 
of  the  Second  Church  of  Brooklyn  the  form  of  a  certificate  to  be  granted 
to  Mr.  Rowland  after  they  had  already  granted  a  certificate  to  him  which 
was  agreeable  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  and  to  the  truth. — 1864, 
p.  328,  O.  S. 

d.  The  appeal  and  complaint  of  G.  A.  Hotchkiss  against  the  Synod  of 
Indiana  for  sustaining  the  session  of  Pleasant  Township  Church  and  the 
Presbytexy  of  Madison  in  censuring  him  for  absenting  himself  from  pub- 


494  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

lie  worship  on  account  of  disagreement  with  his  pastor.  The  papers  were 
read  in  order,  the  reguLar  process  prescribed  in  the  book  was  observed, 
and  the  Assembly  voted  unanimously  that  the  action  of  the  inferior  courts 
be  sustained  and  confirmed. — 1854,  p.  44,  O.  S. 

e.  Discipline  Enjoined  for  Willful  Absence. 

Is  it  consistent  with  regular  standing  in  our  Church  for  church  mem- 
bers to  be  supporters  and  attendants  in  other  churches  not  of  our  commu- 
nion while  absenting  themselves  from  and  refusing  to  support  the  church 
to  which  they  belong? 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  question  be  answered  in  the  nega- 
tive, with  an  injunction  on  church  sessions  to  make  such  cases  a  matter  of 
discipline.     Adopted. — 1865,  p.  537,  O.  S. 

/.  But  may  not  be  idthout  Trial. 

The  same  Committee  further  reported  Overture  IS'o.  4,  as  follows  :  "  Is  it 
within  the  province  of  the  session  to  excommunicate  without  formal  trial  a 
church  member  who  makes  a  written  confession  of  having  embraced  heret- 
ical views,  and  in  consequence  having  violated  covenant  by  long  continued 
absence  from  the  ordinances  of  the  church,  and  who  requests  to  be  cut  off 
from  the  church  ?"  The  Committee  recommend  that  the  party  asking 
the  above  question  be  referred  to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap.'iv.,  and 
such  session  be  urged  to  follow  strictly  the  order  laid  down  therein. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1865,  p.  12,  N.  S. 

13.  Deliverance  on  Marriage,  Divorce  and  Infanticide. 

Overture  No.  44,  relating  to  unscriptural  views  of  marriage,  divorce 
and  infanticide.  The  Committee  recommends  the  following,  which  was 
adopted : 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures,  to  which  was  referred  the  paper 
relating  to  divorce  and  infanticide,  begs  leave  to  report  that  it  recom- 
mends the  adoption  of  the  following : 

That  it  is  with  great  pain  we  are  constrained  to  admit  the  increasing 
prevalence  in  many  parts  of  our  country  of  unscriptural  views  of  the 
marriage  relation,  in  consequence  of  which  the  obligations  of  that  rela- 
tion are  disregarded  by  many,  and  separations  of  husband  and  wife  and 
divorces  for  slight  and  unwarrantable  reasons  are  becoming  more  frequent 
every  year.  Nor  can  we  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  horrible  crime 
of  infanticide,  especially  in  the  form  of  destruction  by  parents  of  their 
own  offspring  before  birth,  also  prevails  to  an  alarming  extent.  The  evils 
which  these  errors  and  crimes  have  already  brought  upon  our  country, 
and  the  worse  evils  which  they  threaten  in  the  near  future,  make  it  ini])er- 
ative,  as  we  believe,  that  the  whole  power  of  the  ministry  and  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  should  be  ])ut  forth  in  maintenance  of  the  trutli  and  of  vir- 
tue in  regard  to  these  things.  Many  causes  have  operated  to  produce  a 
corruption  of  the  ])ublic  morals  so  deplorable,  prominent  among  which 
nuiy  be  mentioned  the  facility  with  which  divorces  may  be  obtained  in 
some  of  the  States,  the  constant  promulgation  of  false  ideas  of  marriage 
and  its  duties  by  means  of  books,  lectures,  etc.,  and  the  distribution 
through  the  mails  of  impure  ])ublications.  But  an  influence  not  less 
powerful  than  any  of  these  is  the  growing  devotion  to  fashion  and  luxury 
of  this  age,  and  the  idea  which  practically  obtains  to  so  great  an  extent 
that  pleasure,  instead  of  the  glory  of  God  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  favor, 
is  the  great  object  of  life. 


GENERAL   PRINCIPLES   OF   DISCIPLINE.  495 

It  is,  therefore,  the  duty  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  oppose  in  every 
practicable  way  these  and  all  other  corrupting  agencies  and  tendencies, 
and  we  especially  urge  upon  all  ministers  of  the  gospel  the  duty  of  giving 
instruction  to  the  people  of  their  respective  charges  as  to  the  scriptural 
doctrine  concerning  the  marriage  relation.  We  warn  them  against  join- 
ing in  wedlock  any  wlio  may  have  been  divorced  upon  other  than  scrip- 
tural grounds.  We  also  enjoin  upon  church  sessions  the  exercise  of  due 
discipline  in  the  cases  of  those  members  who  may  be  guilty  of  violating 
the  law  of  Christ  in  this  particular. 

This  Assembly  regards  the  destruction  by  parents  of  their  own  offspring 
before  birth  with  abhorrence,  as  a  crime  against  God  and  against  nature ; 
and  as  the  frequency  of  such  murders  can  no  longer  be  concealed,  we 
hereby  warn  those  that  are  guilty  of  this  crime  that,  except  they  repent, 
they  cannot  inherit  eternal  life.  We  also  exhort  those  who  have  been 
called  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  all  who  love  jjurity  and  the  truth,  and  who 
would  avert  the  just  judgments  of  almighty  God  from  the  nation,  that  they 
be  no  longer  silent  or  tolerant  of  these  things,  but  that  they  endeavor  by 
all  proper  means  to  stay  the  floods  of  impurity  and  cruelty. 

We  call  upon  all  to  remember  that  marriage  is  honorable  not  only  in 
itself,  but  in  its  ends.  Therefore  all  who  seek  to  avoid  the  responsibilities 
and  cares  connected  with  the  bringing  up  of  children  not  only  deprive 
themselves  of  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  of  life,  and  fly  in  the  face  of 
God's  decrees,  but  do  violence  to  their  own  natures,  and  will  be  found  out 
of  their  sins  even  in  this  world. — 1869,  p.  937,  O.  S. 

IV.  Nothing,  therefore,  ought  to  be  considered  by  any  judicatory 
as  an  olFence,  or  admitted  as  matter  of  accusation,  which  cannot  be 
proved  to  be  such  from  Scripture,  or  from  the  regulations  and  prac- 
tice of  the  Church,  ibundcd  on  Scripture;  and  which  does  not  involve 
those  evils  which  discipline  is  intended  to  prevent. 

a.  Neiv  Terms  of  Communion  will  not  he  Sanctioned. 

On  the  question  whether  the  manufocturer,  vender  or  retailer  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks  should  be  continued  in  the  full  communion  of  the  Church. 
The  Committee  reconmiend  the  following  resolution,  viz.:  "That  whilst 
the  Assembly  rejoice  in  the  success  of  the  temperance  reformation,  and 
will  use  all  lawful  means  to  promote  it,  they  cannot  sanction  the  adoption 
of  any  new  terms  of  communion." 

Which  was  adopted. — 1842,  p.  16,  O.  S, 

b.  Each  Case  nmst  be  Judged  of  by  its  own  Circumstccnces. 

Resolved,  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  be  approved,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  they  seera  to  establish  a  general  rule  in  regard  to  the  use 
and  sale  of  ardent  spirits  as  a  beverage,  which  use  and  sale  are  generally 
to  be  decidedly  disapjjroved  ;  but  each  case  must  be  decided  in  view  of  all 
the  attendant  circumstances  that  go  to  modify  and  give  character  to  the 
same.— 1843,  p.  189,  O.  S. 

V.  The  exercise  of  discipline,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  edify  the 
Church,  requires  not  only  much  of  the  spirit  of  piety,  but  also  much 
prudence  and  discretion.  It  becomes  the  rulers  of  the  Church,  there- 
fore, to  take  into  vie\v  all  the  circumstances  which  may  give  a  differ- 
ent character  to  conduct,  and  render  it  more  or  less  offensive;  and 


496  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

which  may,  of  course,  require  a  very  different  mode  of  proceeding  in 
similar  cases,  at  different  times,  for  the  attainment  of  the  same  end. 

1.  The  Censtire  must  be  Proportionate  to  the  Offence. 

a.  It  being  the  order  of  the  day,  the  Assembly  proceeded  to  consider  the 
appeal  of  jMr.  Jabez  Spicer  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  by 
which  Mr.  Spicer  had  been  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry.  The  docu- 
ments on  the  subject  were  read,  and  the  parties  were  heard.  After  a  con- 
siderable discussion,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz.: 

Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Spicer  be  sustained,  on  the  ground 
that  the  sentence  pronounced  upon  him  was  disproportioned  to  his  crime, 
it  not  appearing  substantiated  that  he  was  guilty  of  more  than  a  single 
act  of  prevarication ;  while,  therefore,  the  Assembly  express  their  entire 
disapprobation  of  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Spicer,  as  unbecoming  a  Christian  and 
Christian  minister,  they  reverse  the  sentence  of  deposition  passed  upon 
him  by  the  Presbytery,  aud  direct  that  after  suitable  admonitions  and  ac- 
knowledgments he  be  restored  to  the  ministerial  office. — 1821,  p.  24. 

h.  The  discussion  left  unfinished  yesterday  afternoon  was  resumed,  viz.: 
of  the  motion  to  reverse  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  by 
which  decision  Mr.  George  Bourne  was  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry. 
This  motion,  after  it  had  been  amended  and  fully  discussed,  was  deter- 
mined in  the  affirmative,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  Assembly  judge  that  the  charges  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Bourne  were 
not  fully  substantiated,  and  that,  if  they  had  been,  the  sentence  was  too 
severe.     Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  sentence  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  deposing 
Mr.  Bourne,  be  reversed,  and  it  is  hereby  reversed,  aud  that  the  Presby- 
tery commence  the  trial  anew. — 1817,  p.  646. 

c.  The  Assembly  sustain  the  appeal  of  David  Price  from  the  decision 
of  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  on  the  ground  that  the  charge  of  intoxication 
was  not  sufficiently  supported  by  the  testimony;  although  it  does  ajijiear, 
principally  from  his  own  confession,  that  he  had  made  an  unbecoming  use 
of  ardent  spirits,  and  that  an  admonition  was,  in  the  view  of  the  Assem- 
bly, deserved,  and  would  have  been  sufficient. — 1825,  p.  155. 

(/.  Resolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  reversing  the 
action  of  the  Presbytery  and  session,  upon  the  second  charge,  be  sustained 
in  part  on  the  ground  that  the  suspension  of  the  parties  accused  was  too 
severe  in  the  case,  and  that  the  session  be  recommended  to  revoke  the 
susjiension  and  admonish  the  parties. — 1865,  jj.  550,  O.  S. 

[See  also  under  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  x.,  4.] 

2.  Great  Tenderness  Enjoined. 

Whereas,  It  has  appeared  on  the  trial  of  judicial  cases  1  and  2  (see 
Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  i.,  sec.  iii.,  12,  a)  that  full  testimony  was  given, 
as  well  in  this  court  as  in  the  trial  in  the  courts  below,  to  the  exemplary 
Christian  character  of  the  appellants  in  these  cases  respectively;  and 

Whereas,  The  offence  which  has  subjected  said  appellants  to  the  disci- 
pline of  the  Church  has  arisen  from  a  conscience  misled  by  erroneous 
views  of  their  duty;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  rcconnnended  to  the  session  of  the  Church  of  Cal- 
edonia to  deal  with  these  brethren  with  the  utmost  tenderness  aud  Chris- 
tian affection,  that  they  may  be  led  to  see  their  errors  and  return  to  their 
duty,  and  that  they  may  be  restored  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Church,  from 
which  they  have  been  too  long  separated. — 1859,  p.  548,  0.  S. 


OF   PEIYATE    OFFEXCES.  497 

VI.  All  baptized  persons  are  members  of  the  church,  are  under 
its  care,  and  subject  to  its  government  and  discipline :  and  when  they 
have  arrived  at  the  years  of  discretion,  they  are  bound  to  perform  all 
the  duties  of  church  members. 

[See  in  full  under  Directory  of  Worshiji,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  i.,  Of  the 
admission  of  persons  to  sealing  ordinances.] 

VII.  Offences  are  either  private  or  public ;  to  each  of  which  appro- 
priate modes  of  proceeding  belong. 


CHAPTER   II. 

OF  PRIVATE   OFFENCES. 

I.  Private  offences  are  such  as  are  known  only  to  an  individual^ 
or,  at  most,  to  a  very  few. 

II.  Private  offences  ought  not  to  be  immediately  prosecuted  before 
a  church  judicatory,  because  the  objects  of  discipline  may  be  quite  as 
well,  and,  in  many  cases,  much  better  attained,  by  a  different  course; 
and  because  a  public  prosecution,  in  such  circumstances,  would  tend 
unnecessarily  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  offences,  to  exasperate  and 
harden  offenders,  to  extend  angry  and  vexatious  litigation,  and  thus 
to  render  the  discipline  of  the  church  more  injurious  than  the  origi- 
nal offence. 

III.  No  complaint  or  information  on  the  subject  of  personal  and 
private  injuries,  shall  be  admitted,  unless  those  means  of  reconcilia- 
tion, and  of  privately  reclaiming  the  offender,  have  been  used,  which 
are  required  by  Christ,  Matt,  xviii.  15,  16.  And  in  case  of  offences, 
which,  though  not  personal,  are  private — that  is,  knowai  only  to  one, 
or  a,  very  few,  it  is  proper  to  take  tiie  same  steps,  as  far  as  circum- 
stances admit. 

1.  No  Testimony  may  be  Introduced  Injurious  to  Parties  not  on 

Trial. 

An  overture  on  a  case  of  discipline  was  taken  up,  and  is  as  follows : 
Suppose  a  member  of  the  church  is  on  trial,  and  his  accuser  is  "  Com- 
mon  Fame."      One  specification  against  him  is,  "Speaking  evil  of  his 
brethren  A  and  B,  tvhile  he  neglects  to  take  any  gospel  stejis  to  bring  them  to 
rep)entance  or  to  trial." 

The  specification  is  abundantly  sustained  by  testimony,  but  the  person 

on  trial  proposes  to  introduce  testimony  to  prove  that  the  reports  which 

he  circulated,  and  the  opinions  which  he  pronounced  derogatory  to  the 

brethren  named,  were  true.     Has  the  accused  a  right  to  introduce  such  tes- 

63 


498  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

timoiuj  tending  to  injure  the  character  of  parties  not  on  trial,  nor  connected 
at  all  with  the  prosecution,  and  having  no  opportunity  for  defence  f 

Would  the  session  be  authorized  to  reject  such  testimony,  on  the  ground 
that  if  introduced  it  would  not  exculpate  the  accused,  inasmuch  as  he  had 
no  right  to  circulate  evil  reports  against  his  brethren,  whether  true  or 
false,  while  neglecting  to  bring  them  to  trial  ? 

To  this  the  Ibllowing  answer  was  given  : 

The  person  on  trial  under  charges  tabled  on  the  ground  of  "Common 
Fame"  has  no  right  to  introduce  testimony  which  inculpates  his  brethren 
who  are  not  on  trial,  and  who  have  no  opportunity  to  defend  themselves, 
because  it  was  his  previous  duty  to  take  proper  steps,  if  the  persons  were 
guilty  of  the  evils  which  he  had  alleged  against  them,  to  bring  them  to 
repentance  or  free  the  church  from  the  scandal. — 1852,  p.  177,  N.  S. 

TV.  Those  who  bring  information  of  private  and  personal  injuries 
before  judicatories,  without  having  taken  these  previous  steps,  shall 
themselves  be  censured,  as  guilty  of  an  offence  against  the  peace  and 
order  of  the  church. 

V.  If  any  person  shall  spread  the  knowledge  of  an  offence,  unless 
so  far  as  siiall  be  unavoidable,  in  prosecuting  it  before  the  proper 
judicatory,  or  in  the  due  performance  of  some  other  indispensable 
duty,  he  shall  be  liable  to  censure  as  a  slanderer  of  his  brethren. 

a.  The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  petition  of  certain  individu- 
als, members  of  the  congregation  in  Tammany  street,  Baltimore,  reported, 
and  their  report,  being  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz. : 

That  while  it  is  unquestionably  the  privilege  of  individuals  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  when  they  think  they  see  the  ])eace, 
purity  or  prosperity  of  the  Church  in  danger,  either  from  an  indiviilual 
or  from  an  inferior  court,  to  apply  to  the  General  Assembly  in  an  orderly 
manner  for  redress  or  direction,  yet,  in  such  cases,  unless  they  mean  to 
come  forward  as  prosecutors  with  the  necessary  testimony,  they  should 
most  carefully  avoid  mentioning  names  connected  with  charges  of  the 
most  serious  kind  in  support  of  which  no  evidence  has  been  orderly  ad- 
duced ;  nor  have  the  individuals  thus  accused  had  an  opportunity  (;f 
replying  to  those  charges,  or  of  making  any  defence  of  themselves.  The 
Assembly,  therefore,  cannot  witness  a  procedure  of  this  kind  with<Hit 
expressing  their  disapprobation  of  it. — 1824,  p.  113. 

b.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  sustain  the  a})peals  of  the  session  of 
the  church  of  Bloomington  and  of  Dr.  Wylie  against  a  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Indiana,  and  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  and  session  is 
hereby  confirmed,  on  the  ground  that  Mr.  Harney  circulated  evil  reports 
against  Dr.  Wylie  without  showing  that  he  did  it  in  the  due  performance 
of  some  indispensable  duty  ;  but  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly  tliat 
Mr.  Harney  shall  still  have  the  privilege,  if  he  desire  it,  of  commencing 
a  prosecution  against  Dr.  Wylie  before  the  Presbytery  of  Vincennes  ;  and 
in  such  case  said  Presbytery  are  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  hear 
the  whole  cause,  and  issue  the  same  in  a  constitutional  way. — 1834,  p.  443. 

£See  under  III.,  above.] 


OF   PUBLIC   OFFENCES.  499 

CHAPTER  III. 
OF  PUBLIC   OFFENCES. 

I.  A  PUBLIC  offence  is  that  which  is  attended  with  such  circum- 
stances as  to  require  the  cognizance  of  a  church  judicatory. 

II.  This  is  always  the  case  when  an  offence  is  either  so  notorious 
and  scandalous,  as  that  no  private  steps  would  obviate  its  injurious  ef- 
fects ;  or  when,  though  originally  known  to  one,  or  a  few,  the  private 
steps  have  been  ineffectual,  and  there  is,  obviously,  no  way  of  remov- 
ing the  offence,  but  by  means  of  a  judicial  process. 

III.  An  offence,  gross  in  itself,  and  known  to  several,  may  be  so 
circumstanced,  that  it  plainly  cannot  be  prosecuted  to  conviction.  In 
such  cases,  however  grievous  it  may  be  to  the  pious,  to  see  an  un- 
worthy member  in  the  church,  it  is  proper  to  wait  until  God,  in  his 
rigliteous  providence,  shall  give  further  light;  as  few  things  tend 
more  to  weaken  the  authority  of  discipline,  and  to  multiply  offences, 
than  to  commence  process  without  sufficient  proof. 

IV.  When  any  person  is  charged  with  a  crime,  not  by  an  individ- 
ual, or  individuals,  coming  forward  as  accusers,  but  by  general  rumor, 
the  previous  steps  prescribed  by  our  Lord  in  case  of  private  offences, 
are  not  necessary;  but  the  proper  judicatory  is  bound  to  take  imme- 
diate cognizance  of  the  affair. 

V.  In  order  to  render  an  offence  proper  for  the  cognizance  of  a 
judicatory  on  this  ground,  the  rumor  must  specify  some  particular 
sin  or  sins ;  it  must  be  general,  or  widely  spread ;  it  must  not  be 
transient,  but  permanent,  and  rather  gaining  strength  than  declining; 
and  it  must  be  accompanied  with  strong  presumption  of  truth. 
Taking  up  charges  on  this  ground,  of  course,  requires  great  caution^ 
and  the  exercise  of  much  Christian  prudence. 

VI.  It  may  happen,  however,  that  in  consequence  of  a  report,  which 
does  not  fully  amount  to  a  general  rumor,  as  just  described,  a  slan- 
dered individual  may  request  a  judicial  investigation,  which  it  may 
be  the  duty  of  the  judicatory  to  institute. 


600  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  ACTUAL  PROCESS. 

I.  When  all  other  means  of  removing  an  offence  have  failed,  the 
judicatory  to  which  cognizance  of  it  properly  belongs,  shall  judicially 
take  it  into  consideration. 

Judicial  Cases  should  be  Continued  witliGut  Interruption. 

The  Judicial  Committee  recommend  this  Assembly  to  adopt  the  rule  of 
the  last  General  Assembly  (Minutes  of  1864,  page  321),  as  follows : 

Whereas,  In  the  experience  of  this  General  Assembly  and  others  the 
confusion  arising  from  the  frequent  interruption  of  important  business  by 
other  items  of  business  -wholly  disconnected  has  greatly  hindered  the  sat- 
isfactory interest  and  understanding  of  the  members,  as  well  as  protracted 
our  proceedings ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  made  a  standing  rule  of  the  Assembly  that  all  ju- 
dicial cases  be  continued  -without  interruption  during  the  sessions  of  the 
day,  after  the  Assembly  shall  have  entered  upon  them,  according  to  ap- 
pointment, for  the  order  of  the  day. — 1865,  p.  535,  O.  S. 

II.  There  arc  two  modes  in  which  an  offence  may  be  brought  be- 
fore a  judicatory:  either  by  an  individual  or  individuals,  who  appear 
as  accusers,  and  undertake  to  substantiate  the  charge;  or  by  common 
fame. 

III.  In  the  former  case,  process  must  be  pursued  in  the  name  of 
the  accuser  or  accusers.  In  the  latter,  there  is  no  need  of  naming 
any  person  as  the  accuser.  Common  fame  is  the  accuser.  Yet  a  gen- 
eral rumor  may  he  raised  by  the  rashness,  censoriousness,  or  malice,  of 
one  or  more  individuals.  When  this  appears  to  have  been  the  case, 
such  individuals  ought  to  be  censured  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of 
criminality  which  appears  attached  to  their  conduct. 

IV.  Great  caution  ought  to  be  exercised  in  receiving  accusations 
from  any  person  who  is  known  to  indulge  a  malignant  spirit  towards 
the  accused;  who  is  not  of  good  character;  who  is  himself  under  cen- 
sure or  process;  who  is  deeply  interested,  in  any  respect,  in  the  convic- 
tion of  the  accused;  or  who  is  known  to  be  litigious,  rash,  or  highly 
imprudent. 

Admonition  to  Prosecutors. 

And  the  Assembly  judge  it  more  necessary  to  admonish  Mr.  Galhraith, 
and  all  those  who  have  been  and  now  are  connected  with  him  in  any  con- 
troversy with  Mr.  Balch,  not  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  litigation,  malevolence 
and  discord  equally  contrary  to  the  general  tenor  of  the  gospel  and  to  the 
peace  and  harmony  of  that  branch  of  the  Church  with  which  they  are  ccm- 
nected  ;  in  particular  that  they  withdraw,  agreeably  to  their  engagements 
to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  the  civil  suits  which  they  have  commenced, 


OF  ACTUAL   PEOCESS.  501 

and  comply  with  the  whole  recommendation  of  the  Synod  on  that  subject. 
Ou  the  whole,  the  Assembly  hope  and  trust  that  all  the  parties  in  this 
concern  will  feel  the  solemn  obligations  which  lie  upon  them  as  professed 
disciples  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus  not  to  indulge  a  rancorous  spirit, 
nor  to  rend  and  divide  his  Church  by  the  indulgence  of  a  haughty,  un- 
complying and  unforgiving  temper,  but  to  unite  mutually  and  cordially 
in  endeavoring  to  close  the  -wounds  which  they  have  unhappily  opened, 
over  which  they  have  so  much  reason  to  mourn,  and  which  we  exhort  and 
conjure  them  not  to  aggravate,  but  by  every  gentle  and  tender  application 
to  endeavor  to  heal. — 1798,  p.  159. 

V.  When  a  judicatory  enters  on  the  consideration  of  a  crime  or 
crimes  alleged,  no  more  shall  be  done  at  the  first  mectino;  unless  by 
consent  of  parties,  than  to  give  the  accused  a  copy  of  each  charge,  with 
the  names  of  the  witnesses  to  support  it;  and  to  cite  all  concerned,  to 
appear  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  judicatory,  to  have  the  matter  fully 
heard  and  decided.  Notice  shall  be  given  to  the  parties  concerned,  at 
least  ten  days  previously  to  the  meeting  of  the  judicatory. 

1.  Censure  without  Trial  Informal. 

a.  Messrs.  Ker  and  Rankin,  the  commissioners  to  this  Assembly  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Lewes,  in  behalf  and  by  the  order  of  the  said  Presby- 
tery, applied  to  the  Assembly  and  remonstrated  against  a  decision  of  the 
last  Assembly  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Hindman,  in  which  they  conceive  the 
Presbytery  of  Lewes  is  virtually  condemned  without  their  having  had  an 
opportunity  of  defending  themselves,  which  they  conceive  they  could 
readily  have  done. 

After  considerable  discussion,  it  was 

Remlved,  As  the  sense  of  this  house,  that  no  man  or  body  of  men, 
agreeably  to  the  Constitution  of  this  Church,  ought  to  be  condemned  or 
censured  without  having  notice  of  the  accusation  against  him  or  them  and 
notice  given  for  trial;  and  therefore,  that  if  the  General  Assembly  of  last 
year  meant  by  the  minute  in  question  to  pass  a  censure  on  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Lewes,  it  was  informal. — 1798,  p.  71. 

h.  There  was  an  error  in  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  in  expressing  a 
judicial  opinion  in  relation  to  charges  against  Mr.  Davies  which  did  not 
come  before  them. — 1849,  p.  264,  0.  S. 

2.  A  Judicatory  may  not   Suspend  -without  Trial. 

The  Comnrittee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas  reported,  and  the  book  was  approved  to  page  28  of  the  twenty- 
third  sessions  of  said  Synod,  with  the  exception  of  the  resolution  to  make 
a  minister  liable  to  suspension  without  trial  for  three  years'  absence  from 
Synod,  without  sending  forward  his  reasons  for  absence. — 1811,  p.  468. 

3.  Censure  upon  an  Absent  Person  -vsT-ithout  Citation  Disap- 
proved of. 

The  Assembly,  moreover,  cannot  forbear  expressing  their  regret  that 
the  Presbytery  of  "Washington  should  have  passed  a  vote  of  censure  upon 
Mr.  McCalla  without  citing  him  to  appear  before  them  or  giving  him  any 
opportunity  of  making  a  defence,  since  this  mode  of  proceeding  seems  to 
have  occasion&i  a  portion  of  the  irregularity  in  the  Presbytery  of  West 


502  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

Lexington,  of  which  the  Presbytery  of  "Washington  have  complained. — 
1821,  p.  21. 

4.  Ministers  may  not  be  Excluded  from  the  Pulpits  of  the  Churches, 
nor  Members  from  Communion,  -without  Trial. 

Whereas,  It  appears  from  memorials  sent  up  to  this  Assembly  that  sev- 
eral of  our  Presbyteries  have  adopted  resolutions  excluding  slaveholders 
from  their  pulpits  and  from  their  communion ;  and  whereas,  our  Constitu- 
tion requires  that  no  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  shall  be  thus 
disfranchised  without  a  regular  trial  and  conviction  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  said  Presbyteries  be  requested  to  rescind  such  reso- 
lutions.—1840,  p.  24,  N.  S. 

[See  below,  under  sec.  xv.,  a,  &.] 

YI.  The  citations  shall  be  issued  and  signed  by  the  moderator  or 
clerk,  by  order,  and  in  the  name  of  the  judicatory.  He  shall  also 
furnish  citations  for  such  witnesses  as  the  accused  shall  nominate,  to 
api)earT)n  his  behalf. 

VII.  Although  it  is  required  that  the  accused  be  informed  of  the 
names  of  all  the  witnesses  who  are  to  be  adduced  against  him,  at 
least  ten  days  before  the  time  of  trial  (unless  he  consent  to  waive  the 
right  and  proceed  immediately),  it  is  not  necessary  that  he,  on  his 
part,  give  a  similar  notice  to  the  judicatory  of  all  the  witnesses  in- 
tended to  be  adduced  by  him  for  his  exculpation. 

1.  The  Accused  may  not  be  Required  to  Declare  what  he  Expects 
to  Prove  by  his  Witnesses. 

The  Judicial  Committee  in  reference  to  Judicial  Case  Ko.  4 — the  case 
of  J.  H.  Spillman  against  the  Synod  of  Kentucky — after  a  further  con- 
ference with  the  parties  representing  this  case,  would  recommend  to  the 
General  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  minute  disposing  of  the 
same : 

While  this  General  Assembly  do  not  undertake  to  reverse  the  decision 
of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  against  Mr.  J.  H.  Spillinan,  it  cannot  be 
doubted — for  it  is  admitted  by  the  Synod's  and  the  Presbytery's  repre- 
sentatives here — that  there  were  some  informalities  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  lower  courts  against  Mr.  Spillman,  which  this  General  Assembly  is 
bound  to  disapprove;  in  particular,  that  the  session  had  no  right  to  insist 
upon  Mr.  Spillman's  making  known  beforehand  what  he  expected  to  prove 
by  his  witnesses  as  the  condition  upon  which  he  should  be  allowed  to  proceed 
in  the  examination.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  clear  that  Mr.  Spill- 
man  ought  not  to  have  abandoned  his  case,  as  it  appears  by  the  record 
that  he  "did,  upon  that  decision  by  the  session.  This  General  Assembly, 
however,  grant  leave  to  j\Ir.  Spillman  to  withdraw  his  appeal,  and  recom- 
mend to  the  session  of  Paint  Lick  Church  to  take  up  the  case  where  it 
was  abandoned  before  their  tribunal,  provided  that  Mr.  Si)illman  assure 
them  that  he  has  testimony  to  produce  which  may  be  relevant  to  the 
case.— 1860,  p.  45,  O.  S. 

VIII.  In  exhibiting  charges,  the  times,  places,  and  circumstances 
should,  if  possible,  be  ascertained  and  stated,  that  the  accused  may 


OF   ACTUAL   PEOCESS.  603 

have  an  opportunity  to  prove  an  alibi,  or  to  extenuate  or  alleviate 
his  offence. 

1.  The  Charge  must  be  Specific. 

a.  Mr.  Ewing  complains  against  the  Commission  that  they  received 
charges  against  him  which  were  vague  and  indeterminate.  The  Synod 
agrees  that  these  charges  are  rather  deficient  in  point  of  specialty,  but 
are  of  opinion  that  the  Commission  acted  with  prudence  and  integrity  in 
receiving  said  charges,  inasmuch  as  they  endeavored  to  reduce  them  to  a 
specialty,  and  as  Mr.  Ewing  submitted  so  far  as  to  plead  to  them,  and  as 
the  particular  circumstances  of  the  first  and  third  Presbyterian  congrega- 
tions in  Philadelphia  were  viewed  by  them  as  so  critical  as  in  their  judg- 
ment required  an  immediate  discussion  of  the  affair. 

Yet  the  Synod  orders  that  all  their  judicatures  shall  for  the  future  be 
particularly  careful  not  to  receive  or  judge  of  any  charges  but  such  as 
shall  be  seasonably  reduced  to  a  specialty  in  the  complaint  laid  before 
them.— 1770,  p.  406. 

Esjiecially  in  Cases  of  Heresy. 

b.  There  was  a  great  deficiency  in  the  charges  preferred  against  Mr. 
Craighead  as  it  relates  to  precision.  All  charges  for  heresy  should  be  as 
definite  as  possible.  The  article  or  articles  of  faith  impugned  should  be 
specified,  and  the  words  supposed  to  be  heretical  shown  to  be  in  repug- 
nance to  these  articles,  whether  the  reference  is  made  directly  to  the  Scrip- 
ture as  a  standard  of  orthodox}^  or  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  which  our 
Church  holds  to  be  a  summary  of  the  doctrines  of  Scripture.  But  in 
none  of  the  charges  against  Mr.  Craighead  is  this  done,  and  in  two  of 
them  (third  and  fourth)  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  say  what  articles  of 
faith  are  supposed  to  be  contravened  in  the  errors  charged  on  Mr.  Craig- 
head. And  the  last  two  charges  appear  to  be  so  vague  and  indefinite  as 
to  be  incapable  of  proof  In  the  fifth  Mr,  Craighead  is  charged  with 
perverting,  etc.,  the  sentiments  of  the  preachers  and  writers  in  our  con- 
nection. Now,  in  our  connection  there  are  a  multitude  of  preachers  and 
writers  differing  by  many  shades  of  opinion  from  each  other.  How,  then, 
can  this  be  a  just  ground  of  accusation?  In  the  sixth  he  is  charged  with 
the  false  coloring  of  facts,  etc.  But  no  facts  are  established  by  evidence, 
none  are  specified  in  the  charge ;  and  to  make  it  a  just  ground  of  accusa- 
tion, it  ought  to  have  been  a  designed  and  malicious  discoloring  of  the 
tacts,  etc. — 1824,  p.  121. 

c.  The  Assembly  would  further  advise  that  all  the  charges  against  INIr. 
Spillman  which  may  be  wanting  in  definiteness  be  made,  if  practicable, 
more  specific,  so  that  they  may  be  conformable  to  the  directions  of  the 
Book  of  Discipline.— 1860,  p.  46,  O.  S. 

IX.  The  judicatory,  in  many  cases,  may  find  it  more  for  edifica- 
tion, to  send  some  members  to  converse,  in  a  private  manner,  with 
the  accused  person  ;  and  if  he  confess  his  guilt,  to  endeavor  to  bring 
liim  to  repentance,  than  to  proceed  immediately  to  citation. 

X.  When  an  accused  person,  or  a  witness,  refuses  to  obey  the  cita- 
tion, he  shall  be  cited  a  second  time :  and  if  he  still  continue  to  re- 
fuse, he  shall  be  excluded  from  the  communion  of  the  church,  for  his 
contumacy,  until  he  repent. 

[See  below,  iv.,  sec.  xi.,  Arthur's  case.] 


504  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

1.  Contumacy  not  to  be  Hastily  Inferred. 

lu  the  progress  of  this  case  the  Presbytery  proceeded  regularly  to  cite 
the  accused,  once  and  again  ;  and  upon  his  not  appearing,  they  proceeded 
to  the  trial,  and  having  gone  through  the  evidence  they  referred  the  whole 
to  the  Synod  to  adjudicate  upon  it,  v.ith  the  expression  of  their  own  opin- 
ion that  Mr.  Craighead  ought  to  be  suspended.  The  Synod  met  imme- 
diately after  Presbytery,  and  took  up  tlie  case,  and  in  concurrence  with 
the  opinion  of  the  Presbytery  suspended  Mr.  Craighead  from  the  gospel 
ministry. 

Ill  this  proceeding  the  General  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  there  was 
too  much  haste.     Mr.  Craighead  was  not  guilty  of  contumacy,  for  he  wrote, 
two  letters  to  the  Presbytery  excusing  himself  for  non-attendance;  and  if 
he  had  been  guilty  of  contumacy,  he  ought  to  have  been  suspended  on 
that  ground.— -1824,  p.  121. 

[Craighead's  case,  see  below,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  x.] 

2.  Proceeding's  in  Case  of  Contumacy. 

When  an  accused  church  member  is  contumacious  on  a  second  citation, 
the  member  is  suspended  for  contumacy  ;  is  it  the  duty  of  the  session  after 
having  examined  witnesses  and  spread  the  testimony  on  the  record  to 
decide  the  case,  and  enter  the  judgment  also  on  the  record  ? 

Answered  by  referring  to  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  iv.,  sees,  x.,  xi.  and 
xiii. — 1865,  p.  537,  O.  S. 

3.  Contumacious. — Restored  on  Submission. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  appeal  of  Mrs.  Maria  Hill 
from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  at  tlieir  stated  meeting  at  Cats- 
kill  in  her  case  respectfully  report: 

That  after  examining  the  documents  presented,  and  hearing  the  state- 
ments of  the  parties,  by  themselves  or  counsel,  your  Committee  are  satis- 
fied that  substantial  justice  has  been  done  in  their  case. 

The  alleged  irregularitii^s  in  the  lower  judicatories  which  are  complained 
of  are  of  a  technical  character,  or  caused  by  \\lc  course  pursued  by  the 
a})])ellant  or  her  agents.  She  could  at  any  time  have  arrested  the  pro- 
ceedings and  prevented  a  conviction  of  contumacy  by  submitting  to  the 
authority  of  her  session  and  answering  their  citations,  a,nd  can  now  at 
any  moment  reverse  the  sentence  and  be  restored  in  the  manner  provided 
by  the  tenth  article  of  the  fourth  chapter  of  our  Book  of  Discipline. 

Your  Committee,  therefore,  recommend  that  the  appeal  of  ^Irs.  Maria 
Hill  be  not  sustained.  Adopted  as  the  decision  of  this  Assemblv. — 18U4, 
p.  504,  N.  S. 

[See  in  full  below,  chaj).  iv.,  sec.  xiii. — 1S()6,  p.  282-288,  N.  S.] 

XI.  Although,  on  tlie  first  citation,  the  j)erson  cited  sliall  (Icclare  in 
Avriting,  or  otherwise,  his  fixed  deterniiiiation  not  to  obey  it;  this  dec- 
laration shall  in  no  ease,  induce  the  judicatory  to  deviate  from  the  reg- 
ular course  prescribed  for  citations.  They  shall  proceed  as  if  no  such 
declaration  had  been  made.  The  person  cited  may  afterward  alter 
his  mind. 


OP   ACTUAL   PEOCESS.  605 

1.  Contumacy  not  to  be  Charged  on  first  Citation. 

The  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Arthur  from  the  sentence  of 
the  Presbytery,  by  which  he  was  suspended  from  the  gospel  ministry  on 
the  ground  of  contumacy,  because  the  Presbytery  appeared  to  have  been 
precipitate,  and  not  to  have  observed  the  constitutional  rules.  [See  Dis- 
cipline, chap,  iv.,  sees,  vi.,  x.  and  xi.]  They  deem,  too,  the  request  of  Mr. 
Arthur  for  a  copy  of  the  first  sentence  to  have  been  reasonable,  and  that 
it  ought  to  have  been  complied  with. — 1822,  p.  53. 

2.  The  Forms  of  Process  may  not  be  Dispensed  with. 

a.  Is  it  within  the  province  of  the  session  to  excommunicate,  without 
formal  trial,  a  church  member  who  makes  a  written  confession  of  having 
embraced  heretical  views,  and  in  consequence  having  violated  covenant 
by  long-continued  absence  from  the  ordinances  of  the  Church,  and  who 
requests  to  be  cut  off  from  the  Church  ? 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  party  asking  the  above  question  be 
referred  to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  iv.,  and  such  session  be  urged  to 
follow  strictly  the  order  laid  down  therein. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1865,  p.  12,  N.  S. 

b.  [See  also  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  vi.] 

If  an  accused  person  confess  judgment,  the  actual  process  may  be  short- 
ened, but  it  cannot  be  dispensed  with. — 1866,  p.  268,  N.  S. 

XII.  The  time  w^hich  must  elapse  between  the  first  citation  of  an 
accused  person,  or  a  witness,  and  the  meeting  of  the  judicatory  at 
which  he  is  to  appear,  is  at  least  ten  days.  But  the  time  allotted  for 
liis  appearance  in  the  subsequent  citation  is  left  to  the  discretion  of 
the  judicatory;  provided  always,  however,  that  it  be  not  less  than  is 
quite  sufficient  for  a  seasonable  and  convenient  compliance  with  the 
citation. 

XIII.  The  second  citation  ought  always  to  be  accompanied  with  a 
notice,  that  if  the  person  cited  do  not  appear  at  the  time  appointed, 
the  judicatory,  besides  censuring  him  for  his  contumacy,  will,  after 
assigning  some  person  to  manage  his  defence,  proceed  to  take  the  tes- 
timony in  his  case  as  if  he  were  present. 

1.  In  the  Absence  of  the  Accused  Counsel  must  be  Assigned. 

But  the  appeal  from  the  first  sentence,  by  which  the  charge  of  slander 
preferred  against  him  by  the  Rev.  Josliua  L.  Wilson  was  declared  to  be 
substantiated  and  Mr.  Arthur  required  to  submit  to  a  rebuke,  the  Assem- 
bly could  nor.  sustain.  For,  although  the  Assembly  noticed  the  omission 
of  Presbytery  to  assign  Mr.  Arthur  counsel  to  manage  his  defence  (see 
Discipline,  chap,  iv.,  sec.  xiii.),  yet  they  did  judge  the  pamphlet,  of  which 
Mr.  Arthur  admitted  himself  to  be  the  author,  to  contain  slander  against 
Mr.  Wilson,  and  could  not  but  disapprove  of  the  spirit  under  the  influence 
of  which  it  appeared  to  have  been  written. — 1822,  p.  53. 

2.  In  case  of  Contumacy,  the  Order  of  Procedure. 

^  a.  Where  an  accused  church  member  is  contumacious  on  a  second  cita- 
tion, and  the  member  is  suspended  for  contumacy,  is  it  the  duty  of  the  ses- 

64 


606  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

Bion,  after  having  examined  witness  and  spread  the  testimony  on  the  rec- 
ord, to  decide  the  case  and  enter  the  judgment  also  on  the  record? 

Answered  by  referring  to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  iv.,  sees,  x,,  xi. 
and  xiii. — 1865,  p.  537,  0.  S. 

b.   When  the  Judicatory  has  taken  the  Testimony  as  above,  it  viay  Proceed  tc 
Trial  and  final  Judgment  as  if  the  Accused  were  present. 

[The  Assembly  of  1865  (N.  S.)  appointed  a  Special  Committee — Rev. 
Samuel  AV.  Fisher,  D.D.,  Rev,  Thomas  Brainerd,  D.D.,  Rev.  Ezra  E.  Ad- 
ams, D.  D.,  Hon.  William  Strong,  LL.D.,  and  Hon.  Joseph  Allison,  LL.D. 
— to  report  to  the  next  Assembly.  See  Minutes,  1865,  p.  49.  Their  report 
was  presented  the  next  year  and  was  adopted,  viz.:] 

The  undersigned,  a  Special  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  Overture 
No.  14,  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1865,  together  with  the  report  of  a 
former  Committee  thereon,  and  who  were  instructed  to  report  to  the  pres- 
ent Assembly,  respectfully  submit  the  following  : 

The  overture  is  in  these  words:  "When  the  judicatory  have  proceeded, 
in  accordance  with  chap,  iv.,  sec.  xiii.,  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  to  take 
the  testimony  in  the  case  of  an  accused  person,  may  they  proceed  to  pass 
judgment  thereon,  as  if  he  were  present,  or  shall  he  be  left  simply  under 
censure  for  contumacy?" 

The  question  thus  presented  is  exclusively  one  of  power.  It  is  not 
whether,  in  all  cases,  it  is  advisable  that  a  church  judicatory  should  pro- 
ceed to  a  final  determination  of  the  case ;  nor  is  it  what  has  been  the 
usage  in  some  of  the  tribunals  of  the  Church ;  but  it  is  strictly,  What 
does  the  Book  of  Discipline  authorize?  It  is  freely  admitted,  that  a  long 
course  of  usage  under  a  statute  is  no  inconsiderable  evidence  of  the  mean- 
ing of  that  statute ;  but  it  must  be  a  usage  growing  out  of  the  enactment 
itself,  and  claimed  to  have  been  authorized  by  it.  Mere  neglect  to  exer- 
cise powers  conferred  is  no  proof  that  they  were  not  granted.  Had  the 
fathers  of  the  Church  generally  decided  that,  by  the  fourth  chapter  of  the 
Book  of  Discipline,  no  power  is  recognized  in  a  judicatory  to  proceed  to 
the  trial  of  an  accused  person  when  he  has  refused  to  obey  its  citations, 
that  his  contumacious  refusal  must  arrest  all  steps  to  purity  the  Church 
of  the  offence  charged,  beyond  taking  evidence  to  prove  that  offence,  and 
had  such  a  construction  of  the  Book  been  generally  accepted,  it  ought  to 
have  weight  in  answer  to  this  overture.  But  there  is  no  evidence  that 
any  such  judicial  construction  has  been  generally  given  to  the  language 
of  the  Book.  Undoubtedly  there  have  been  differences  of  opinion,  and, 
possibly,  it  may  have  been  decided  in  some  judicatory,  that  jurisdiction 
over  an  offence  charged  is  necessarily  suspended,  whenever  an  accused 
])erson  disobeys  the  citations;  but  this  is  of  little  value  in  determining 
what  the  framers  of  the  Book  of  Discipline  meant  by  its  directions  re- 
specting process,  trial  and  judgment.  It  is  much  more  important  that,  in 
certain  cases,  where  the  proof  is  clear,  as  where  the  accused  has  confessed 
his  guilt,  or  where  he  has  been  convicted  of  violating  the  civil  law  and 
has  absconded,  church  sessions  have  been  accustomed  to  proceed  to  trial 
and  judgment,  notwithstandiug  a  refusal  of  the  accused  to  appear  in  an- 
swer to  citations.  Such  cases  are  judicial  assertions  of  power,  never  de- 
nied, so  far  as  we  are  informed. 

But  there  is  not  enough  in  judicial  decision  nor  in  authoritative  usage 
to  settle  the  question.  After  all,  it  must  be  answered  from  the  Book;  and 
the  true  inquiry  is,  What  is  the  fair  interpretation  of  the  rules  laid  down 
in  the  fourth  chapter?    A  universally  recognized  rule  of  construction  is. 


OF   ACTUAL   PROCESS.  507 

that,  when  the  purpose  of  a  statute  is  clear,  the  means  given  for  effectu- 
ating it  are  to  be  interpreted  with  reference  to  the  purpose,  and,  if  possi- 
ble, so  as  to  secure  its  accomplishment.  Now  the  ends  of  discipline  are 
clearly  defined.  They  are  declared,  by  the  second  section  of  the  first 
chapter,  to  be  "  the  removal  of  offences,  the  vindication  of  the  honor  of 
Christ,  the  promotion  of  the  purity  and  general  edification  of  the  Church, 
and  also  the  benefit  of  the  offender  himself."  The  fourth  chapter  con- 
tains the  directions  given  to  church  judicatories,  by  which  these  ends  are 
to  be  secured.  Manifestly,  they  were  intended  to  be  a  complete  and  ef- 
ficient system  adequate  to  the  purposes  in  view.  If  they  fail  of  that,  the 
avowed  object  of  their  framers  is  defeated.  Then  there  is  no  power  to 
remove  an  offence  in  any  case  where  the  alleged  offender  refuses  to  submit 
himself  to  trial.  Plainly,  it  is  the  offence  charged  which  is  sought  to  be 
removed,  either  by  bringing  the  ofiender  to  repentance,  or  by  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Church  upon  it,  and  ultimately,  if  necessary,  removing  the 
offender.  It  is  from  that  offence  the  Church  is  to  be  purified,  and  the 
honor  of  Christ  vindicated,  for  by  that  offence  the  evil  has  been  done. 
Anything  that  comes  short  of  discipline  for  that,  fails  of  accomplishing 
the  avowed  purposes  for  Avhich  the  directions  of  the  fourth  chapter  were 
prescribed.  Contumacious  disobedience  of  citations  is  another  distinct 
ofience,  punishment  for  which  is  entirely  collateral  to  discipline  for  the 
cause  that  induced  the  commencement  of  the  process.  It  is  contempt  of 
the  lawful  authority  of  the  Church,  and  suspension  for  it  is  summary  pun- 
ishment for  the  collateral  ofience  alone.  Neither  directly  nor  indirectly 
is  it  an  expression  of  opinion  respecting  the  delinquent's  guilt  or  inno- 
cence of  the  charge  preferred  originally  against  him.  Suspension  for  con- 
tumacy would  be  proper,  without  regard  to  anything  beyond  it.  It  is 
quite  conceivable  that  an  accused  person  may  willfully  disobey  citations, 
and  yet  be  innocent  of  the  charges  made  against  him.  It  certainly  would 
be  an  anomaly  in  any  judicial  proceeding  to  hold  that  a  penalty  inflicted 
for  a  collateral  ofience  vindicates  the  law  against  another  and  possibly 
much  greater  crime. 

If,  therefore,  the  defined  ends  of  discipline  are  to  be  secured,  a  church 
session  must  have  power  to  proceed  to  trial  and  judgment,  though  the  ac- 
cused person  refuse  to  obey  the  citations  duly  served  upon  him ;  and  it  is 
not  to  be  concluded,  without  clear  evidence,  that  means  given  to  secure 
those  ends  are  inadequate.  When  the  meaning  of  the  language  used  in 
the  fourth  chapter  is  sought,  the  best  guide  to  it  will  be  found  in  the  para- 
mount intention  the  language  was  designed  to  subserve.  The  directions 
given  must  be  construed  consistently  with  that  intention ;  to  further  rather 
than  to  defeat  it.  Looking  then  to  the  sections  of  the  fourth  chapter,  and 
regarding  them  as  part  of  a  system  designed  for  the  purposes  above  men- 
tioned, to  be  interpreted  so  as  to  harmonize  with  those  purposes  as  well  as 
with  each  other,  the  conclusion  seems  inevitable  that  whenever  an  accusa- 
tion has  been  made  against  a  church  member,  and  a  church  judicatory 
has  entered  judicially  upon  its  consideration  and  obtained  jurisdiction  by 
serving  of  citations  upon  him,  it  may  go  on  to  final  judgment,  though  he 
refuses  to  obey  the  citations.  It  is  observable  that  the  entire  fourth  chap- 
ter is  but  an  outline  of  process.  It  does  not  undertake  to  prescribe  min- 
utely each  step  that  may  be  taken.  It  does  not  even  expressly  authorize 
a  judicatory  to  proceed  to  trial  in  any  case.  It  rather  assumes  that,  hav- 
ing taken  judicial  cognizance  of  the  proceeding,  the  tribunal  will  go  to 
trial  and  judgment.  Like  a  writ  of  summons  in  a  civil  court,  the  citation 
is  notice  that  the  judicatory  has  assumed  jurisdiction  of  the  case,  and  that 
it  will  proceed  to  its  final  determination.    AYheu  that  notice  has  beeu 


508  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

given  as  prescribed,  it  is  contemplated  rather  than  expressly  required  that 
■witnesses  will  be  examined ;  that  a  trial  will  be  proceeded  with,  and  that 
a  judgment  will  be  given.  All  these  things  are  implied  from  what  is  di- 
rected respecting  them.  They  are  not  affirmatively  enjoined  or  even  per- 
mitted. Thus  it  is  said,  "  witnesses  shall  be  examined  in  the  presence  of 
the  accused,  or  at  least  after  he  shall  have  received  a  citation  to  attend," 
and  that  he  shall  be  permitted  to  ask  any  questions  tending  to  his  excul- 
pation. This  is  a  regulation  of  the  mode  of  examination,  not  a  direct 
gift  of  power  to  take  testimony,  yet  the  implication  of  power  is  irresist- 
ible. The  fourteenth  section  prescribes  certain  things  before  proceeding  to 
trial ;  and  the  fifteenth  declares  that  the  trial  shall  be  fair  and  impartial ; 
but  nowhere  is  it  said  there  shall  be  a  trial.  The  sixteenth  section  re- 
quires the  judgment  to  be  regularly  entered  on  the  record;  but  no  section 
in  words  authorizes  a  judgment.  Everywhere  it  is  assumed  that  these 
successive  steps  in  a  judicial  proceeding  may  be  taken.  It  would  be  a 
rash  conclusion  from  the  absence  of  a  specific  grant  of  these  powers  to 
deny  any  right  to  take  testimony,  to  try  and  to  give  judgment.  The 
powers  are  not  only  to  be  implied,  but  they  are  comprehensively  given  by 
the  general  provision  of  the  first  section,  that  "  the  judicatory  shall  judi- 
cially take  the  offence  into  consideration  when  all  other  means  of  removing 
it  have  failed ;"  and  they  are  included  also  in  the  directions  to  issue  cita- 
tions. Nor  is  there  any  substantial  distinction  made  between  cases  in 
which  the  accused  yields  obedience  to  the  citations  and  those  in  Avhich  he 
is  contumaciously  disobedient.  The  thirteenth  section  is  the  only  one  that 
is  supposed  to  make  a  difference.  By  that  a  second  citation  is  required, 
to  be  accompanied  with  a  notice,  that  if  the  person  cited  do  not  appear  at 
the  time  appointed,  the  judicatory,  "besides  censuring  him  for  his  contu- 
macy, will,  after  assigning  some  person  to  manage  his  defence,  proceed  to 
take  the  testimony  in  his  case,  as  if  he  were  present."  It  has  sometimes 
been  asked,  if  it  was  intended  that  the  judicatory  might  proceed  in  such 
a  ease  to  final  judgment,  why  was  not  notice  required  that  they  would 
thus  proceed  ?  Why  limit  the  notice  to  taking  testimony  ?  These  ques- 
tions are  easily  answered.  A  notice  that  the  judicatory  will  proceed  to 
trial  and  decision  would  be  unnecessary  and  superfluous.  It  has  already 
been  given  in  the  assumption  of  jurisdiction  over  the  case  and  in  the  ci- 
tations ;  but  notice  of  taking  testimony  is  a  different  matter.  Separate 
notice  of  that  is  generally  given  in  all  judicial  proceedings.  Its  design  is 
to  give  a  party  an  opportunity  to  cross-examine  the  witnesses  produced 
against  him.  And,  as  the  judgment  in  all  ecclesiastical  courts  must  be 
founded  upon  evidence,  as  a  judgment  for  default  of  appearance  is  not 
authorized,  it  is  proper  that  the  accused  should  have  special  notice  of 
taking  the  testimony,  though  he  may  refuse  to  ajipear  in  answer  to  the 
citation.  In  fact,  however,  notice  that  the  testimony  will  be  taken  is 
notice  that  the  judicatory  will  go  on  with  the  trial  ;  for  taking  testimony 
is  a  part  of  trial,  its  first  stage.  Undue  inferences  are  therefore  drawn 
from  the  form  of  the  notice,  if  it  is  supposed  to  indicate  that  the  proceed- 
ings are  to  stay,  when  the  testimony  shall  have  been  taken.  At  most,  it 
raises  but  a  very  feeble  implication  that,  because  notice  of  one  thing  js 
required  (a  thing  very  peculiar  in  itself,  and  always  demanding  a  special 
notice),  therefore  nothing  else  can  be  done.  A  similar  mode  of  reasoning 
would  render  a  trial  in  any  case  impossible. 

Moreover,  the  thirteenth  section  affords  strong  affirmative  evidence  that 
a  trial  and  judgment  were  contemplated  by  its  framers,  notwithstanding 
the  refusal  of  the  accused  to  obey  the  citations.  The  evidence  is  found  in 
the  notice  that  the  judicatory  will  assign  some  person,  not  to  appear  for 


OF   ACTUAL   PROCESS.  509 

the  accused  at  the  examination  of  witnesses,  but  to  "manage  his  defence." 
The  idea  of  defence  in  a  judicial  proceeding  is  inseparable  from  answer  or 
trial.  If,  therefore,  the  non-appearing  accused  has  a  defence  to  be  man- 
aged, he  has  an  answer  to  be  put  in,  a  trial  to  undergo.  Taking  testimony 
in  support  of  the  accusation  is  no  part  of  the  defence.  Cross-examination 
of  the  witnesses  may  be  a  part,  but  the  appointee  of  the  judicatory  is  to 
manage  the  whole. 

It  may  also  be  argued  that  the  provision  for  taking  testimony  at  all, 
when  an  accused  person  fails  to  respond  to  the  citation,  implies  that  the 
case  may  proceed  to  a  final  determination.  For  what  purpose  take  testi- 
mony, if  no  action  is  to  be  based  upon  it  ?  If  it  be  said  to  preserve  it  for 
use  when  the  accused,  repenting  of  his  contumacy,  may  choose  to  appear 
for  trial,  it  may  be  answered  that  no  such  purpose  appears  in  the  book. 
None  of  the  provisions  usual,  when  the  object  sought  to  be  accomplished 
is  the  perpetuation  of  testimony,  are  even  hinted  at.  By  the  sixteenth 
section  the  judgment  is  required  to  be  entered  upon  the  records  of  the 
judicatory,  but  nothing  is  said  of  the  preservation  of  unused  evidence. 
It  is  not  even  required  to  be  reduced  to  writing,  unless  demanded  by  one 
of  the  parties. 

It  may  also  be  argued  from  the  language  of  the  fourteenth  section  that 
a  trial  for  the  offence  charged  is  intended,  though  the  citations  have  been 
disobeyed.  In  that  section  it  is  said  that  judicatories,  "before  proceeding 
to  trial,"  "ought  to  ascertain  that  their  citations  have  been  duly  served  on 
the  persons  for  Avhom  they  were  intended."  If  a  person  cited  is  in  attend- 
ance, nothing  is  to  be  ascertained  respecting  the  service  of  the  citation. 
It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  this  injunction  refers  mainly  at  least  to  proceed- 
ing to  trial  of  an  absent  accused,  and  it  assumes  that  the  judicatory  will, 
after  liaviug  assured  itself  of  the  service  of  the  citations,  go  on  to  adjudi- 
cate the  case.     This  section  is  susceptible  of  no  other  meaning. 

A  similar  implication  is  found  in  the  next  section,  the  fifteenth,  which 
declares  that  "the  trial  shall  be  fair  and  impartial,"  and  that  "the  wit- 
nesses shall  be  examined  in  the  presence  of  the  accused,  or,  at  least,  after 
he  shall  have  received  due  citation  to  attend."  This  is  a  regulation  of  the 
mode  of  trial,  and  it  is  expressly  made  applicable  both  to  cases  where  the 
accused  yields  obedience  to  the  citation  and  to  cases  where  he  does  not. 
With  these  harmonize  the  sixteenth  section,  which  assumes  that  there  will 
be  a  judgment,  and  the  seventeenth,  nineteenth  and  twentieth  sections,  pre- 
scribing the  discipline  to  be  administered  in  the  event  of  conviction.  The 
last  of  these  directs  excommunication  in  certain  cases.  Its  fair  interpre- 
tation evidently  is  that  the  ground  of  such  extreme  action  is  not  contu- 
macy in  disobeying  process,  but  the  gross  offence  charged,  to  answer  for 
which  the  accused  had  been  cited. 

Taking  all  these  sections  into  consideration,  and  regarding  them  as  parts 
of  one  system,  as  having  reference  to  the  same  subject-matter  and  designed 
to  secure  the  ends  avowed,  the  Committee  are  constrained  to  regard  them 
as  applicable  to  the  course  of  proceeding  through  all  the  stages  of  trial 
alike  in  cases  where  the  accused  does  not  appear  in  obedience  to  the  cita- 
tions as  when  he  does.  In  both  the  judicatory  is  emj)owered  to  proceed 
to  trial  and  to  final  judgment. 

To  this  conclusion  an  objection  has  sometimes  been  urged  that  at  first 
mention  seems  to  have  some  plausibility.  It  is  that  trial  of  a  person  in 
his  absence  and  the  rendition  of  judgment  against  him  are  in  conflict  with 
common  right  and  justice;  that  even  criminal  courts  in  State  governments 
do  not  tiy  offenders  in  their  absence,  and  that  ecclesiastical  courts  ought 
to  avoid  ex  parte  proceedings.     The  objection  aims  less  at  the  power  of  a 


510  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

judicatory,  as  recognized  by  the  Book  of  Discipline,  than  it  does  at  the 
policy  of  exercising  it.  But  it  misapprehends  what  are  acknowledged 
common  right  and  justice,  what  are  the  proceedings  of  courts  of  law  and 
equity  in  analogous  cases,  and  what  are  ex  parte  proceedings.  Nowhere  is 
it  held  that  a  man  may  not  deny  himself  his  plainest  rights.  While  he 
may  not  be  tried  for  an  alleged  offence  without  having  an  opjjortunity  to 
be  heard,  he  has  no  just  cause  to  complain  of  a  trial  to  which  he  has  been 
summoned  by  a  tribunal  having  jurisdiction,  and  which  he  has  persist- 
ently refused  to  attend.  In  such  a  case  it  is  he  who  throws  away  his  own 
rights.  They  are  not  taken  from  him.  This  is  a  principle  universally 
recognized  in  courts  of  civil  law  and  of  equity,  and  such  courts  go  farther. 
They  construe  a  refusal  to  obey  process  requiring  an  appearance  as  a  sub-- 
stantial  confession  of  the  complaint,  and  they  render  judgment  accord- 
ingly. It  is  true.  State  courts  having  criminal  jurisdiction  do  not  try 
persons  for  crimes  and  misdemeanors  in  their  absence.  This  is  for  two 
reasons :  They  have  power  to  compel  attendance,  which  ecclesiastical 
courts  have  not ;  and  the  punishments  they  inflict  affect  the  life,  the  lib- 
erty or  the  property  of  the  convicted  criminal.  In  fact,  they  concern  the 
life  or  the  liberty  of  the  accused ;  for  even  if  the  penalty  be  only  a  fine, 
its  jDayment  is  usually  enforced  by  detention  in  custody  until  satisfaction 
be  made.  But  ecclesiastical  tribunals  can  pronounce  no  judgment  that 
touches  either  the  life,  the  liberty  or  the  property  of  the  accused.  Their 
sentences  are  peculiar.  Indeed,  it  is  asserting  a  false  analogy  to  assimi- 
late a  trial  before  a  church  session  to  an  indictment  and  trial  in  a  crimi- 
nal court.  It  bears  a  much  stronger  resemblance  to  proceedings  very 
common  in  courts  of  law,  in  which  members  of  associations  or  corporations 
are  called  upon  to  respond  for  some  alleged  breach  of  corporate  duty,  for 
which  they  are  liable  to  be  punished  by  the  imposition  of  penalties  or  by 
amotion  from  membership.  In  such  cases,  when  the  person  summoned 
refuses  to  obey  the  mandate  of  the  writ,  courts  proceed  at  once  to  dispose 
of  his  case  and  render  final  judgment.  No  one  ever  supposed  that  by  so 
doing  injustice  was  done  or  that  any  right  of  the  accused  was  invaded. 
Much  less  can  he  complain  who  has  been  cited  to  answer  an  accusation 
taken  into  judicial  cognizance  by  a  church  judicatory  and  who  has  contu- 
maciously refused  to  obey  the  citation,  if  the  tribunal  proceed  to  try  the 
case,  presuming  nothing  against  him  but  contumacy  from  his  refusal,  but 
founding  its  judgment  solely  upon  the  testimony  of  witnesses.  This  ob- 
jection, therefore,  when  examined,  appears  to  be  without  substance. 

In  conclusion,  it  remains  only  to  recommend,  as  the  opinion  of  the  Com- 
mittee, that  the  overtui-e  be  answered  by  a  declaration  of  the  Assembly 
that  in  the  case  proposed  the  judicatory  may  proceed  to  trial  and  final 
judgment  as  if  the  accused  were  present. — 1866,  pp.  283-288,  N.  S. 

XIV.  Judicatories,  before  proceeding  to  trial,  ought  to  ascertain 
tliat  their  citations  have  been  duly  served  on  the  persons  for  whom 
they  were  intended,  and  especially  before  they  proceed  to  ultimate 
measures  for  contumacy. 

XV.  The  trial  shall  be  fair  and  impartial.  The  witnesses  shall 
be  examined  in  the  presence  of  the  accused ;  or,  at  least,  after  he 
shall  have  received  due  citation  to  attend ;  and  he  shall  be  permitted 
to  ask  any  questions  tending  to  his  own  exculpation. 


OF   ACTUAL   PROCESS.  511 

a.  In  Trying  a  Case  the  Judicatory  may  not  Censure  One  not  on  Trial. 

The  Commission  on  Judicial  Case  No.  2  presented  the  following  report, 
which  was  adopted : 

Tlie  Commission  to  whom  was  referred  Judicial  Case  No.  2,  being  the 
complaint  of  sundry  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Oxford  and  others 
against  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  in  the  matter  of  the  complaint  of  Alex- 
ander Guy  against  the  Presbytery  of  Oxford,  beg  leave  to  report  that 
after  a  careful  examination  of  the  case,  as  it  appears  of  record,  and  a  full 
hearing  of  the  parties,  they  unanimously  recommend  the  following  minute  : 

This  complaint  against  the  Synod  is  founded  not  so  much  on  what  the 
Synod  did  in  condenniing  the  record  entei'ed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Oxford 
in  the  case,  as  on  the  failure  of  the  Synod  to  censure  the  party  to  whom 
the  record  related.  Now,  in  no  sense  was  that  party  before  the  Synod. 
No  charges  had  been  tabled,  no  formal  complaint  against  him  had  been 
laid  before  that  body.  It  would,  therefore,  have  been  incompetent  for  the 
Synod,  in  trying  the  issue  between  Dr.  Guy  and  the  Presbytery  ol'  Oxford, 
to  have  censured  another  person  not  on  trial  before  it,  and  only  incident- 
ally connected  with  the  proceedings. 

But  whilst  refusing  to  sustain  the  complaint  against  the  Synod  under 
these  circumstances,  the  Assembly  would  remind  the  complainants  that 
they  have  a  remedy  against  any  grievances  under  which  they  may  labor 
in  the  regular  forms  of  procedure  laid  down  in  our  Book  of  Discipline. 

It  is  recommended  that  the  complaint  be  not  sustained, — 1867,  p.  360, 
O,  S. 

b.  Nor  Pass  Sentence  imthout  Conviction  by  Trial. 

In  the  complaint  of  Rev.  John  Mack,  etc.,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Illinois  the  Assembly  inter  alia  declare : 

The  action  of  the  Presbytery  upon  a  certain  resolution  was  extra- 
judicial. 

Our  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  v.,  sec.  vii.,  pronounces  a  man  a  slan- 
derer who  on  trial  fails  to  make  good  his  charges. 

S.  L.  Hobson  was  censured  as  a  slanderer  without  the  court  reaching 
by  trial  the  point  contemplated  in  our  Book. — 1867,  p.  355,  O.  S. 

[See  below,  chap,  v.,  sec.  vii.,  5.] 

XVI.  The  judgment  shall  be  regularly  entered  on  the  records  of 
the  judicatory ;  and  the  parties  shall  be  allo\ved  copies  of  the  whole 
proceedings,  at  their  own  expense,  if  they  demand  them.  And,  in 
case  of  references,  or  appeals,  the  judicatory  referring,  or  appealed 
from,  shall  send  authentic  copies  of  the  whole  process  to  the  higher 
judicatory. 

1.  Appellant  Entitled  to  a  Copy  of  the  Sentence, 

They  deem  too  the  request  of  Mr.  Arthur  for  a  copy  of  the  first  sen- 
tence to  have  been  reasonable,  and  that  it  ought  to  have  been  complied 
with.— 1822,  p,  53, 

2,  What  is  an  Authentic  Copy  ? 

a.  By  "the  forms  of  process"  Mr,  Bourne  ought  to  be  allowed  copies 
of  the  whole  proceedings  in  his  case,  yet  the  judicatory  appealed  from  is 
by  the  same  rules  "  to  send  up  authentic  copies  of  the  whole  process ;" 


512  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

his  copy,  therefore,  which  he  says  was  taken  by  himself,  but  is  not  shown 
to  the  Assembly,  is  not  sufficient ;  his  affidavit  is  not  required  by  the  course 
of  proceeding  in  this  body,  and  the  three  papers  presented  by  him  are  not 
to  be  considered  as  the  commencement  of  a  cause,  or  the  entry  of  an 
appeal  in  this  judicatory. — 1816,  p.  627. 

b.  [See  Form  of  Government,  chap.  xx. :  "  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
clerk  ...  to  grant  extracts  from  the  records  whenever  properly  required, 
and  such  extracts  under  the  hand  of  the  clerk  shall  be  considered  as 
authentic  vouchers  of  the  fact  which  they  declare  in  any  ecclesiastical 
judicatory,  and  to  every  part  of  the  Church."] 

3.  "Where  Courts  Fail  to  Send  up  Documents,  the  Case  is  Re- 
manded. 

a.  It  appearing  from  the  official  certificates  of  the  stated  clerks  of  all 
the  courts  below  that  important  documents  in  evidence  before  the  session 
which  first  tried  the  case  were  not  sent  to  the  Presbytery  and  Synod,  it  is 
therefore 

Ordered,  That  this  case  be  sent  back  to  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston 
for  a  new  trial,  and  that  the  session  of  the  church  of  Columbia  be  directed 
to  correct  their  record  and  to  send  to  Presbytery  an  authentic  copy  of  all 
the  evidence  and  all  the  documents  before  them. — 1848,  p.  186,  O.  S. 

b.  Lower  Courts  Directed  to  Send  Up  Complete  Records. 

It  appearing  that  the  record  in  the  case  of  Abigail  Hanna  against  the 
Synod  of  Wheeling  is  incomplete,  although  the  Assembly  are  informed 
that  a  complete  record  was  sent  by  the  Synod,  it  is  ordered  that  the  courts 
below  send  up  a  complete  record  to  the  next  General  Assembly. — 1843, 
p.  192,  O.  S. 

c.  It  appeal's  to  the  Committee  that  Mr.  Russell  has  conducted  his  com- 
plaint in  due  form,  but  the  Synod  has  failed  to  furnish  the  documents 
needful  to  its  prosecution.  The  minutes  of  Synod  are  present,  and  com- 
plainant has  furnished  attested  copies  of  minutes  of  Presbytery  and  of 
the  testimony  of  witnesses  examined.  But  we  have  still  no  attested  copy 
of  the  charges  which  had  been  the  basis  of  the  original  trial,  nor  of  sundry 
papers  referred  to  in  the  Presbytery's  records,  and  which  had  been  received 
as  testimony.  The  Committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption 
of  the  following  resolutions  in  the  case: 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  Synod  of  Georgia  be  directed  to  send  up  to  the 
next  Assembly  authenticated  copies  of  all  their  records,  and  of  the  whole 
testimony  relating  to  the  matter  of  the  complaint,  together  with  their  rea- 
sons for  not  sending  up  the  ])apers  to  this  Assembly,  unless  the  case  shall 
be  previously  adjusted. 

Resolved,  2.  Tluit  the  pai)ers  received  from  complainant  be  returned  to 
his  own  custody.     Adopted. — 1852,  p.  212,  O.  S. 

XYII.  The  person  found  guilty  shall  be  admonished,  or  rebuked, 
or  excluded  from  church  privileges,  as  the  case  shall  appear  to  de- 
serve, until  he  give  satisfactory  evidence  of  repentance. 

Censure  not  to  be  Removed  without  Evidence  of  RepeJitance. 

The  Assembly  having  heard  the  complaint  of  the  Presbytery  of  Car- 
lisle against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  the  case  of  William  S.  McDow- 
ell, with  the  facts  and  arguments  offered  both  by  the  Presbytery  and  the 


OF   ACTUAL   PROCESS.  513 

Synod,  judged  that  the  Synod  had  a  constitutional  right  to  reverse  the 
decision  of  the  Presbytery  in  the  case,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  to 
them  might  seem  proper,  but  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  right  the  Synod 
have  not  duly  regarded  the  principles  of  discipline  prescribed  in  the  Con- 
stitution, inasmuch  as  it  appears  by  their  recoixls  that  they  have  removed 
all  censure  from  a  man  wliom  they  declare  to  be  deserving  of  rebuke, 
without  directing  that  rebuke  to  be  administered,  and  without  receiving 
any  evidence  of  his  penitence. — 1823,  p.  81. 

XVIII.  As  cases  may  arise  in  which  many  days,  or  even  weeks, 
may  intervene  before  it  is  practicable  to  commence  process  against 
an  accused  church  member,  the  session  may,  in  such  cases,  and  ought, 
if  they  tliink  the  edification  of  the  church  requires  it,  to  prevent  the 
accused  person  from  approaching  the  Lord's  table,  until  the  charge 
against  him  can  be  examined. 

The  Accvised  may  be  Suspended  Pending  the  Issuing  of  the 

Case. 

Overture  No.  21.  An  inquiry  from  J.  A.  Clayton  :  Whereas,  Our  Book 
of  Discipline,  chap,  v.,  sec.  ii.,  says,  "  the  same  general  method,  substitut- 
ing Presbytery  for  the  session,"  is  to  be  observed  in  investigating  charges 
against  a  minister  as  are  prescribed  in  the  case  of  private  members,  Does 
this  authorize  the  Presbytery  to  apply  the  principle  contained  in  chap,  iv., 
sec.  xviii.,  to  ministers  against  whom  charges  exist  that  cannot  be  season- 
ably tried,  so  far  as  to  suspend  them  from  the  functions  of  the  gospel  min- 
istry until  they  can  be  tried  ?  P.  S.— If  the  above  will  not  apply,  what 
should  a  Presbytery  do  in  the  case  ? 

The  Committee  recommended  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  when  charges  are  tabled  against  a  minister,  and  it  is  im- 
practicable at  once  to  issue  the  case,  the  Presbytery  has  the  right,  if  the 
interests  of  religion  seem  to  demand  the  measure,  to  suspend  him  from 
the  exercise  of  his  ministerial  functions  until  the  case  shall  have  been 
issued.— 1848,  p.  34,  O.  S. 

See  below,  under  v.,  ix. 

XIX.  The  sentence  shall  be  published  only  in  the  church  or 
churches  which  have  been  offended.  Or,  if  the  offence  be  of  small 
importance,  and  such  as  it  shall  appear  most  for  edification  not  to 
publish,  the  sentence  may  pass  only  in  the  judicatory. 

XX.  Such  gross  offenders,  as  will  not  be  reclaimed  by  the  private 
or  public  admonitions  of  the  church,  are  to  be  cut  off  from  its  com- 
munion, agreeably  to  our  Lord's  direction  (Matt,  xviii.  17),  and  the 
apostolic  injunction  respecting  the  incestuous  person.  1  Cor.  v.  1-5. 

XXI.  No  professional  counsel  shall  be  permitted  to  appear  and 
plead  in  cases  of  process  in  any  of  our  ecclesiastical  courts.  But  if 
any  accused  person  feels  unable  to  represent  and  plead  his  own  cause 
to  advantage,  he  may  request  any  minister  or  elder,  belonging  to  the 
judicatory  before  which  he  appears,  to  prepare  and  exhibit  his  cause 

65 


514  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

as  he  may  judge  proper.  Bat  the  minister  or  elder  so  engaged,  shall 
not  be  allowed,  after  pleading  the  cause  of  the  accused,  to  sit  in  judg- 
ment as  a  member  of  the  judicatory. 

1.  No  one  not  a  Member  of  the  Judicatory  may  act  as  Counsel. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  reported  Overture  No.  5,  as  fol- 
lows:  "May  the  session  of  a  church,  at  the  request  of  an  accused  brother, 
assign  as  his  counsel  a  minister  of  the  gospel  belonging  to  the  same  Pres- 
bytery to  which  the  session  belongs?" 

The  Committee  answered  : — "  There  is  no  provision  for  such  a  case  in 
our  Constitution  ;  and,  though  it  does  not  appear  to  contravene  its  spirit 
and  design,  and  might  in  special  cases  be  allowable  with  advantage ;  yet, 
a  strict  interpretation  of  chap,  iv.,  sec.  xxi.,  of  the  Book  of  Discipline, 
seems  to  preclude  the  employment  of  any  one  as  counsel  who  is  not  a 
member  of  the  judicatory.     The  report  was  adopted. — 1851,  p.  29,  N.  S. 

2.  Professional  Counsel  in  all  Cases  Excluded. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures,  reported.  No.  1,  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Tuscaloosa,  requesting  the  Assembly  to  answer  the  following 
question  :  "  Is  it  a  violation  of  our  Book  of  Discipline  for  professional 
counsel,  under  all  circuinstances,  to  aid  in  the  examination  of  witnesses?" 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  question  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative.     The  report  was  adopted. — 1852,  p.  205,  O.  S. 

3.  One  acting  as  Counsel  may  Speak  in  any  Discussion  on  the 
Adoption  of  a  Minute  in  the  Case. 

[In  a  judicial  case  on  a  motion  to  adopt  a  minute  expressing  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Assembly]  "  Robert  J.  Breckinridge  rose  to  speak  in  oi)posi- 
tion  to  it:  when  objections  were  made  to  hearing  him,  inasmuch  as  he  was 
counsel  for  one  of  the  parties.  The  moderator  decided  that  he  should  be 
heard  in  any  discussion  on  the  adoption  of  a  minute.  An  appeal  was 
taken  from  this  decision  of  the  chair  by  A.  T.  Rankin,  but  was  not  sus- 
tained.    The  moderator's  decision  was  ap))roved." — 1858,  p.  300,  O.  S. 

4.  Counsel  Assigned  by  Request  of  the  Parties. 

a.  The  appeal  and  complaint  of  Robert  Finley  and  Smith  Bloomficld 
against  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey. 

R.  J.  Breckinridge  was  allowed  at  the  request  of  the  former  appellant 
to  aid  him  in  conducting  his  cause:  and  James  Hoge  and  Nathaniel  Hew- 
itt were  allowed,  at  the  request  of  INIyron  Barrett,  to  aid  him,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  two  other  members  of  a  Committee  appointed  by  the  Synod  of 
New  Jersey,  to  defend  the  Synod  in  this  case. — 1858,  p.  286,  O.  S. 

b.  Rev.  Dr.  Humphrey,  chairman  of  the  Judicial  Committee,  reported 
case  No.  5,  being  a  complaint  of  William  B.  Guild  against  the  Synod  of 
New  Jersey,  and  stated  that  the  complainant  requested  the  appointment 
of  a  member  to  take  charge  of  his  interests  in  the  case.  Tiie  Committee 
recommended  the  appointment  of  Rev.  S.  S.  Sheddon,  and  he  was  ap- 
pointed.—1863,  p.  19,  O.  S. 

e.  In  the  absence  of  the  appellant,  counsel  was  appointed  by  the  court. 
—1823.  p.  72. 

XXII.  Questions  of  order,  which  arise  in  the  course  of  proces.s, 

shall  be  decided  by  the  moderator.     If  an  appeal  is  made  from  the 

chair,  the  question  on  the  appeal  shall  be  taken  without  debate. 


OF   ACTUAL   PEOCESS.  515 

XXIII.  In  recording  the  proceedings,  in  eases  of  judicial  process, 
the  reasons  for  all  decisions,  except  on  questions  of  order,  shall  be  re- 
corded at  length  ;  that  the  record  may  exhibit  everything  which  had 
an  influence  on  the  judgment  of  the  court.  And  nothing  but  what  is 
contained  in  the  record,  may  be  taken  into  consideration  in  reviewing 
the  proceedings  in  a  superior  court. 

1.  Reasons  for  Decision  must  be  Recorded  in  Full. 

a.  The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburg,  reported,  and  the  book  was  approved,  excepting  the  resolution 
on  page  74,  disapproving  of  tlie  proceedings  of  a  Presbytery  without  as- 
signing the  reason. — 1820,  p.  728. 

b.  The  records  [of  the  Synod  of  Ohio]  were  approved  with  the  excej)tiou 
of  a  minute  on  page  243,  disapproving  of  a  decision  of  a  Presbytery,  and 
ordering  said  Presbytery  to  reconsider  that  decision,  without  any  reasons 
being  assigned. — 1827,  p.  202. 

c.   Censured  if  Unsatisfactory. 

The  Synod  of  Pennsylvania,  in  approving  the  action  of  a  Presbytery  in 
a  judicial  cai^e,  assigned  an  entirely  unsatisfactory  reason. — 1850,  p.  314, 
N.  S.         ■ 

d.  The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Onondaga  reported, 
recommending  that  they  be  approved  as  far  as  written,  with  the  following 
exception : 

On  page  186  we  find  the  Synod  administering  censure  to  the  Presbytery 
of  Cayuga  f)r  an  act  of  discipline  toward  one  of  its  churches,  on  the 
ground  that  the  reasons  for  such  discipline  were  not  given  according  to 
the  requirements  of  our  Book  of  Discipline,  yet  on  the  next  page  we  find 
the  said  Synod  reaffirming  the  acts  of  a  church  censured  by  its  Pres- 
bytery, and  reversing  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  without  giving  the 
required  reasons  for  such  singular  proceeding.  The  report  was  adopted. — 
1863,  p.  277,  N.  S. 

e.  Case  ordered  to  a  new  trial  because  the  reasons  for  the  decision  of 
Synod  were  not  recorded  according  to  the  requisition  in  chap,  iv.,  sec.  xxiii., 
Book  of  Discipline.— 1861,  p.  344,  O.  S. 

2.  All  Testimony  before  the  Court  shovild  be  Engrossed  on  the 
Book  of  Permanent  Record. 

a.  Also,  Overture  No.  6,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Catskill,  asking  whether, 
in  cases  of  judicial  process  by  church  sessions,  the  testimony  of  witnesses 
should  be  engrossed  on  the  book  of  permanent  records.  The  Committee 
recommended  that  the  following  answer  be  given: 

The  testimony  of  witnesses,  in  all  cases  of  judicial  process  by  church 
sessions,  should  be  engrossed  on  the  book  of  permanent  records.  The  end 
to  be  secured  by  such  a  record  is  indicated  in  our  Book  of  Discipline, 
chap,  iv.,  sec.  xxiii.,  where  it  is  required,  that  everything  which  had  an 
influence  on  the  judgment  of  the  court  must  be  exhibited  by  the  record. 
Files  are  liable  to  be  separated  from  the  book  of  permanent  records ;  and 
nothing  but  what  is  contained  in  the  record  may  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion in  reviewing  the  proceedings  in  a  superior  court. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1862,  p.  34,  N.  S. 


516  OF  DLSCIPLINE. 

b.  Filing  the  Testimomj  declared  to  he  Sufficient. 

Overture  from  Angus  Johnson,  asking  whether  it  be  necessary  for  a 
Presbytery  to  place  testimony  on  its  records  in  judicial  cases. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  recommended,  as  amended  on  motion  of 
B.  M.  Smith,  that  it  is  sufficient  that  testimony  be  duly  authenticated  and 
carefully  preserved  on  file  to  make  it  part  of  the  record. 

Adopted.— 1859,  p.  536,  O.  S. 

3.  Testiraony  not  on  Record  Admitted  by  Consent. 

a.  The  following  papers  were  offered  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the 
minutes,  viz. : 

I  offer  to  the  Assembly  the  paper  called  "An  Appendix"  as  the  rec- 
ords furnished  by  the  Presbytery  in  my  case,  and  request  that  it  may  be 
read  as  containing  evidence  which  was  before  the  Presbytery,  and  which 
was  not  before  the  Synod.  Albert  Barnes. 

The  prosecutor  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes,  and  the  Committee  appointed 
by  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  to  defend  their  decision  in  the  same  case, 
hereby  agree  to  the  introduction  of  a  document  entitled  "An  Appendix," 
etc.  Not,  however,  as  a  part  of  the  records  of  the  inferior  judicatory,  but 
as  testimony  adduced  by  the  appellant  to  substantiate  any  statements  he 
has  made,  or  may  yet  make. 

George  Junkin,     "] 
S.  G.  Winchester,  I  CoynmiUee  of 

G.  W.  MusGRAVE,    \  Synod  of  Philadeiphia. 
David  McKinney,  J 

The  document  called  the  Appendix,  numbered  from  pp.  1  to  58  inclu- 
sive, containing  the  trial,  testimony  of  the  parties,  Junkin  and  Barnes,  and 
final  decision  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  said  case  of 
Junkin  and  Barnes,  was  read. — 1836,  p.  256. 

h.  The  decision  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  of  which  J.  Kirkpatrick 
and  others  complain,  was  read,  together  with  the  complainants'  reasons  of 
complaint.  The  records  of  the  Synod  in  the  case  were  read,  and  it  was 
moved  to  read  a  paper  which  was  not  before  the  Synod,  but  was  admitted 
by  the  parties  to  be  an  original  paper.  After  debate,  it  was  moved  to 
remit  the  whole  case  to  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  with  an  injunction  to 
send  ui>  a  complete  record ;  and  pending  the  motion,  the  court  rose. 

The  motion  to  remit  the  case  to  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  was  with- 
drawn ;  when  it  was  agreed  by  the  court  that  the  paper  offered  this  morn- 
ing be  read,  which  was  done. — 1841,  p.  428,  O.  S. 

4.  Minutes  of  Interlocutory  Meetings  in  Judicial  Cases  should  be 
Recorded;  also  Report  of  Judicial  Committee  in  the  Case. 

The  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  should  have  recorded  the  results  of  the 
interlocutory  meeting  referred  to  in  the  complaint.  The  Synod  acted  un- 
constitutionally in  permitting  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  to  vote  on  the 
adoption  of  the  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee  on  the  complaint  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Smylie. 

The  Synod  should  have  placed  on  its  records  the  above-mentioned  re- 
port.—1850,  p.  481,  O.  S. 

See  the  case  in  full  under  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  x.  See  also  for 
illustrations  of  the  principle  stated  under  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  viii. 


OF   PROCESS   AGAINST  A   BISHOP   OR   MINISTER.  517 

5.  Everything  Influencing  the  Judgment  of  the  Judicatory  should 
be  Spread  upon  the  Records. 

The  Synod  of  Illinois  have  not  discharged  their  duty.  They  ought  to 
have  spread  upon  their  record  everything  which  influenced  their  judgment 
in  the  case,  and  also  to  have  sent  to  this  Assembly  authentic  copies  of  the 
whole  proceedings,  with  all  the  documents  which  had  been  regularly  be- 
fore them.— 1840,  p.  302,  O.  S. 


CHAPTER  V. 


OF  PROCESS  AGAINST  A  BISHOP  OR  MINISTER. 

I.  As  the  honor  and  success  of  the  gospel  depend,  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, on  the  character  of  its  ministers,  each  Presbytery  ought,  with 
the  greatest  care  and  impartiality,  to  watch  over  the  personal  and  pro- 
fessional conduct  of  all  its  members.  But  as,  on  the  one  hand,  no 
minister  ought,  on  account  of  his  office,  to  be  screened  from  the  hand 
of  justice,  nor  his  offences  to  be  slightly  censured;  so  neither  ought 
scandalous  charges  to  be  received  against  him,  by  any  judicatory,  on 
slight  grounds. 

See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.,  and  Discij)liue, 
chap,  i.,  sec.  iii. 

II.  Process  against  a  gospel  minister  shall  always  be  entered  before 
the  Presbytery  of  which  he  is  a  member.  And  the  same  candor,  cau- 
tion, and  general  method,  substituting  only  the  Presbytery  for  the 
session,  are  to  be  observed  in  investigating  charges  against  him,  as 
are  prescribed  in  the  case  of  private  members. 

1.  Discipline  of  a  Minister  can  be  only  by  his  own  Presbytery. 

A  proposition  from  the  Presbytery  of  West  Lexington  and  Louisville, 
to  the  Assembly  to  authorize  them  to  prosecute  ministers  of  other  Presby- 
teries, who  may  preach  heresy  within  their  bounds,  was  taken  up  and 
read. 

Whereupon  it  was  resolved,  That  the  Constitution  in  sees,  ii.,  iii.  or  iv., 
of  chap,  v.,  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  contains  sufficient  provision  on  the 
subject  overtured, — 1835,  p.  476. 

2.  Even  when  Non-resident. 

a.  The  Presbytery  of  New  York  represented  to  Synod  that  one  of  their 
members  now  resided  in  the  bounds  of  New  Brunswick  Presbytery,  whose 
moral  character  labored  under  some  imputatione.,  and  requested  the  ad- 
vice of  Synod  as  to  which  of  the  Presbyteries  should  make  the  inquiry 
into  that  matter,  whereupon  the  Synod  judged  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York.— 1782,  p.  495. 

[See  under  v.,  iii.,  below.] 


518  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

b.  Difficulty  of  Process  does  not  relieve  the  Presbyter//  of  Besponsibility. — 
Discipline  by  Boards  of  Missions,  etc.,  not  Recognized. 

The  Committee  ou  the  Polity  of  the  Church  made  a  report,  which  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows  : 

The  Third  Presbytery  of  New  York,  by  overture,  inquire  what  order  it 
would  be  proper  for  them  to  take  with  reference  to  a  member  who  has 
been  excluded  from  Christian  fellowship  by  a  ministerial  association  under 
the  patronage  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  and  dismissed  from  the  service  of  that 
Board  for  immorality,  and  with  whom  a  regular  process  of  discipline  by 
the  Presbytery  is  difficult,  ou  account  of  his  distance  from  them  and  from 
any  ecclesiastical  body  of  our  connection.  The  General  Assembly  reply, 
that  the  ecclesiastical  relations  of  the  individual  in  question  evidently  re- 
main unchanged  by  the  action  of  persons  not  organized  under  any  dis- 
tinct form  of  government,  and  especially  not  guided  by  the  principles  of 
discipline  to  which  he  was  subject ;  and  the  only  correct  course  for  the 
Presbytery  to  take,  if  they  regard  him  as  a  proper  subject  of  discipline,  is 
to  pursue  precisely  the  forms  of  process  given  in  our  Book  of  Discipline, 
however  difficult  or  protracted  the  actual  process  may  be. — 1856,  p.  194, 
K  S. 

c.   The  Board's  Discretion  as  to  Expediency  of  Apjpointment. 

The  Committee,  to  whom  was  recommitted  the  report  ou  Overture  No. 
9,  made  the  following  report,  wdiich  was  adopted,  viz. : 

In  answer  to  the  questions  propounded  by  the  Presbyteries  of  Union 
and  French  Broad,  the  Assembly  would  say,  that  though  they  do  not 
recognize  in  the  Board  of  Missions  the  authority  to  sit  in  judgment  upou 
the  orthodoxy  or  morality  of  any  minister  who  is  in  good  standing  in  his 
own  Presbytery,  yet,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  they  must  exercise 
their  own  sound  discretion  upon  the  expediency  or  inexpediency  of  ap- 
pointing or  withholding  an  appointment  from  any  applicant,  holding  them- 
selves amenable  to  the  General  Assembly  for  all  their  official  acts. — 1830, 
p.  290. 

3.   On  Petition  for  Restoration.— Case  Transferred  to  the  Presby- 
tery in  "Which  the  Party  Resides, 

a.  Resolved,  That  the  case  of  Mr.  George  Bourne  be  referred  to  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York,  in  whose  bounds  he  now  resides;  and  it  is  hereby 
ordered  that  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  be  furnished  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Lexington  with  all  the  documents  relative  to  the  deposition  of  ]\Ir. 
Bourne ;  that  they  receive  testimony  as  to  the  character  and  deportment 
of  Mr.  Bourne  since  his  deposition,  and  also  the  evidences  of  repentance 
which  Mr.  Bourne  may  furnish.  And  it  is  ordered,  moreover,  that  the 
said  Presbytery  of  New  York  do  proceed  to  issue  the  case,  and  either 
continue  the  sentence  of  deposition  or  restore  him,  the  said  Bourue,  to 
the  gospel  ministry,  as  they  may  judge  proper. — 1824,  p.  124. 

b.  The  Judicial  Committee  presented  the  following  supplementary  re- 
port: 

10.  Case  of  C.  J.  Abbott.  In  the  year  1860,  Mr.  Abbott  was  tried,  on 
what  was  declared  to  be  a  charge  of  common  fame,  by  the  Presbytery  of 
St.  Louis,  and  deposed  from  his  office  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  The 
Synod,  at  a  meeting  in  the  same  year,  confirmed  the  action  of  the  Presby- 
tery. Mr.  Abbott  gave  notice  of  an  ai)peal  to  the  General  Assembly,  and 
the  papers  were  properly  authenticated,  and  sent  to  a  minister  who  had 
been  elected  a  Commissioner  to  the  next  Assembly,  who  promised  to  pre- 


OF   PROCESS    AGAINST   A   BISHOP   OR   MINISTER.  519 

sent  them ;  but  he  was  taken  sick,  so  that  he  could  not  attend,  and  neg- 
lected to  forward  them.  Soon  after,  Mr.  Abbott  had  paralysis,  and  ever 
since  has  been  feeble  and  poor,  so  that  the  case  was  not  prosecuted  before 
the  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis  withdrew  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  the  Synod  was  no  longer  in  existence  as  at  the  time  of 
his  trial. 

Mr.  Abbott  declares  his  personal  allegiance  to  this  Assembly,  as  far  as 
he  can  be  permitted  to  express  allegiance,  and  that,  had  he  remained  a 
member  of  the  Presbytery,  he  should  not  have  gone  with  the  majority; 
and  now  brings  this  statement,  and  various  papers  accompanying  it,  to 
this  Assembly,  for  consideration  with  a  view  to  his  relief 

From  these  papers  your  Committee  learn  the  following  facts  respecting 
his  trial  before  the  Presbytery : 

1.  While  the  charges  were  based  on  common  fame,  efforts  were  made 
for  more  than  a  year  to  obtain  some  basis  of  comj^laint ;  and  on  one  oc- 
casion, on  receipt  of  an  anonymous  letter  offering  to  give  information,  a 
Committee  was  appointed  "to  ferret  out"  the  matter  and  learn  grounds 
for  a  charge. 

2.  The  grounds  of  the  principal  charges  were  matters  of  from  eight  to 
ten  years'  standing. 

3.  Witnesses  were  called  and  allowed  to  testify,  whose  names  had  not 
been  given  the  defendant  in  the  citation,  and  against  his  protest.  In  one 
instance,  these  were  several  in  number. 

4.  Persons  prominent  in  the  prosecution  were  notoriously  prejudiced 
against  the  defendant. 

5.  Efforts  were  made  to  intimidate  those  who  might  be  inclined  to  sus- 
tain the  defendant. 

All  these  items  the  Committee  think  to  be  distinctly  opposed  to  the  in- 
structions of  our  Book  of  Discipline.  Moreover,  the  trial  was  at  an  ad- 
journed meeting,  when  comparatively  few  members  were  present ;  and  it 
was  prosecuted,  notwithstanding  his  physician  certified  that  Mr.  Abbott 
was  too  ill  to  attend  with  safety ;  and  questions  deemed  important  to  the 
cause  of  the  defendant  were  i-epeatedly  ruled  out. 

For  these  reasons,  the  Committee  recommend  that  Mr.  Abbott  have  a 
rehearing,  and  that  he  be  referred  to  the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland,  within 
the  bounds  of  which  he  now  resides,  with  instructions  to  that  Presbytery 
to  adjudicate  the  case. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1873,  p.  540. 

III.  If  it  be  found  that  the  facts  with  which  a  minister  stands 
charged,  happened  without  the  bounds  of  his  own  Presbytery,  that 
Presbytery  shall  send  notice  to  the  Presbytery,  within  whose  bounds 
they  did  happen,  and  desire  them  either  (if  within  convenient  dis- 
tance) to  cite  the  witnesses  to  appear  at  the  place  of  trial ;  or  (if  the 
distance  be  so  great  as  to  render  that  inconvenient)  to  take  the  exami- 
nation themselves,  and  transmit  an  autlientic  record  of  their  testi- 
mony :  always  giving  due  notice  to  the  accused  person  of  the  time 
and  place  of  such  examination. 

[See  the  case  of  Aaron  C.  Collins,  referred  by  the  Assembly  to  the 
General  Association  of  Connecticut,  1793,  p.  68.] 


520  OF   DISCIPLINE. 


1.  A  Suspended  Licentiate  can  be  Restored  only  by  the  Presby- 
tery -which  Suspended  him.— Another  may  take  Testimony. 

The  Committee,  to  which  was  referred  the  statement  of  the  commis- 
sioner from  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  respecting  a  licentiate  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  who  had  been  suspended,  both  from  the  privilege 
of  preaching  the  gospel,  and  from  the  enjoyment  of  the  sealing  ordinances 
of  God's  house,  reported  the  following  resolution,  which  being  read,  was 
adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  only  correct  mode  to  be  pursued  by  the  licentiate,  in 
oi'der  to  obtain  restoration  to  his  former  standing,  is  to  make  direct  appli- 
cation to  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell;  and  that  the  Presbytery  of  Fay-- 
etteville  may,  with  propriety,  collect  and  transmit  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Hopewell,  any  testimony,  touching  the  moral  character  of  said  licentiate, 
while  living  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  when- 
ever requested  by  either  the  licentiate  or  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell. — 
1822,  p.  39. 

[See  above,  under  sec.  ii.,  1835,  p.  476.] 

2.  Such  Presbytery  has  no  Power  to  Try,  but  only  to  take  Testi- 
mony. 

2.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  the  Presbyteries  both  of  Har- 
mony and  Steubenville  appear  to  have  misconceived  the  directions  as  laid 
down  in  chap,  v.,  selcs.  iii.,  iv.,  of  the  Book  of  Discipline ;  inasmuch  as 
those  rules  do  not  transfer  jurisdiction  from  a  Presbytery  to  which  a  min- 
ister belongs,  to  the  one  within  whose  bounds  he  resides,  so  as  to  authorize 
the  latter  Presbytery  to  try  such  minister ;  but  only  to  examine  witnesses 
in  the  case,  and  transmit  an  authentic  record  of  the  testimony  to  the  Pres- 
bytery which  made  the  application  ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  is  at  liberty  to  pursue 
such  a  course  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Belknap  as  the  circunistances  of  the  case 
and  the  good  of  religion  shall  in  their  opinion  require. — 1831,  p.  339. 

IV.  Nevertheless,  in  case  of  a  minister  being  supposed  to  be  guilty 
of  a  crime,  or  crimes,  at  such  a  distance  from  his  usual  place  of  resi- 
dence, as  that  the  offence  is  not  likely  to  become  otherwise  known  to 
the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs ;  it  shall,  in  such  case,  be  the 
duty  of  the  Presbytery  w^ithin  whose  bounds  the  facts  shall  have  hap- 
pened, after  satisfying  themselves  that  there  is  probable  ground  of 
accusation,  to  send  notice  to  the  Presbytery  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
who  are  to  proceed  against  him,  and  either  send  and  take  the  testimony 
them.selves,  by  a  commission  of  their  own  body,  or  request  the  other 
Presbytery  to  take  it  for  them,  and  transmit  the  same,  properly 
authenticated. 

See  above,  under  sec.  iii.,  1835,  p.  476 ;  1831,  p.  339. 

Duty  of  a  Presbytery  to  give  Notice  of  an  Offence. 

Overture  No.  6.  From  the  Presbytery  of  Rock  River,  being  a  question 
of  interpretation  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  v.,  sec.  iv. 

The  Committee  recommends  the  following  answer : 


OF   PEOCESS   AGAINST   A   BISHOP   OR   MINISTER.  521 

When  it  is  alleged  that  a  minister  has  committed  an  offence  in  the 
bounds  of  a  Presbytery  of  which  he  is  not  a  member,  the  Presbytery  in 
the  bounds  of  which  it  is  alleged  the  offence  was  committed,  has  performed 
its  entire  duty  in  the  premises  when  it  notifies  the  Presbytery  to  which  he 
belongs  of  the  allegation  and  the  grounds  on  which  the  allegation  is  based. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1 869,  p.  922,  O.  S. 

V.  Process  against  a  gospel  minister  shall  not  be  commenced, 
unless  some  person  or  persons  undertake  to  make  out  the  charge ;  or 
unless  common  fame  so  loudly  proclaims  the  scandal,  that  the  Pres- 
bytery find  it  necessary,  for  the  honor  of  religion,  to  investigate  the 
charge. 

An  Action  Based  on  Common  Fame  Sustained. — Informalities 
Waived  by  Act  of  the  Accused. 

Eev.  Samuel  Boyd  appealed  from  the  Synod  of  Wheeling  sustaining 
the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville.  The  Assembly  appointed  a  commission 
to  hear  and  report  on  the  testimony.  Against  this  Mr.  Boyd  remonstrated. 
The  report  of  the  commission  was  adopted  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  main  objection  made  by  the  appellant  is  that  there  were  not  written 
charges  made  against  him  as  part  of  the  process. 

It  appears  from  the  testimony  and  records — 

1.  That  Mr.  Boyd  was  living  separate  from  his  wife  on  account  of  domes- 
tic difficulties ;  that  this  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  St.  Clairsville 
Presbytery  by  common  tame  ;  that  Mr.  Boyd  by  common  fame  was  charged 
with  unkiuduess  and  severity  toward  his  wife ;  that  he  requested  the  Pres- 
bytery to  take  the  case  and  investigate  it,  after  an  ineffectual  attempt  had 
been  made  by  the  Presbytery  to  settle  the  difficulty. 

2.  That  witnesses  were  cited ;  that  the  trial  was  commenced  by  the 
Presbytery,  Mr.  Boyd  being  present;  that  the  written  charge  on  the  rec- 
ords on  Avhich  the  trial  proceeded  was,  "  that  common  fame  charges  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Boyd  with  living  in  a  state  of  separation  from  his  wife;" 
that  a  number  of  witnesses  were  examined  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Boyd,  and 
in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Boyd ;  that  he  cross-examined  said  witnesses ;  that 
Mr.  Boyd  also  cited  and  examined  a  number  of  witnesses  on  his  own 
behalf;  that  it  nowhere  appears  on  the  records  that  he  objected  to  pro- 
ceeding without  more  formal  charges. 

The  commission  are,  therefore,  of  the  opinion  that  Mr.  Boyd  waived,  by 
his  own  acts,  and  led  the  Presbytery  to  believe  that  he  waived,  all  infor- 
malities in  the  proceedings  antecedent  to  the  trial. 

The  commission  are  also  oT  the  opinion  that  the  record  and  the  defence 
of  Mr.  Boyd  show  plainly  what  the  charges  were.  They  are  also  of  the 
opinion  that  the  testimony  sustains  fully  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  of 
Wheeling,  which  was  unanimous. 

The  commission  are,  therefore,  of  the  opinion  that  the  appeal  should  be 
dismissed,  and  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Wheeling  confirmed.  This 
report  is  agreed  upon  unanimously  by  the  commission. — 1866,  j).  74,  O.  S. 

VI.  As  the  success  of  the  gospel  greatly  depends  upon  the  exem- 
plary character  of  its  ministers,  their  soundness  in  the  faith,  and  holy 
conversation ;  and  as  it  is  the  duty  of  all  Christians  to  be  very  cau- 
tious in  taking  up  an  ill  report  of  any  man,  but  especially  of  a  min- 
es 


622  OF  DISCIPLI^'E. 

ister  of  the  gospel :  therefore,  if  any  man  knows  a  minister  to  be 
guilty  of  a  private,  censurable  fault,  he  should  Marn  him  in  private. 
But,  if  the  guilty  person  persist  in  his  fault,  or  it  become  ])ublic,  he 
who  knows  it  should  apply  to  some  other  bishop  of  the  Presbytery 
for  his  advice  in  the  case. 

1.  The  Character  of  One  Absent  and  not  on  Trial  not  to  be  Im- 
peached. 

Besolved,  That  no  discussion  ought  to  be  allowed  which  may  involve  the 
character  of  Mr.  jNIcDowell  in  his  absence. — 1823,  p.  74. 
See  under  vii.,  below. 

VII.  The  prosecutor  of  a  minister  shall  be  previously  warned, 
that,  if  he  fail  to  prove  the  charges,  he  must  himself  be  censured  as 
a  slanderer  of  the  gospel  ministry,  in  proportion  to  the  malignancy, 
or  rashness,  that  shall  appear  in  the  prosecution. 

2.  Failure  to  prove  Charges  involves  Censure  for  Slander. 

a.  The  unfinished  business  of  Saturday,  viz..  an  appeal  by  Mr.  "William 
L.  McCulla  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  in  which  decision 
the  Synod  declared,  that  Mr.  McCalla  had  failed  to  prove  certain  charges 
which  he  had  brought  against  the  Rev.  James  Blythe,  was  resumed,  and 
the  appellant  was  heard  till  he  declared  himself  satisfied.     On  motion. 

Resolved,  That  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  with  respect  to 
the  charges  brought  by  Mr.  William  L.  McCalla  against  the  Rev.  James 
Blythe,  be  and  it  hereby  is  affirmed. — 1815,  p.  596. 

h.  The  complaint  of  J.  W.  Davidson,  W.  C.  Koous  and  J.  McElhinny, 
against  the  Synod  of  Baltimore. 

This  case  originated  in  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  as  the  result  of  the 
trial  of  a  minister,  by  which  the  complainants  were  severely  censured  for 
presenting  a  certain  paper  containing  allegations  against  the  character  of 
the  said  minister,  which  allegations,  though  not  tabled  as  charges,  were 
adjudged  to  be  slanderous. 

The  parties  censured  complained  to  the  Synod  of  Baltimore,  and  the 
complaint  was  "sustained  in  part,"  by  a  vote  of  17  to  12. 

The  Synod,  in  its  final  minute,  still  inflict  a  modified  censure,  of  which 
the  said  "Davidson,  Koons  and  IMcElhinny  complained  to  the  last  General 
Assend)ly.  This  last  complaint  was  laid  "over  to  this  Assembly,  to  enable 
the  complainants  to  correct  an  informality ;  which  they  have  since  done. 

The  Committee  report  the  case  in  order,  and  recommend  that  it  be  taken 
up  according  to  the  directions  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  as  follows : 

1.  Read  the  judgment  complained  of 

2.  Read  the  complaint. 

3.  Read  the  paper  referred  to  in  the  judgment  of  the  Synod,  of  which 
they  complain. 

The  Conunittee  recommend,  that  the  only  part  of  the  record  to  be  read 
in  evidence  be  the  pai)er  originally  read  to"  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  at 
Newville  ;  and  this  nuiy  be  waived  by  the  parties  agreeing  ;^  that  the  paper 
contains  charges,  which,  if  true,  would  be  scandalous.  This  recommen- 
dation is  based  on  the  following  reasons: 

1.  That  it  is  found  by  the  Synod,  in  their  judgment,  that  the  paper  pre- 


OF   PROCESS   AGAINST   A   BISHOP   OR  MINISTER.  523 

sented  by  complainants  was  so  pi'eseuted  by  them  witliout  their  being  pre- 
pared to  table  charges,  or  to  appear  as  prosecutors,  and  that  they  refused 
to  appear  as  accusers  after  having  presented  such  a  papex". 

II.  In  the  complaint  presented  to  us,  these  findings  of  the  Synod  are 
admitted,  in  that  the  complainants  allege  (as  the  ground  of  their  complaint 
in  this  regard)  that  the  Synod  decided  that  the  paper  presented  at  Newville 
by  the  complainants,  was  of  such  a  character  that  it  should  not  have  been 
presented,  unless  the  parties  presenting  it  were  prepared  to  table  charges 
upon  it;  when,  in  fact,  as  they  allege,  it  was  but  an  offer  to  aid  Presby- 
tery in  investigating  the  difficulty  in  the  congregation  of  Big  Spring,  to 
which  complainants  belonged,  and  not  as  the  ground  of  charges.  Thus 
it  will  be  seen  that  they  not  only  admit  such  findings  of  the  Synod,  but 
distinctly  allege  another  and  different  reason  in  justification  of  such  pre- 
sentation, viz.,  that  it  was  but  an  offer  to  aid  Presbytery,  etc. 

III.  If  it  be  claimed,  on  the  second  ground  of  appeal,  that  the  testi- 
mony adduced  on  the  original  trial  be  read  before  the  Assembly,  then  we 
say  that  it  should  not  be  read,  for  the  following  reasons : 

1.  The  accused  minister,  after  a  trial  (declared  by  the  Synod  to  be  fair 
and  impartial)  was  acquitted  by  the  Presbytery,  and  no  appeal  was  taken 
from  such  judgment  of  acquittal ;  so  that  the  same  thereby  long  since 
became  final  and  absolute,  and  this  Assembly  has  no  power  to  reverse  this 
judgment  of  the  Presbytery,  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  these  complain- 
ants from  the  censure  of  the  Synod ;  to  do  so  would  be  to  pronounce  two 
conflicting  and  contrary  judgments  upon  the  same  evidence. 

2.  Because  it  has  been  already  adjudicated,  in  the  case  of  William  S. 
McDowell  (Assembly's  Digest,  Rev.  Ed.,  p.  159),  that  "no  discussion 
ought  to  be  allowed  (involving  the  character  of  an  absent  person)  in  his 
absence,"  much  more  should  this  rule  be  applied  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
remaining  record,  in  this  case,  from  its  peculiar  character,  and  all  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  it. 

Resolved,  That  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  of  Baltimore  be  sustained 
pro  forma,  and  that  the  following  paper  of  E.  Thompson  Baird  be  admitted 
to  record,  viz. : 

The  undersigned,  counsel  appointed  to  manage  the  case  of  Davidson, 
Koons  and  McElhinny,  versus  the  Synod  of  Baltimore,  begs  leave  to 
submit,  that  through  an  oversight  of  the  complainants  in  stating  their 
causes  of  complaint  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  account  of  the  rulings  of 
the  Assembly  as  to  technical  points  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible  for 
the  case  to  come  before  this  body  on  its  merits.  The  complaint  ought  to 
have  brought  up  the  whole  proceedings  in  the  courts  below,  in  order  to  a 
judgment  on  their  regularity  as  well  as  justice;  but  by  an  omission  of 
the  complainants,  in  stating  the  grounds  of  their  complaint,  this  matter 
cannot  be  reached.  The  second  cause  of  complaint  is  ruled  out,  because 
it  requires  a  cross  issue,  involving  the  rights  of  a  party  not  involved  in 
the  case.  And  the  first  cause  of  complaint — i.  e.,  as  to  the  rights  of  the 
complainants  to  place  on  the  table  of  Presbytery  the  statement  alluded 
to — cannot  be  justly  investigated  without  taking  up  all  the  records  and 
ascertaining  all  the  circumstances  which  led  to  its  presentation.  Under 
the  rulings  of  this  house  this  cannot  be  done,  since  it  would  involve  an 
absent  party.  We  are  thus  on  technical  grounds  shut  out  from  a  full 
presentation  of  the  case.  All  that  is  left  for  us  is  to  request  the  Assembly 
to  admit  this  paper  to  record  as  our  reason  for  waiving  a  trial,  and  agree- 
ing that  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  of  Baltimore  be  sustained  ^jro/onua. 

E.  T.  BAIRD,  0)1  behalf  of  Complainants. 

—1860,  pp.  31  and  35,  O.  S. 


524  OF  DISCIPLINE. 


3.  Censure  for  Slander  may  be  Reached  only  after  Trial, 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  Judicial  Case  No.  7,  being  "  a 
complaint  of  the  Rev.  John  Crozier  and  the  Rev.  John  Mack  against  the 
decision  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,"  report  the  following  minute  as  the 
deliverance  of  the  Assembly. 

That  the  irregularities  which  the  Synod  made  the  ground  of  their  decis- 
ion, and  of  sustaining  the  complaint  against  the  action  of  Presbytery,  were 
not  such  as  to  invalidate  the  decision  of  Presbytery,  except  in  resolution 
6th,  and  that  therefore  the  complaint  be  sustained,  and  the  action  of  Pres- 
bytery be  reaffirmed,  except  resolution  6th.  As  to  the  character  and 
truthfulness  of  that  resolution  the  Assembly  expresses  no  opinion  but  that 
the  action  of  Presbytery  was  thereon  extra-judicial. 

Our  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  v.,  sec.  vii.,  pronounces  a  man  a  slan- 
derer who  fails  on  trial  to  make  good  his  charges. 

S.  L.  Hobson  was  censured  as  a  slanderer  without  the  court  reaching 
by  trial  the  point  contemplated  in  our  Book. — 1867,  p.  355,  Oi  S. 

.  VIII.  When  complaint  is  laid  before  the  Presbytery,  it  must  be 
reduced  to  writing ;  and  nothing  further  is  to  be  done  at  the  first 
meeting,  (unless  by  consent  of  parties,)  than  giving  the  minister  a 
full  copy  of  the  charges,  with  the  names  of  the  witnesses  annexed ; 
and  citing  all  parties,  and  their  witnesses,  to  appear  and  be  heard  at 
the  next  meeting ;  which  meeting  shall  not  be  sooner  than  ten  days 
after  such  citation. 

IX.  When  a  member  of  a  church  judicatory  is  under  process,  it 
shall  be  discretionary  with  the  judicatory,  whether  his  privileges  of 
deliberating  and  voting,  as  a  member,  in  other  matters,  shall  be  sus- 
pended until  the  process  is  finally  issued,  or  not. 

1.  Suspension  from  the  Ministry  during  Process. 

a.  Overtured,  that  a  Committee  be  sent  to  Rehoboth,  with  full  power 
from  the  Synod  to  act  in  their  names  and  by  their  authority,  in  the  affair 
between  Mr.  Clement  and  that  people ;  and  that  JNIr.  Clement  be  sus- 
pended from  the  exercise  of  his  ministry,  until  the  determination  of  that 
Committee.  This  overture  was  carried  by  a  vote  in  the  affirmative, 
nemine  coniradicente. — 1720,  p.  62. 

b.  The  consideration  of  Mr.  Alexander  Miller's  complaint  resumed,  and 
upon  full  inquiry  the  Synod  conclude  that,  as  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover 
are  not  present,  and  it  has  not  been  made  to  appear  before  us  that  they 
were  cited  to  be  present,  or  informed  that  Mr.  Alexander  Miller  intended 
to  lodge  a  complaint  against  them  before  the  Synod  at  this  time,  we  cannot 
now  enter  upon  the  consideration  of  the  merits  of  the  complaint,  but  order 
both  the  Presbytery  and  iMr.  Alexander  ]\Iiller  to  attend  our  next  Synod, 
prepared  for  a  full  hearing,  and  in  the  mean  time,  on  account  of  Mr.  Mil- 
ler's unjustifiable  delay  for  some  years  to  enter  his  complaint  before  us, 
the  irregularity  of  his  proceedings  during  that  time,  and  the  atrocious  na- 
ture of  the  crimes  laid  to  his  charge,  we  do  hereby  declare  him  suspended 
from  the  exercise  of  the  ministerial  office  till  his  complaint  can  be  fully 
heard.— 1769,  p.  396. 


OF   PROCESS   AGAIXST   A   BISHOP   OR   MINISTER.  525 

2.  Suspension  from  Privileges  of  Membership. 

a.  That  as  citation  on  the  foregoing  plan  is  the  commencement  of  a 
process  involving  the  right  of  membership  in  the  Assembly,  therefore — 

Remlved,  That,  agreeably  to  a  principle  laid  down,  chap,  v.,  sec.  ix.,  of 
the  Form  of  Government,  the  meml^ers  of  said  judicatories  be  excluded 
from  a  seat  in  the  next  Assem])lY  until  their  case  shall  he  decided. 

Adopted  by  yeas  128,  nays  122.— 1837,  p.  425. 

See  above,  under  iv.,  xviii. 

h.  The  Assembly  of  1866,  O.  S.,  excluded  the  commissioners  from 
Louisville  Presbytery  from  a  seat  until  the  Assembly  should  decide  upon 
the  conduct  of  their  Presbytery. — 1866,  p.  12.  See  Form  of  Government, 
chap,  xii.,  sec.  v. 

X.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  the  charges  shall  be  read 
to  him,  and  he  shall  be  called  upon  to  say  whether  he  is  guilty  or 
not.  If  he  confess,  and  the  matter  be  base  and  flagitious;  such  as 
drunkenness,  uncleanness,  or  crimes  of  a  higher  nature,  however  pen- 
itent he  may  appear,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all,  the  Presbytery  must, 
without  delay,  suspend  him  from  the  exercise  of  his  office,  or  depose 
him  from  the  ministry ;  and,  if  the  way  be  clear  for  the  purpose,  ap- 
point him  a  due  time  to  confess  publicly  before  the  congregation  of- 
fended, and  to  profess  his  penitence. 

XI.  If  a  minister  accused  of  atrocious  crimes,  being  twice  duly 
cited,  shall  refuse  to  attend  the  Presbytery,  he  shall  be  immediately 
suspended.  And  if,  after  another  citation,  he  still  refuse  to  attend, 
he  shall  be  deposed  as  contumacious. 

XII.  If  the  minister,  when  he  appears,  will  not  confess,  but  denies 
the  facts  alleged  against  him;  if,  on  hearing  the  witnesses,  the  charges 
appear  important,  and  well  supported,  the  Presbytery  must,  neverthe- 
less, censure  him ;  and  admonish,  suspend,  or  depose  him,  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  offence. 

XIII.  Heresy  and  schism  may  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to  infer  dep- 
osition ;  but  errors  ought  to  be  carefully  considered ;  whether  they 
strike  at  the  vitals  of  religion,  and  are  industriously  spread ;  or, 
whether  they  arise  from  the  weakness  of  the  human  understanding, 
and  are  not  likely  to  do  much  injury. 

XIV.  A  minister,  under  process  for  heresy,  or  schism,  should  be 
treated  with  Christian  and  brotherly  tenderness.  Frequent  confer- 
ences ought  to  be  held  with  him,  and  proper  admonitions  adminis- 
tered. For  some  more  dangerous  errors,  however,  suspension  may 
become  necessary. 

[See  ease  of  Alexander  Craighead,  under  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v.,  Form  of 
Government.] 

XV.  If  the  Presbytery  find,  on  trial,  that  the  matter  complained 


526  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

of  araoimts  to  no  more  than  such  acts  of  infirmity  as  may  be  amended, 
and  the  people  satisfied ;  so  that  little  or  nothing  remains  to  hinder 
his  usefulness,  they  shall  take  all  prudent  measures  to  remove  the 
offence. 

XVI.  A  minister  deposed  for  scandalous  conduct,  shall  not  be  re- 
stored, even  on  the  deepest  sorrow  for  his  sin,  until  after  some  time 
of  eminent  and  exemplary,  humble  and  edifying  conversation,  to  heal 
the  wound  made  by  his  scandal.  And  he  ought  in  no  case  to  be  re- 
stored, until  it  shall  appear,  that  the  sentiments  of  the  religious  pub- 
lic are  strongly  in  his  favor,  and  demand  his  restoration. 

1.  Restoration  of  a  Deposed  Minister— Caution  Enjoined. 

a.  An  extract  from  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  was  laid 
before  the  Assembly  and  read.  From  this  and  the  exphmation  given,  it 
api^eared  that  a  certain  Aaron  C.  Collins,  formerly  a  member  of  that  Pres- 
bytery, had  been  deposed  by  them  from  the  ofiice  of  the  gospel  ministry ; 
that  the  crimes  for  which  he  was  deposed  were  scandalous  and  highly  ag- 
gravated ;  that  his  submission  to  the  sentence  of  deposition  had  been  only 
partial ;  he  having  exercised  the  functions  of  a  gospel  minister  during  a 
part  of  the  time  he  lay  under  the  sentence;  that  Mr.  Collins  had  lately 
applied  to  that  Presbytery  to  restore  him  to  his  office,  and  certain  circum- 
stances were  stated  as  evidences  of  his  penitence.  The  Presbytery  there- 
fore requested  the  advice  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  premises.  And 
as  the  principal  crime  for  which  INIr.  Collins  had  been  deposed  was  com- 
mitted within  the  limits  of  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  which 
had  formerly  taken  cognizance  of  the  offence,  the  Presbytery  requested 
the  co-operation  of  the  Assembly  for  bringing  the  case  before  the  Associa- 
tion for  their  advice. 

The  Assembly  having  taken  this  subject  into  consideration,  and  obtained 
the  necessary  information, 

Resolved,  1.  That  they  cannot  advise  the  Pi-esbytery  of  New  York  to 
restore  Mr.  Collins  under  existing  circumstances. 

2.  That  this  Assembly  comply  with  the  latter  request  made  by  the  Pres*- 
bytery  of  New  York;  they  accordingly  did,  and  hereby  do  enjoin  it  ou  their 
delegates  to  the  next  General  Association,  to  take  the  necessary  measures 
for  bringing  this  subject  before  that  body,  for  their  advice. — 1805,  p.  335. 

b.  The  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  having  taken  into  consider- 
ation the  case  of  Mr.  Aaron  C.  Collins,  who  has  been  deposed  from  the 
office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  on  account  of  an  aggravated  sin,  by  which  he 
has  brought  scandal  on  himself  and  the  ministry,  and  having  attended  to 
documents  and  vouchers  presented  by  the  delegates  from  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  were  hajipy  to  hear  the  profession  of 
j)enitence  made  by  Mr.  Collins,  and  the  testimony  by  which  it  was  accom- 
panied to  prove  it  sincere. 

Put  as  it  api)eared  that  he  had  only  partially  submitted  to  the  sentence 
of  deposition,  and  continued  during  part  of  the  time  he  lay  under  censure 
to  exercise  the  functions  of  a  gospel  minister,  and  that  he  had  made  uo 
retraction  for  such  disorderly  conduct,  therefore  they  agree  with  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  under  existing  circum- 
stances, it  would  not  be  conducive  to  the  interests  of  religion  for  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York  to  restore  Mr.  Collins  to  the  office  of  the  gospel 
ministry. 


OF   PROCESS  AGAINST   A    BISHOP   OR  MINISTER.  527 

Extracts  from  the  doings  of  the  General  Association,  at  their  annual 
session  in  Guildford,  Connecticut,  June  18,  1805. 

Calvin  Chapin,        |  ^^^.^^^  ^j  Association. 
OAMUEL  Goodrich,  J  -' 

—1806,  p.  349. 

2.  Presbytery  other  than  that  which  Deposed,  Authorized  to 

Restore. 

Petitions  from  the  churches  at  Mount  Pleasant  and  Greensburg,  in  New 
York,  and  from  five  ministers  of  the  gospel  residing  in  the  vicinity  of  iNIr. 
George  Bourne,  requesting  that  jNIr.  Bourne  might  be  restored  to  the  office 
of  the  gospel  ministry,  were  overtured,  and  application  on  behalf  of  Mr. 
Bourne  was  made  by  Dr.  Ely,  that  on  the  profession  of  his  penitence  he 
may  be  restored  :— Whereupon  it  was 

kemlved.  That  the  case  of  Mr.  George  Bourne  be  referred  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York,  in  whose  bounds  he  now  resides ;  and  it  is  hereby 
ordered,  that  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  be  furnished  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Lexington,  with  all  the  documents  relative  to  the  position  of  Mr. 
Bourne;  that  they  receive  testimony  as  to  the  character  and  deportment 
of  Mr.  Bourne  since  his  deposition,  and  also  the  evidences  of  repentance 
which  Mr.  Bourne  may  furnish.  And  it  is  ordered,  moreover,  that  the  said 
Presbytery  of  New  York  do  proceed  to  issue  the  case,  and  either  continue 
the  sentence  of  deposition,  or  restore  him,  the  said  Bourne,  to  the  gospel 
ministry,  as  they  may  judge  proper. — 1824,  p.  124. 

3.  The  Assembly  Recommends  Restoration,  the  End  of  DiscipHne 

being  gained. 

Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  memorialist  be  granted  so  far  as  that 
this  General  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  to 
I'ecousider  their  decision  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen;  and 
if,  in  their  judgment,  it  should  appear  conducive  to  the  peace  of  the  Church, 
and  the  promotion  of  religion  in  the  region  around  them,  to  restore  Mr. 
McQueen  to  the  communion  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  exercise  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  gospel  ministry,  on  the  ground  that  in  his  case  the  ends  of 
discipline  are  attained  by  the  operation  of  the  sentence  under  which  Mr. 
McQueen  has  been  lying  for  a  period  of  three  years. — 1845,  p.  32,  0.  S. 

4.  Deposition  and  Excommunication,  Distinct  Acts. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  are  approved,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  resolution,  which  declares  that  a  deposed  minister  ought  to  be 
treated  as  an  excommunicated  person.  In  the  judgment  of  this  Assem- 
bly, the  deposition  and  excommunication  of  a  minister  are  distinct  things, 
not  necessarily  connected  with  each  otlier,  but  when  connected,  ought  to 
be  inflicted  by  the  Presbytery,  to  whom  the  power  of  judging  and  censur- 
ing ministers  properly  belongs. — 1814,  p.  549. 

b.  Resolved,  That  though  the  cau.ses  which  provoke  deposition  are  almost 
always  such  as  to  involve  the  propriety  of  exclusion  from  the  sacraments, 
yet  the  two  sentences  are  not  essentially  the  same,  the  one  having  reference 
to  office,  and  the  other  to  the  rights  of  membership ;  and,  therefore.  Pres- 
byteries should  be  explicit  in  stating  both,  when  they  mean  both.  When, 
however,  a  Presbytery  interpret  deposition  to  involve  suspensi(jn  from  the 
sacraments,  and  pronounce  the  censure  \v  that  sense,  the  sentence  obvi- 
ously includes  both. — 1848,  p.  34,  O,  S. 


628  OF  DISCIPLINE. 

6.  A  Suspended  Minister  may  not  Exercise  any  Function  of  the 

Ministry. 

1.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  when  regularly  .stispended  by  the  competent  judicatories  have  no 
right  to  exercise  the  fuuctious  of  a  minister  duriug  that  suspension. — 1825, 
p.  156. 

6.  Does  not  Rank  as  a  "Common  Christian  in  Good  Standing." 

Mr.  Foreman,  being  suspended  from  the  ministry,  ought  by  no  means 
to  be  considered  as  occupying  the  ground  of  a  "common  Christian  in  good 
standing." — 1821,  p.  15. 

7.  The  Names  of  Deposed  Ministers  in  Certain  Cases  to  be 

Published. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care 
of  the  Geueral  Assembly,  when  they  shall  depose  any  of  their  members 
from  the  exercise  of  the  ministerial  ofRce;  and  when  any  person  so  deposed 
shall,  without  having  been  regularly  restored,  assume  the  ministerial  cha- 
racter, or  attempt  to  exercise  any  of  the  ministerial  functions;  that  in  such 
case,  with  a  view  to  prevent  such  deposed  person  from  imposing  himself 
on  the  churches,  Presbyteries  be  careful  to  have  his  name  published  in  the 
Assembly's  magazine,  as  deposed  from  the  ministry,  that  all  the  churches 
may  be  enabled  to  guard  themselves  against  such  dangerous  impositions. — 
1806,  p.  360. 

XVII.  As  soon  as  a  minister  is  deposed,  his  congregation  shall  be 
declared  vacant. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


OF   WITNESSES. 


I.  Judicatories  ought  to  be  very  careful  and  impartial  in  receiv- 
ing testimony.  All  persons  are  not  competent  as  witnesses:  and  all 
who  arc  competent  arc  not  credible. 

II.  A  competent  witness  is  one  who  ought  to  be  admitted  and 
heard.  Tlio  competency  of  a  witness  may  be  affected  by  In's  want  of 
the  proper  age ;  by  a  want  of  any  of  the  senses  essential  to  a  know- 
ledge of  the  matter  which  he  is  called  to  establish ;  by  weakness  of 
understanding;  by  inflimy  of  character;  by  being  under  Church  cen- 
sure for  falsehood  or  perjury;  by  nearness  of  relationship  to  any  of 
the  parties;  and  by  a  variety  of  considerations  which  cannot  be  speci- 
fied in  detail. 


OF    WITNESSES.  529 

A  Prosecutor  on  Common  Fame  is  not  Debarred  from  Testifying. 

[Exceptions  to  Records  of  Synod  of  Philadelphia.]  Page  18,  Res.  2d, 
decides,  That  a  prosecutor  cannot  be  a  witness  in  the  same  case ;  whereas 
a  prosecutor  in  Behalf  of  common  fame  is  not  excluded  from  bearing  tes- 
timony, nor  does  our  Book  exclude  any  prosecutor  from  bearing  testimony 
on  either  side  of  a  case  pending.  MS.  endorsement  on  Synod  Book. — 
1858,  p.  298,  O.  S. 

III.  Where  there  is  room  for  doubt  with  regard  to  any  of  these 
points,  either  party  has  a  right  to  challenge  witnesses ;  and  the  ju- 
dicatory shall  candidly  attend  to  the  exceptions,  and  decide  upon 
them. 

IV.  The  credibility  of  a  witness,  or  the  degree  of  credit  due  to 
his  testimony,  may  be  affected  by  relationship  to  any  of  the  parties ; 
by  deep  interest  in  the  result  of  the  trial ;  by  general  rashness,  indis- 
cretion, or  malignity  of  character;  and  by  various  other  circum- 
stances; to  which  judicatories  shall  carefully  attend,  and  for  which 
they  shall  make  all  proper  allowance  in  their  decision. 

Both  Husband  and  "Wife  may  be  AUo^wed  to  Testify  -where  either 

is  Interested. 

The  Assembly  went  into  the  consideration  of  the  case  reported  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Ohio,  which  was  in  the  following  terms:  "A  certain  mar- 
ried woman  charges  an  unmarried  man  with  immodest  conversation  and 
conduct  in  attempts  upon  her  chastity,  of  which  her  husband  and  another, 
or  indiflereut  person,  were  at  a  certain  time  witnesses.  Whereas  our  Con- 
stitution declares  that  a  person  accused  shall  not  be  convicted  by  a  single 
witness,  can  the  said  woman  and  her  husband  be  admitted  witnesses  in  the 
above  case  ? 

To  the  above  question  the  Assembly  answered,  that  in  all  such  cases  as 
that  submitted  by  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  it  is  a  principle  that  both  the 
husband  and  wife  are  to  be  admitted  to  give  testimony.  But  in  every 
particular  case  as  it  occurs,  the  judicature  before  whom  it  is  tried,  ought, 
in  order  to  guard  against  collusion,  to  pay  a  very  scrupulous  regard  to  all 
the  circumstances  attending  it,  and  especially  to  the  characters  of  those 
who  are  admitted  as  evidences,  so  that  on  one  hand  the  necessity  of  the 
case  may  be  consulted,  and  on  the  other,  that  no  injury  may  result  to  an 
innocent  person. — 1797,  p.  128. 

V.  A  husband  or  wife  shall  not  be  compelled  to  bear  testimony 
against  each  other  in  any  judicatory. 

[See  above,  sec.  iv.] 

VI.  The  testimony  of  more  than  one  witness  is  necessary  in  order 
to  establish  any  charge ;  yet,  if  several  credible  witnesses  bear  testi- 
mony to  different  similar  acts,  belonging  to  the  same  general  charge, 
the  crime  shall  be  considered  as  proved. 

VII.  No  witness,  afterward  to  be  examined,  except  a  member  of 
67 


530  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

the  judicatory,  shall  be  present  during  the  examination  of  another 
witness  on  the  same  ease,  unless  by  consent  of  parties. 

VIII.  To  prevent  confusion,  witnesses  shall  be  examined  first  by 
the  party  introducing  them ;  then  cross-examined  by  the  opposite 
party;  after  which  any  member  of  the  judicatory,  or  either  party, 
may  put  additional  interrogatories.  But  no  question  shall  be  put,  or 
answered,  except  by  permission  of  the  moderator. 

IX.  The  oath  or  affirmation  to  a  witness,  shall  be  administered  by 
the  moderator,  in  the  following  or  like  terms:  "You  solemnly  prom- 
ise, in  the  presence  of  the  omniscient  and  heart-searching  God,  that 
you  will  declare  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the 
truth,  according  to  the  best  of  your  knowledge,  in  the  matter  in 
which  you  are  called  to  witness,  as  you  shall  answer  it  to  the  great 
Judge  of  quick  and  dead." 

1.  The  Authority  for  Administering  a  Judicial  Oath. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  draft  an  answer  to  the  following  question, 
overtured  from  the  Presbytery  of  Georgia,  viz. :  "Whence  do  the  General 
Assembly  derive  authority  to  empower  the  moderator  of  a  church  session 
to  administer  an  oath?"  reported  the  following,  which  was  adopted,  viz.: 
"An  oath  for  confirmation,  (saith  the  Apostle,)  is  to  men,  an  end  of  all 
strife,"  Heb.  vi.  16.  It  is  a  solemn  afiirnuition,  wherein  we  appeal  to  God, 
as  the  witness  of  the  truth  of  what  we  say;  and  with  an  imprecation  of 
his  vengeance  if  what  we  affirm  is  false,  or  what  we  promise  be  not  per- 
formed. Its  force  results  from  a  belief  that  God  will  punish  false  swear- 
ing with  more  severity,  than  a  simple  lie,  or  breach  of  promise ;  because 
perjury  is  a  sin  of  greater  deliberation,  and  violates  superior  confidence. 

That  oaths  are  lawful  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  our  Lord,  when  in- 
terrogated on  certain  occasions,  answered  upon  oath.  See  Matt.  xxvi. 
63,  64.  Paul  also  uses  several  expressions  which  contain  the  nature  of  an 
oath.  See  Rom.  i.  9,  ix,  1 ;  1  Cor.  xv.  81 ;  2  Cor.  i.  18 ;  Gal.  i.  20.  They 
are  solemn  appeals  to  God.  It  is  manifest  that  oaths  are  not  to  be  used 
on  light  or  trivial  occasions.  We  are  expressly  commanded  not  to  take 
God's  name  in  vain.  But  as  the  Bible  does  not  point  out  the  particular 
occasions  when  oaths  are  to  be  used  ;  nor  the  persons  who  are  to  adminis- 
ter them,  these  circumstances  are  left  to  the  discretion  of  individuals  and 
communities.  The  necessity  of  oaths  is  founded  in  expediency;  and  all 
associations,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  have  a  right  to  use  them  for 
confirmation,  when,  in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  discretion,  they  are  deemed 
important.  It  is  lawful  for  every  community,  in  the  compact  on  which 
their  union  is  founded,  to  point  out  the  cases  ni  which  oaths  shall  be  used, 
and  who  shall  administer  them.  The  authority  of  moderatc^rs  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  to  administer  oaths,  is  not  derived  from  the  G(MH'ral 
Assembly,  but  from  the  Constitution,  or  articles  of  compact,  which  our 
churches  have  adopted,  and  by  which  they  have  agreed  to  be  governed  as 
a  Christian  conununity.  It  may  be  proper  also  to  add,  that  the  oaths 
prescribed  by  ecclesiastical  authority  and  administered  by  civil  authority, 
in  no  respect  interfere  with  our  relations  to  civil  society.  Nor  can  the 
administering  of  them,  if  rightly  viewed,  be  considered  as  a  violation  of 
those  laws  of  the  State,  which  prescribe  the  manner  in  which  civil  oaths 
shall  be  administered. — 1823,  p.  87. 


OF  WITNESSES.  531 

2.  Testimony  should  be  under  Oath,  and  Recorded. 

Statements  were  given  as  evidence  by  the  members  of  Presbytery,  which 
are  not  recorded,  and  which  do  not  appear  to  have  been  given  under  the 
usual  solemnity  of  an  oath.     Craighead's  case. — 1824,  p.  122. 

X.  Every  question  put  to  a  witness  shall,  if  required,  be  reduced 
to  writing.  When  answered,  it  shall,  together  with  the  answer,  be 
recorded,  if  deemed  by  either  party  of  sufficient  importance. 

XI.  The  records  of  a  judicatory,  or  any  part  of  them,  wdiether 
original  or  transcribed,  if  regularly  authenticated  by  the  moderator  , 
and  clerk,  or  either  of  them,  shall  be  deemed  good  and  sufficient  evi- 
dence in  every  other  judicatory. 

Testimony  Attested  by  Moderator  and  Clerk  Valid. 

The  following  question,  signed  by  William  C.  Davies — "  Whether  testi- 
mony taken  before  a  session,  and  sent  up  to  the  Presbytery  under  the  sig- 
nature of  moderator  and  clerk,  will  not  be  sufficient  in  references  as  well 
as  appeals,  to  render  the  case  thus  referred  both  orderly  and  cognizable  by 
Presbytery,"  was  answered  in  the  affirmative. — 1797,  p.  128. 

XII.  In  like  manner,  testimony  taken  by  one  judicatory,  and  reg- 
ularly certified,  shall  be  received  by  every  other  judicatory,  as  no  less 
valid  than  if  it  had  been  taken  by  themselves. 

XIII.  Cases  may  arise  in  which  it  is  not  convenient  for  a  judica- 
tory to  have  the  whole,  or  perhaps,  any  part  of  the  testimony  in  a 
particular  cause,  taken  in  their  presence.  In  this  case  a  commission 
of  the  judicatory,  consisting  of  two  or  three  members,  may  be  ap- 
pointed, and  authorized  to  proceed  to  the  place  where  the  witness  or 
"witnesses  reside,  and  take  the  testimony  in  question,  wdiich  shall  be 
considered  as  if  taken  in  the  presence  of  the  judicatory:  of  which 
commission,  and  of  the  time  and  place  of  their  meeting,  due  notice 
shall  be  given  to  the  opposite  party,  that  he  may  have  an  opportu- 
nity of  attending.  And  if  the  accused  shall  desire  on  his  part,  to 
take  testimony  at  a  distance  for  his  ow^n  exculpation,  he  shall  give 
notice  to  the  judicatory  of  the  time  and  place  when  it  is  proposed  to 
take  it,  that  a  commission,  as  in  the  former  case,  may  be  appointed 
for  the  purpose. 

XIV.  When  the  witnesses  have  all  been  examined,  the  accused  and 
the  prosecutor  shall  have  the  privilege  of  commenting  on  their  testi- 
mony to  any  reasonable  extent. 

XV.  A  member  of  the  judicatory  may  be  called  upon  to  bear  testi- 
mony in  a  case  which  comes  before  it.  He  shall  be  qualified  as  other 
witnesses  are;  and  after  having  given  his  testimony,  he  may  imme- 
diately resume  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  judicatory. 


632  OF   DISCIPLINE. 


A  Member  of  the  Coiirt  Required  to  Testify  on  the  Spot. 

Resolved,  That  a  member  of  a  judicatory,  present  ■when  the  judicatory 
is  taking  testimony,  is  bound,  if  called  upon  to  do  so,  to  give  his  testimony 
in  the  case  that  is  in  process,  and  that  his  refusal  to  do  so,  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  not  been  cited  beforehand,  would  subject  him  to  censure  for 
contumacy. — 1854,  p.  45,  0.  S 

XVI.  A  member  of  the  church,  summoned  as  a  witness,  and  refus- 
ing to  appear,  or,  having  appeared,  refusing  to  give  testimony,  may  be 
censured  for  contumacy,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 

A  Minister  Cited  to  Testify  before  a  Session. 

A  request  from  certain  ministers  and  ruling  elders  of  the  Synod  of 
Alabama,  for  the  opinion  of  the  General  Assembly  touching  certain  ques- 
tions that  may  arise  in  the  case  of  a  minister,  who,  when  cited  by  a  church 
session  as  a  witness,  declines  to  appear  before  that  court.  The  Committee 
recommended  that  the  brethren  be  referred  to  the  Book  of  Discipline, 
chap,  i.,  sec.  v. ;  chap,  iv.,  sec.  x. ;  chap,  v.,  sees.  i.  and  ii. ;  chap,  vi.,  sec. 
xvi.,  for  answer  to  their  questions.     Adopted. — 1854,  p.  17,  O.  S. 

XVII.  The  testimony  given  by  witnesses  must  be  faithfully  re- 
corded, and  read  to  them,  for  their  approbation,  or  subscription. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


OF  THE  VARIOUS  WAYS  IN  WHICH  A  CAUSE  3IAY  BE  CARRIED 
FROM  A  LOWER  JUDICATORY  TO  A  HIGHER. 

I.  Ix  all  governments  conducted  by  men,  wrong  may  be  done, 
from  ignorance,  from  prejudice,  from  malice,  or  from  other  causes. 
To  prevent  the  continued  existence  of  this  wrong,  is  one  great  design 
of  superior  judicatories.  And  although  there  must  be  a  last  resort, 
beyond  which  there  is  no  appeal ;  yet  the  security  against  permanent 
wrong  will  be  as  great  as  the  nature  of  the  case  admits,  when  those 
who  had  no  concern  in  the  origin  of  the  proceedings,  are  brought  to 
review  them,  and  to  annul  or  confirm  them,  as  they  see  cause ;  when  a 
greater  number  of  counselors  are  made  to  sanction  the  judgments,  or 
to  correct  the  errors  of  a  smaller;  and,  finally,  when  the  whole 
Church  is  called  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  acts  of  a  part. 

II.  Every  kind  of  decision  which  is  formed  in  any  church  judi- 
catory, except  the  liighest,  is  subject  to  the  review  of  a  superior  judi- 
catory, and  may  be  carried  before  it  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  four 
following  ways : 


OF   WAYS   OF  CAEEYING  A   CAUSE.  533 


1.  The  Assembly  may  not  Reverse  the  Judicial  Acts  of  a  Prede- 
cessor. 

a.  This  Assembly  has  no  authority  to  reverse  the  judicial  acts  of  a 
former  General  Assembly,  except  in  cases  of  such  palpable  error  as  would 
manifestly  tend  to  interfere  with  the  substantial  administration  of  justice. 
Ca&e  of  S.  Lowrey. — 1824,  p.  115. 

h.  This  Assembly  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  correct  mode  of  proceed- 
ing for  the  last  Assembly  would  have  been  to  have  suspended  the  decision 
on  the  appeal  until  the  records  of  the  inferior  judicatories  should  have 
been  present,  because  the  rules  in  our  Form  of  Government  prescribe, 
that  before  a  judgment  is  given  all  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judica- 
tories in  the  case  should  be  read,  and  it  is  a  sound  maxim,  generally 
admitted  in  courts  of  justice,  that  the  best  evidence  the  case  admits  of 
should  be  required,  which  in  all  trials  is  undoubtedly  the  record  of  the 
judicatory. 

But  while  they  entertain  this  opinion  of  the  mode  of  proceeding,  they 
believe  that  the  decision  of  the  last  General  Assembly  was  substantially 
correct,  and  was  not  ditferent  from  what  it  would  have  been  if  they  had 
had  all  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatories  before  them. — lb. 

See  under  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  viii. 

c.  The  Assembly  not  Competent  to  Revise  the  Judicial  Acts  of  a  Previous 

Assembly. 

Judicial  Case  No.  4.  A  memorial  of  the  pastor  and  ruling  elders  of 
the  church  of  Bloomington,  Illinois,  in  respect  to  the  decision  of  the  last 
Assembly  upon  the  appeal  of  Dr.  T.  F.  Worrell. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  this  memorial  be  dismissed,  on  the 
ground  that  it  is  not  competent  for  this  Assembly  to  revise  the  proceed- 
ings of  a  previous  Assembly  in  a  judicial  case. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1864,  p.  313,  0.  S. 

2.  But  -will  Correct  Error  -when  Sho'wn  to  Exist. 

In  the  case  of  the  memorial  of  the  Synod  of  Onondaga,  see  Minutes, 
1864,  p.  474,  N.  S.,  it  was  determined  inter  alia  as  follows : 

2.  In  view  of  the  whole  case,  your  Committee  further  find,  that  the  last 
Assembly  seem  to  have  acted  without  such  a  knowledge  of  all  the  facts 
of  the  case,  as  a  regular  presentation  of  the  complaint  and  the  records 
would  have  given  them ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  case  is  one  which  justi- 
fies the  action  of  this  Assembly  in  relief  of  the  Synod. 

3.  Your  Committee  further  find,  that  the  action  of  the  Synod  was  scru- 
pulously conformed  to  the  requirements  of  our  Book. 

They  had  the  right  to  send  the  case  back  to  the  Presbytery,  or  to  review 
the  whole  of  it,  according  to  their  discretion.  It  is  not  for  this  court  to 
decide  which  would  have  been  the  wiser  course.  The  Synod  judge  it  best 
to  review  the  whole  case,  and  their  discretion  is  not  a  matter  of  review  by 
this  body. 

Your  Committee,  therefore,  recommend: 

That  the  requisition  of  the  last  Assembly  on  the  Synod  of  Onondaga 
be  rescinded,  and  that  the  case  be  dismissed. 

While  the  Committee  come  to  this  conclusion,  they  feel  constrained  also 
to  express  decidedly  their  disapproval  of  the  language  of  the  Synod,  pro- 
nouncing the  action  of  the  Assembly  "unjust  and  unconstitutional." 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1864,  p.  475,  N.  S. 


534  OF  DISCIPLINE. 


3.  The  Assembly  "will  Adhere  to  the  Letter  of  Section  ii.,  above. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  that  they  have  had  under  considera 
tion  the  letter  of  the  Rev.  A.  G.  Fraser  to  this  General  Assembly.  That 
Mr.  Fraser  states  that  he  has  been  unavoidably  prevented  from  person- 
ally prosecuting  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jer- 
sey, of  Avhich  due  notice  was  given  that  Synod,  and  requesting  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  to  appoint  a  Committee  of  ministers  and  elders  to  hear  and 
adjudicate  the  whole  matter ;  or,  if  such  a  plan  is  not  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  General  Assembly,  that  then  this  matter  of  appeal  stand  over 
to  their  next  stated  meeting.  The  Committee  recommended  that  the  fol- 
lowing answer  be  given,  viz. :  According  to  the  Book  of  Discipline  of  our 
Church,  there  are  but  four  ways  in  which  the  General  Assembly  can  have 
cognizance  of  a  judicial  case.  As  neither  of  these  ways  is  contemplated 
in  the  request  of  Mr.  Fraser,  the  Assembly  cannot,  without  a  violation  of 
constitutional  rules,  take  any  action  in  the  premises.  In  regard  to  a 
future  prosecution  of  his  appeal,  the  appellant  must  present  his  case,  with 
the  reasons  for  previous  failure,  before  the  next  General  Assembly,  whose 
province  it  will  then  be  to  decide  upon  the  whole  subject. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1850,  p.  463,  0.  S. 

See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v. 

SECTION  I. 

GENERAL   REVIEW   AND   CONTROL. 

I.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  judicatory  above  a  church  session,  at 
least  once  a  year,  to  review  the  records  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
judicatory  next  below.  And  if  any  lower  judicatory  shall  omit  to 
send  up  its  records  for  this  purpose,  the  higher  may  issue  an  order  to 
produce  them,  either  immediately,  or  at  a  particular  time,  as  circum- 
stances may  require. 

1.  Anniial  Review  Required. 

Ordered,  That  the  minutes  of  the  respective  Synods  be  laid  yearly 
before  the  General  Assembly  to  be  by  them  revised. — 1789,  p.  7. 

b.  Wlierecis,  It  appeared  in  the  course  of  the  free  conversation  on  the 
state  of  religion,  that  in  one  of  the  Presbyteries  under  the  care  of  the 
General  Assembly,  the  sessional  records  of  the  several  church  sessions 
were  not  regularly  called  up  and  examined  every  year  by  the  said  Pres- 
bytery, and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  other  Presbyteries  had  con- 
ducted in  the  same  manner;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  be  and  it  hereby  is  required  of  all  the  Presbyteries 
within  the  bounds  of  the  General  Assembly  annually  to  call  up  and 
examine  the  sessional  records  of  the  several  churches  under  their  care,  as 
directed  in  the  Book  of  Discipline. — 1809,  p.  429. 

c.  The  Assembly,  after  seriously  reviewing  the  order  of  the  last  Assem- 
bly, and  maturely  deliberating  on  the  remonstrance  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  against  it,  can  by  no  means  rescind  the  said  order,  inasmuch 
as  they  consider  it  as  founded  on  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  and  as 
properly  resulting  from  the  obligation  on  the  highest  judicatory  of  the 
Church  to  see  that  the  Constitution  be  duly  regarded  ;  yet,  as  it  is  alleged, 
that  insisting  on  the  rigid  execution  of  this  order,  with  respect  to  some 


OF   GENERAL   REVIEW   AND   CONTROL.  535 

of  the  church  sessions,  would  not  be  for  edification,  the  Assembly  are  by 
DO  means  disposed  to  urge  any  Presbytery  to  proceed,  under  this  order, 
beyond  what  they  may  consider  prudent  and  useful. — 1810,  p.  453. 

d.  Whereas,  It  is  an  essential  feature  of  the  government  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  that  the  records  of  all  its  Synods  should  be  transmitted  an- 
nually to  its  highest  court — the  General  Assembly — for  examination  ;  and 

Whereas,  this  Assembly  has  painful  evidence  that  this  important  regu- 
lation is,  by  some  of  its  Synods  frequently,  and  by  others  entirely  neglected ; 
therefore, 

Resolved,  That  all  our  Synods  be  enjoined  to  take  such  order  on  this 
subject  as  shall  ensure  hereafter  a  faithful  observance  of  the  above  regu- 
lation, and  in  all  cases  where  the  stated  clerks  of  any  of  our  Synods  have 
failed  this  year,  or  may  hereafter  fail  to  obey  their  order  of  the  rule  of 
the  Assembly  respecting  this  matter,  such  Synods  are  hereby  required  to 
judge  of  the  reasons  which  such  clerks  may  offer  for  their  delinquency, 
and  to  excuse  or  censure  them  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
case.— 1839,  p.  165,  0.  S. 

e.  The  Committee  on  the  Eecords  of  the  Synod  of  Wisconsin  reported, 
That  they  had  been  subjected  to  an  increased  amount  of  labor  in  exam- 
ining the  minutes  of  this  Synod  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  the 
stated  clerk  to  send  up  the  records  annually  to  the  Assembly  as  our  rules 
require.  The  minutes  of  this  body  have  not  been  brought  under  the 
inspection  of  the  Assembly  since  May,  1860,  leaving  an  accumulation  of 
four  years  of  unexamined  and  unapproved  records. — 1864,  p.  482,  N.  S., 
et  passim. 

See  above,  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  ix.,  and  chap,  xi.,  sec. 
vi. ;  also  Discipline,  chap,  iv.,  sec.  xxiii. 

2.  After  Records  have  been  Approved  Corrections  can  be  made 
only  by  Recurrence  to  the  Court  Approving. 

a.  Also  Overture  No.  7,  from  the  session  of  the  church  of  Wabash, 
Indiana,  on  the  following  questions : 

1.  After  the  records  of  a  church  session  have  been  examined  and  approved 
by  the  Presbytery,  and  those  of  the  Presbytery,  in  like  manner,  approved 
by  the  Synod,  has  either  the  session  or  the  Presbytery  a  right  or  any 
authority  to  change  or  erase  the  record  ? 

2.  If  not,  has  the  session  any  legal  right  to  make  a  second  record  de- 
claring the  first  erroneous  and  void  ? 

The  Committee  recommended  that  the  following  answer  be  given  : 
A  record,  once  approved  by  a  higher  court,  cannot  be  altered  or  annulled 
by  a  lower  one.     If  there  be  an  error  in  the  record,  the  remedy  is  to  be 
sought  by  an  application  to  the  highest  judicatory  which  has  endorsed 
such  mistake.     Adopted. — 1862,  p.  34,  N.  S. 

h.  When  Records  have  been  Approved,  they  can  be  Amended  only  by  a  Unani- 
mous Vote. 

It  was  moved  to  strike  out  the  exceptions  taken  to  the  records  of  the 
Synod  of  New  Jersey.  The  moderator  suggested  that  the  motion  was  out 
of  order,  but  he  would  put  it  to  the  house ;  which  having  been  done  the 
motion  was  sustained  with  the  exception  of  one  no.  The  moderator  then 
declared  the  motion  lost,  as  a  minute  recording  a  fact  could  not  be  amended 
but  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  house. 

An  appeal  was  taken  from  this  decision,  and  the  decision  was  sus- 
tained.—1841,  p.  424,  0.  S. 


536  OF   DISCIPLINE. 


3.  Records  of  Recent  Meetings  may  be  Demanded  for  Revie-w. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  approved,  except  "  that  on  pp. 
114-116,  it  appears  that  on  a  motion  to  require  the  Presbytery  of  Chilli- 
cothe  to  produce  the  records  of  their  session  in  Sept.,  1837  (the  month  be- 
fore), Avhich  records  were  reported  to  contain  decisions  demanding  the  im- 
mediate review  of  the  Synod,  it  was  decided  that,  as  there  was  no  com- 
plaint, nor  appeal  requiring  the  records  in  question,  and  as  the  Presbytery 
have  regularly  presented  their  book  for  review  by  the  Synod,  and  the 
Committee  of  Review  have  made  no  charge  of  delinquency  in  the  Presby- 
tery in  not  transcribing  the  minutes  of  their  late  meeting,  the  Synod  have 
no  right  to  demand  said  minutes." — 1839,  p.  161,  O.  S. 

4.  Copies  of  the  Originals  Accepted  only  in  Extraordinary  Cases. 

a.  It  is  recommended  to  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  to 
send  attested  copies  of  their  minutes  by  their  delegates  to  the  Assembly 
yearly,  whenever  they  find  it  inconvenient  to  send  their  books. — 1790, 
p.  23. 

b.  Resolved,  That  the  dispensation  allowed  to  the  Synods  of  Virginia 
and  the  Carolinas  by  the  Assembly  of  1790,  to  send  up  attested  copies  of 
their  records  instead  of  the  records,  be  and  it  is  hereby  rescinded. — 1841, 
p.  423,  O.  S. 

c.  The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  West  Tennessee  re- 
ported, and  their  report  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. :  "  That  the 
document  presented  to  your  Committee  is  not  the  original  book  of  rec- 
ords,'but  purports  to  be  a  true  copy  from  the  original  record  under  the 
hand  of  the  stated  clerk.  Accompanying  this  report  is  a  letter  from  the 
clerk,  urging  the  acceptance  of  the  transcript,  on  the  ground  of  a  standing 
rule  of  the  Assembly,  authorizing  the  reception  of  a  transcript  when  the 
original  cannot  be  transmitted.  Your  Committee  are  not  aware  of  such  a 
standing  rule,  and  are  of  opinion  that  the  document  produced  does  not 
come  up  to  the  requirement  of  the  Constitution.  Your  Committee  therefore 
cannot  report  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  records  are  kept.  Your 
Committee  recommend  that  the  Synod  of  "West  Tennessee  be  required  to 
produce  their  original  book  of  records  for  examination  at  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly."— 1847,  p.  381,  O.  S. 

[The  records  of  the  Synod  of  China,  kept  in  Chinese,  were  accepted  in 
a  translated  copy  by  the  Assembly  of  1871.] 

5.  Members  of  a  Judicatory  may  not  Vote  upon  Review  of  their 

own  Records. 

a.  A  protest  signed  by  a  number  of  members  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva, 
against  a  decision  of  that  Synod,  excluding  the  Presbytery  of  Geneva 
from  voting  on  the  question.  Whether  their  own  records  should  be  attested 
by  the  moderator  of  the  Synod,  as  approved.  Your  Committee  were,  how- 
ever, of  opinion  that  the  decision  of  the  Synod  was  consonant  to  the  pre- 
valent usage  of  the  judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  well  as  to 
the  usage  of  other  analogous  bodies  in  similar  cases,  and  that  it  ought 
therefore  to  be  approved.    [Adopted.] — 181(),  p.  611. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  approved,  except  "that  the 
members  of  the  West  Lexington  Presbytery  voted  in  ap})robation  of  their 
own  proceedings,  which  is  deemed  to  be  irregular." — 1821,  p.  23. 

[See  also  under  vii.,  iii.,  xii.,  iv.] 

II.  In  reviewing  the  records  of  an  inferior  judicatory,  it  is  proper 


OF   GENERAL   REVIEW   AND  CONTROL.  637 

to  examine,  First,  Whether  the  proceedings  have  been  constitutional 
and  regular ;  Secondly,  Whether  they  have  been  wise,  equitable,  and 
for  the  edification  of  the  Church ;  Thirdly,  AYhether  they  have  been 
correctly  recorded. 

[See  under  vii.,  i.,  vi.,  below. — 1857,  p.  45,  O.  S.  Also  under  iii.,  be- 
low, for  specimens  of  the  application  of  this  rule.] 

1.  Unconstitutional  and  Irregular. 

a.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  resolution  3cl,  annuls  a  sentence  of  sus- 
peiisiou  ;  and  in  resolution  4th,  substantially  acknowledges  the  justice  of 
the  sentence  thus  annulled. 

The  Synod  interposes  to  restore  a  man  to  the  exercise  of  the  ministry 
of  the  gospel,  who  they  acknowledge  has  frequently  made  represeutatiouB 
without  due  regard  to  truth  and  candor ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  direct  the  Synod  to  review  and  amend 
their  record  on  p.  18,  in  the  case  of  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Don- 
egal,    Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  sub-sees,  ii.,  iii. 

[MSS.  indorsement  on  records  of  Synod  of  Philadelphia.] — 1858,  p.  298. 

h.  The  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  records  of  the  Synod  of 
Geneva,  reported,  and  the  book  was  approved  to  page  257,  with  the  fol- 
lowing exception,  viz. :  That  the  Synod  decided  improperly,  in  saying  that 
the  complaint  of  D.  C.  Hopkins  was  not  strictly  sustained,  while  they  at 
the  same  time  say,  that  each  and  every  act  of  the  Presbytery  of  Onon- 
daga complained  of,  was  irregular  and  improper. — 1822,  p.  40. 

c.  A  Synod  may  not  Institute  and  Prosecute  Judicial  Proceedings. 

That  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  in  the  institution  and 
prosecution  of  judicial  process  against  William  Graham,  subjecting  him 
first  to  censure,  and  afterward  to  suspension,  under  which  he  now  labors, 
are  unconstitutional  and  irregular,  therefore  null  and  void  ;  and  that  the 
Synod  be,  and  is  hereby  enjoined  to  take  constitutional  action  in  the  case, 
and  to  revise  and  correct  its  proceedings  accordingly.  While  the  Assem- 
bly thus  speak  on  the  constitutionality  of  the  matter,  they  do  it  without  re- 
ference to  the  error  or  truth  of  the  sentiments  he  advanced. — 1846,  p.  31, 
N.  S. 

III.  In  most  cases,  the  superior  judicatory  may  be  considered  as 
fulfilling  its  duty,  by  simply  recording,  on  its  own  minutes,  the  ani- 
madversion, or  censure,  which  it  may  think  proper  to  pass  on  records 
under  review;  and,  also,  by  making  an  entry  of  the  same  in  the  book 
reviewed.  But  it  may  be,  that,  in  the  course  of  review,  cases  of  ir- 
regular proceedings  may  be  found,  so  disreputable  and  injurious  as  to 
demand  the  interference  of  the  superior  judicatory.  In  cases  of  this 
kind,  the  inferior  judicatory  may  be  required  to  review  and  correct 
its  proceedings. 

1.  The  Records  must  be  Full.— Reasons  for  Decisions  Required. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  approved,  "excepting  the  res- 
olution on  p.  74,  disapproving  the  proceedings  of  a  Presbytery  without 
assigning  the  reason." — 1820,  p.  728. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  were  approved,  with  the  "  excep- 


538  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

tion  of  a  minute  on  p.  243,  disapproving  of  a  decision  of  a  Presbytery, 
and  ordering  suid  Presbytery  to  reconsider  that  decision,  without  any  rea- 
sons being  assigned." — 1827,  p.  202. 

And  Satisfactory  Reasons  given  for  all  Decisions. 

c.  The  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  in  approving  the  action  of  a  Presbytery 
in  a  judicial  case,  p.  259,  assigned  an  entirely  unsatisfactory  reason. — 
1850,  p.  314,  N.  S. 

The  Subject  Matter  oj  Process  must  be  Stated. 

d.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  approved,  except  that  it 
appears  from  p.  282  that  an  appeal  and  complaint  was  issued  in  the  usual 
form,  without  any  intimation  of  what  the  sentence  or  proceeding  was, 
against  which  the  complaint  was  made. 

That  it  appears  from  p.  273  that  another  complaint  was  issued  without 
any  record  of  the  proceeding  complained  of,  or  the  body  whose  proceeding 
was  the  subject  of  complaint. — 1852,  p.  216,  O.  S. 

e.  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Albany  approved,  "  except  that  on  page 
257  we  read  of  'a  complaint  of  the  Minority  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany' 
to  the  Synod;  but  there  is  no  intimation  what  they  complained  of;  and 
■when  Synod  took  up  the  business,  there  is  no  evidence  on  record  that  the 
moderator  gave  notice  that  they  were  about  to  proceed  to  judicial  business, 
as  the  Constitution  requires." — 1848,  p.  48,  O.  S.    See  1853,  p.  434,  O.  S. 

2.  Exceptions  must  be  Recorded  in  the  Minutes. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Indiana  approved,  "  except  that  on  p. 
342,  the  records  of  Greencastle  Presbytery,  are  reported  as  approved,  with 
exceptions,  while  these  exceptions  are  not  spread  on  the  minutes  of  the 
Synod  as  required  by  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  art.  iii." — 
1857,  p.  387,  N.  S. 

b.  Synod  of  Wheeling,  p.  409.  The  exceptions  to  the  records  of  ISTew 
Lisbon  Presbytery  are  not  recorded,  in  violation  of  the  Book  of  Discipline, 
chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  sub-sec.  3. — 1859,  p.  550,  O.  S. 

c.  Exception  to  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Onondaga.  "On  p.  186 
we  find  the  Synod  administering  censure  to  the  Presbytery  of  Cayuga,  for 
an  act  of  discipline  toward  one  of  its  churches,  on  the  ground  that  the 
reasons  for  such  discipline  were  not  given  according  to  the  requirements  of 
our  Book  of  Discipline,  yet  on  the  next  page  we  find  the  said  Synod  reaf- 
firming the  acts  of  a  church  censured  by  its  Presbytery,  and  reversing  the 
decision  of  the  Presbytery,  without  giving  the  required  reasons  for  such 
a  singular  proceeding." — 1863,  p.  277,  N.  S. 

d.  Ilecords  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  "except  that  on  pp.  6  and  13 
a  complaint  was  received,  referred  and  decided,  without  any  statement  in 
regard  to  the  character  of  said  complaint." — 1865,  p.  553,  O.  S. 

e.  Records  of  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  approved,  "except  that  on  p.  36  the 
minute  is  defective,  in  that  a  complaint  was  received,  referred  and  de- 
cided without  any  statement  in  regard  to  the  subject  matter  of  said  com- 
plaint." 

This  defect  in  the  minutes  disables  this  Assembly  from  deciding  as  to 
the  validity  of  the  recorded  reasons  given  for  the  decision  of  the  Synod  in 
the  case  on  p.  37. 

This  defect  in  the  minutes  is  the  more  to  be  excepted  against,  inasmuch 
as  it  records  the  implied  censure  of  the  comj)lainant,  while  the  Assembly 
is  deprived  of  the  opportunity  to  pass  upon  the  case. — 1866,  p.  50,  0.  S. 


OF   GENERAL   REVIEW   AXD   CONTROL.  539 

3.  The  Lo-wer  Courts  must  Respect  the  Decisions  of  the  Superior. 

a.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri  were  approved,  except  a  resolu- 
tion on  page  324,  viz.,  "  That  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in  May 
last,  in  relation  to  the  political  condition  of  the  country,  was  unscriptural, 
unconstitutional,  unwise,  and  unjust ;  and  we  therefore  solemnly  protest 
against  it,  and  declare  it  of  no  binding  force  whatever  upon  this  Synod,  or 
upon  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  within  our  bounds." — 1862, 
p.  631,  O.  S. 

b.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  were  approved  with  the  fol- 
lowing exception : 

That  this  General  Assembly  cannot  approve  the  Synod's  disapproval  of 
the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1861,  as  recorded  in  the  Synod's  minutes  on 
pages  49  and  50.— 1862,  p.  631,  O.  S. 

4.  A  Synod  Reproved  for  Failure  to  make  a  Deliverance. 

The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  presented  a 
report,  which  was  amended  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows: 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  records  be  approved  with  the  fol- 
lowing exceptions :  1st.  The  action  of  Synod  on  page  144,  taking  excep- 
tions to  the  action  of  the  last  General  Assembly  on  slavery.  2d.  That  the 
Synod  has  wholly  failed  to  make  any  deliverance  during  the  past  year  cal- 
culated to  sustain  and  encourage  our  government  in  its  efforts  to  suppress 
a  most  extensive,  wanton,  and  wicked  rebellion,  aiming  at  nothing  short 
of  the  life  of  the  nation.— 1865,  p.  541,  O.  S. 

5.  Censured  for  Insubordination. 

a.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  does  not  approve  the  records  of  the 
Synod  of  Missouri ;  that  so  much  of  said  records  as  attempt  to  declare 
null  and  void  the  previous  action  of  the  Synod,  which  had  been  formally 
approved  by  the  Assembly,  is  an  act  of  insubordination,  which  said  Synod 
is  hereby  required  to  reconsider  and  reverse ;  that  they  report  to  the  next 
Assembly  what  they  have  done  or  failed  to  do  in  the  premises,  and  until 
that  time  the  usual  certificate  of  the  moderator  be  withheld.* 

The  remaining  portion  of  the  report  was  then  adopted  as  follows : 

On  page  365,  where  the  Synod  reaffirm  their  testimony  of  November, 
1861,  with  regard  to  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  the  same  year,  known 
as  the  Spring  Resolutions — which  testimony  declares  the  action  of  that 
Assembly  on  the  state  of  the  country  to  be  "unscriptural,  unconstitutional, 
unwise,  and  unjust;  of  no  binding  force  whatever  on  this  Synod,  or  upon 
the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  within  our  bounds." 

The  Committee  also  recommend  that,  besides  excepting  to  the  record  as 
above  stated,  the  repeated  exhibition  of  such  a  rebellious  spirit,  on  the  part 
of  any  inferior  court  toward  the  supreme  judicatory  of  the  Church,  should 
not  pass  without  censure. — 1866,  p.  97,  O.  S. 

h.  The  Synod  of  Albany  claim  and  exercise  the  right  of  disregarding 
the  exceptions  to  their  records  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1847,  which 
thev  consider  disrespectful  and  disorderly. — 1848,  p.  48,  O.  S.  Also  1824, 
p.  116.  J  '1^       . 

c.  Finally,  the  Assembly  cannot  but  express  their  disapprobation  of  the 
concluding  paragraph  of  the  memorial  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  in  which  they 

*  The  next  year,  the  Synod  having  complied  with  the  requirements  of  the  Assem- 
bly, as  appeared  from  an  official  transcript  of  its  records  on  the  subject  read  to  the 
Assembly,  the  moderator  was  directed  to  approve  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Mia- 
Eouri  of  last  year.— 1867,  p.  316,  0.  S. 


640  OF  DISCIPLINE. 

say,  "the  Synod  consider  the  judgments  entered  upon  their  records  against 
Samuel  Lowrey  in  October,  1822,  as  remaining  in  full  force,"  etc. 

This  declaration,  notwithstanding  the  respectful  expressions  of  the  Synod, 
is  apparently  wanting  in  the  respect  due  from  an  inferior  to  a  superior  ju- 
dicatory ;  and  is  repugnant  to  the  radical  principles  of  the  government  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  If  an  inferior  court  has  authority  to  declare 
that  its  own  decisions  are  in  force,  after  they  have  been  reversed  by  a  su- 
perior court,  then  all  appeals  are  nugatory,  and  our  system,  as  it  relates 
to  judicial  proceedings,  is  utterly  subverted.  The  Assembly  are  willing  to 
believe,  however,  that  the  Synod  of  Ohio  did  not  mean  to  set  themselves 
in  opposition  to  the  highest  judicatory  of  the  Church,  and  that  when  they 
have  reconsidered  the  matter,  they  will  rescind  what  is  so  manifestly  in- 
consistent with  the  principles  of  the  Constitution,  which  they  have  bound 
themselves  to  support. — 1824,  p.  116. 

[For  illustrations  of  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  review  and  control  see 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  xi.,  sec.  i.,  1,  a,  b;  sec.  ii.,  1,  a,  h,  e;  6,  a,  b; 
sec.  iv.,  2,  3 ;  sees.  v.  and  vi.,  passim.'] 

IV.  No  judicial  decision,  however,  of  a  judicatory,  shall  be  re- 
versed, unless  it  be  regularly  brought  up  by  appeal  or  complaint. 

a.  [In  a  case  where  the  organization  of  a  Presbytery  was  irregular,  see 
above,  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  ii.  The  Assembly  inter  alia 
declare — ] 

The  Book  of  Discipline,  however,  prescribes,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  sub-sec. 
iv.,  that  "no  judicial  decision  of  a  judicatory  shall  be  reversed,  unless  it  be 
regularly  brought  up  by  appeal  or  complaint." 

The  trial  of  a  minister  under  the  circumstances  proposed  in  the  overture 
must  be  regarded  as  any  other  trial  where  there  has  been  informality  or 
irregularity  in  the  citation  or  other  preliminary  stages  of  the  process. 
The  trial,  with  the  judgment  based  upon  it,  must  be  respected  until  the 
Synod,  as  the  superior  judicatory,  shall  judge  how  far  the  irregularity 
vitiates  the  proceedings  and  defeats  the  ends  of  justice,  and  shall  annul 
or  confirm  the  same. — 1861,  p.  457,  N.  S. 

b.  The  Synod  likewise  seems  to  have  erred  in  censuring  as  they  did  the 
Committee  of  the  Miami  Presbytery,  and  in  acting  inconsistent  with  Con- 
stitutional Rules,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  sub-sees.  ii.  and  iv.,  by  virtually  revers- 
ing a  judicial  decision,  and  this  without  citing  the  Presbytery  to  appear 
and  answer,  on  the  mere  review  of  their  records. — 1857,  p.  45,  O.  S. 

V.  Judicatories  may  sometimes  entirely  neglect  to  perform  their 
duty ;  by  which  neglect,  heretical  opinions,  or  corrupt  practices,  may 
be  allowed  to  gain  ground ;  or  offenders  of  a  very  gross  ciiarticter 
may  be  suffered  to  escape:  or  some  circumstances  in  their  jirocecd- 
ings,  of  very  great  irregularity,  may  not  be  distinctly  recorded  by 
them.  In  any  of  which  cases,  their  records  will  by  no  means  exliibit 
to  the  superior  judicatory  a  full  view^  of  their  proceedings.  If,  there- 
fore, the  superior  judicatory  be  well  advised  by  common  fame,  that 
such  neglects  or  irregularities  have  occurred  on  the  part  of  the  infe- 
rior judicatory,  it  is  incumbent  on  them  to  take  cognizance  of  the 
same;  and  to  examine,  deliberate,  and  judge  in  the  whole  matter,  as 


OF   GENERAL   REVIEW   AND    CONTROL.  541 

completely  as  if  it  had  been  recorded,  and  thus  brought  up  by  the 
review  of  the  records. 

[See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v.] 

VI.  When  any  important  delinquency,  or  grossly  unconstitutional 
proceedings,  appear  in  the  records  of  any  judicatory,  or  are  charged 
against  them  by  common  fame,  the  first  step  to  be  taken  by  the  judi- 
catory next  above,  is  to  cite  the  judicatory  alleged  to  have  offended, 
to  appear  at  a  specified  time  and  place,  and  to  show  what  it  has  done, 
or  failed  to  do,  in  the  case  in  question:  after  which,  the  judicatory 
thus  issuing  the  citation,  shall  remit  the  whole  matter  to  the  delin- 
quent judicatory,  with  a  direction  to  take  it  up,  and  dispose  of  it  in  a 
constitutional  manner,  or  stay  all  further  proceedings  in  the  case,  as 
circumstances  may  require. 

[See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v.] 

1.  Citation  of  Judicatories  on  Review  or  on  Oonunon  Fame. 

a.  1.  Resolved,  That  the  proper  steps  be  now  taken  to  cite  to  the  bar  of 
the  next  Assembly,  such  inferior  judicatories  as  are  charged  by  common 
fame  with  irregularities. 

2.  That  a  Special  Committee  be  now  appointed  to  ascertain  what  judi- 
catories are  thus  charged  by  common  fame ;  prepare  charges  and  specifi- 
cations against  them ;  and  to  digest  a  suitable  plan  of  procedure  in  the 
matter ;  and  that  said  Committee  be  requested  to  report  as  soon  as  practi- 
cable. 

3.  That,  as  citation  on  the  foregoing  plan  is  the  commencement  of  a 
process  involving  the  right  of  membership  in  the  Assembly;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  agreeably  to  a  principle  laid  down  chap,  v.,  sec.  ix.,  of 
the  Form  of  Government,  the  members  of  said  judicatories  be  excluded 
from  a  seat  in  the  next  Assembly,  until  their  case  shall  be  decided. — 1837, 
p.  425. 

[After  the  passage  of  the  acts  declaring  the  Synods  of  "Western  Reserve, 
Utica,  Geneva  and  Genesee  to  be  no  longer  integral  parts  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States,  the  following  was  adopted,  viz. :] 

b.  Dr.  Cuyler,  from  the  Committee  appointed  to  consider  and  report  to 
the  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  citing  inferior  judicatories,  presented  a 
report,  which  was  amended  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  Committee  believe,  that,  for  the  present,  there  is  no  urgent  necessi- 
ty to  cite  any  inferior  judicatories;  and  after  what  has  been  done  toward 
the  reform  of  the  Church  during  the  present  sessions  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, they  believe  it  will  be  best  to  wait  for  a  time,  without  further  de- 
cisive action,  in  the  hope  that  those  portions  of  the  Church  against  which 
serious  charges  are  still  made  by  common  fame,  will  see  the  necessity  of 
taking  order  on  the  subject,  and  doing,  without  delay,  what  truth  and 
righteousness  may  require  of  them. 

We  deem  it  proper,  however,  to  say,  that  several  of  the  Synods  are  so 
seriously  charged,  in  several  respects,  that  this  Assembly  would  be  want- 
ing in  faithfulness  to  itself,  to  them,  and  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  as  well  as 
to  the  principles  of  justice  and  fair  dealing,  in  carrying  out  its  own  prin- 
ciples, if  it  did  not  specially  urge  several  of  them  to  give  prompt  and  par- 


542  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

ticular  attention  to  certain  matters,  in  -svhich  they,  or  some  of  their  Pres- 
byteries or  churches,  are  specially  charged.  We,  therefore,  recommend 
the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  viz. : 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  Synods  of  Albany  and  New  Jersey  be  enjoined 
to  take  special  order  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  irregularities  in  church 
order,  charged  by  common  fame  upon  some  of  their  Presbyteries  and 
churches. 

2.  That  the  Synod  of  Michigan  be  enjoined  to  take  special  order  in 
regard  to  the  subject  of  errors  in  doctrine,  so  charged  upon  all  its  Presby- 
teries. 

3.  That  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  be  enjoined  to  take  special  order  in 
regard  to  error  in  doctrine,  so  charged  as  being  connived  at  by  several  of 
its  Presbyteries,  and  held  by  some  of  its  members. 

4.  That  the  Synod  of  Illinois  be  enjoined  to  take  special  order  in  regard 
to  errors  in  church  order  and  errors  in  doctrine,  so  charged  upon  several 
of  its  Presbyteries. 

5.  That  besides  the  general  reference  to  the  word  of  God  and  our  stand- 
ards, we  refer  the  Synods  above  named  to  the  testimony  of  this  General 
Assembly,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  errors  and  irregularities  intended  by  it, 
in  these  resolutions.  And  said  Synods  are  enjoined  to  take  order  on  the 
subjects  now  referred  to  them  for  consideration  and  action,  at  their  first 
stated  meeting  after  this  Assembly  adjourns ;  and  to  report  their  doings 
herein,  with  whatever  else  seems  to  them  necessary  to  elucidate  the  whole 
subject,  in  writing,  to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

6.  And  the  said  five  Synods  are  especially  enjoined,  and  all  other 
Synods  in  our  bounds  are  required,  to  cause  to  be  laid  before  the  next 
General  Assembly,  as  far  as  possible,  copies  of  all  the  abbreviated  creeds 
and  church  covenants  in  use  among  their  churches;  which  subject  is  also 
particularly  commended  to  all  our  Presbyteries,  both  in  relation  to  the 
present  demand,  and  with  reference  to  the  testimony  of  this  Assembly  on 
that  subject. — 1837,  p.  496. 

SECTION  II. 

OF    REFERENCES. 

I.  A  reference  is  a  judicial  representation,  made  by  an  inferior 
judicatory  to  a  superior,  of  a  case  not  yet  decided  ;  which  represen- 
tation ought  always  to  be  in  writing. 

[The  language  of  this  section  strictly  interpreted  would  seem  to  limit 
the  subject-matter  of  reference  to  judicial  cases,  and  the  parties  referring 
to  inferior  judicatories.  The  usage  of  the  Assembly,  however,  has  been 
uniform,  to  receive,  under  the  general  head  of  "  Overtures,"  memorials, 
questions  and  petitions  from  all  sorts  of  sources  and  upon  all  manner  of 
questions.] 

1.  The  Right  to  Petition  and  to  Memorialize  the  Assembly  AflBrmed. 

a.  We,  the  undersigned,  members  of  Assembly,  respectfully  enter  our 
protest  against  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in  postjioning  indefi- 
nitely the  resolution  offered  by  Dr.  Neill,  in  favor  of  the  right  of  petition 
by  our  Presbyteries  and  Synods  ;  because, 

1st.  No  opportunity  was  offered  to  any  member  to  express  his  views  on 
the  subject  previously  to  the  vote ;  thus  the  Assembly  was  hurried  into  a 


OF   EEFERENCES.  543 

decision,  -without  opportunity  to  consider  the  great  injuries  done  by  thus 
virtually  denying  this  sacred  right. 

2d.  Because  the  spirit  of  our  free  Form  of  Government  is  thus  vio- 
lated, inasmuch  as  it  secures  to  the  lower  judicatories  the  right  of  being 
heard  on  all  moral  and  religious  subjects,  when  they  present  their  vie\YS 
in  a  regular  and  constitutional  manner. 

To  this  the  Assembly  reply : 

The  protest  imputes  to  this  Assembly  a  principle  which  it  never  adopted, 
viz.,  the  denial  of  the  right  of  petition.  The  true  reason  of  the  indefinite 
postponement  of  Dr.  Neill's  paper  was,  that  as  no  one  doubted  the  right 
of  petition,  a  further  consideration  of  the  subject  would  consume  time  by 
useless  debate  and  legislation.  The  Committee  regard  this  statenient  as  a 
sufficient  answer  to  the  protest  in  question. — 1841,  p.  449,  O.  S. 

b.  The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  protest  of  W.  Bushnell 
and  others  in  relation  to  the  action  of  the  Assembly  on  certain  petitions 
respecting  the  abolition  of  slavery  reported,  recommending  the  adoption 
of  the  following  minute: 

The  General  Assembly  recognizing  the  right  of  inferior  judicatories, 
and  private  members,  ^(po)l  their  ouni  respondbility,  to  memorialize  this 
body  on  any  subject  which  they  may  regard  as  connected  with  the  inte- 
rests of  the  Church,  and  finding  no  fault  with  the  language  of  the  protest, 
admit  it  to  record  without  further  notice. — 1844,  p.  376,  0.  S. 

2.  One  -who  does  not  Submit  is  Debarred  the  Right. 

The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  petition  of  ]\Ir.  Bourne 
reported,  and  their  report  being  read  was  accepted.  Whereupon  it  was 
resolved,  that  as  it  a}tpears  to  be  a  fact  that  Mr.  Bourne  has  not  submitted 
to  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  in  affirming  a  decision  by  which  he  was 
deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry,  he  be  permitted  to  withdraw  his  peti- 
tion.—1823,  p.  93. 

II.  Cases  Avliieh  are  new,  important,  difficult,  of  peculiar  delicacy, 
the  decision  of  which  may  establish  principles  or  precedents  of  ex- 
tensive influence,  on  which  the  sentiments  of  the  inferior  judicatory 
are  greatly  divided,  or  on  which,  for  any  reason,  it  is  highly  desir- 
able that  a  larger  body  shoukl  first  decide,  are  proper  subjects  of 
reference. 

a.  The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  referred  to  the  Assembly  the  case  of 
Rev.  Hezekiah  Balch,  charged  with  error  in  doctrine. — 1798,  p.  151. 

b.  The  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  on  the  propriety  of  their  ordain- 
ing to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry  a  licentiate  under  their  care  who 
now  holds  the  office  of  a  chaplain  in  the  navy  of  the  United  States.  See 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  xv.,  sec.  xv. — 1826,  p.  171. 

c.  The  Presbytery  of  Cayuga  relative  to  the  constitutionality  of  a  rule 
of  that  body.     See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii. — 1830,  p.  284. 

d.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  relation  to  the  right  of  Presbyteries 
to  require  every  minister  or  licentiate,  coming  to  them  by  certificate  from 
another  Presbytery  or  other  ecclesiastical  body,  to  submit  to  an  examina- 
tion before  he  be  received. — 1832,  p.  355. 

e.  Overture  No.  4,  viz.  :  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  AVest  Ten- 
nessee, requesting  an  answer  to  the  two  following  questions,  viz. :  "  1.  What 
are  the  nature  and  duties  of  the  office  of  deacons  f  2.  What  is  the  scrip- 
tural and  appropriate  mode  of  ordination  ?"  was  taken  up,  and  after  some 


544  OF   DISCirLINE. 

discussion,  committed  to   Mr.  Beach,   Mr.  Vail  and  Mi-.  Hoyt. — 1833, 
p.  393. 

/.  The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  2  made  a  report, 
which  was  read  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  Committee  appointed  to  consider  and  report  on  Overture  No.  2, 
which  is  in  the  following  words :  "Is  it  lawful  and  consistent  with  the 
order  of  our  Church  for  a  church  court  to  reconsider  and  set  aside  its 
own  decision  in  a  case  of  discipline,  after  a  lapse  of  five  or  six  years  from 
the  time  the  decision  was  made,  after  the  court  has  so  changed,  that  many 
of  its  members  were  not  members  at  the  time  of  the  decision,  and  when 
no  new  testimony  is  proposed  ?"  beg  leave  to  report  that,  in  their  opinion, 
the  proper  answer  to  this  overture  will  be  found  included  in  the  following 
principles,  viz. : 

1.  Our  Book  of  Discij)line,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  i.,  provides,  that  if  after  a 
trial  before  any  judicatory,  new  testimony  be  discovered,  which  is  supposed 
to  be  highly  important  to  the  exculpation  of  the  accused,  it  is  proper  for 
him  to  ask,  and  for  the  judicatory  to  grant,  a  new  trial. 

2.  It  is  very  conceivable  that  after  the  lapse  of  five  or  six  years  the 
sentence  of  an  ecclesiastical  court,  which  was  originally  considered  as  just 
and  wise,  although  no  new  testimony,  strictly  speaking,  has  appeared,  may 
in  the  view  of  the  church  appear  under  an  aspect  equivalent  to  new  testi- 
mony, and  calling  for  reconsideration  ;  yet, 

3.  Inasmuch  as  the  frequent  reconsideration  of  cases  adjudged  by  the 
inferior  judicatories,  without  the  appearance  of  new  testimony,  admits  of 
great  and  mischievous  abuse,  and  might  lead  to  an  endless  recurrence  of 
reviews  and  reversals  of  former  decisions,  in  the  absence  of  a  majority  of 
the  coui't  pronouncing  the  same ;  it  is  evidently  more  regular,  safe  and  for 
edification,  when  a  review  of  a  decision,  without  the  disclosure  of  new 
testimony,  is  thought  desirable,  to  refer  the  case  to  the  next  higher  judica- 
tory.—1833,  p.  405. 

III.  References  are  either  for  mere  advice,  preparatory  to  a  decis- 
ion by  the  inferior  judicatory;  or  for  ultimate  trial  and  decision  by 
the  superior. 

a.  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Chenango  asking  advice  in  the 
case  of  Rev.  Edward  Andrews,  a  member  of  that  body,  who  has  recently 
withdrawn  and  received  episcopal  ordination,  was  taken  up.  See  Form 
of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii. — 1828,  p.  239. 

See  also  1832,  p.  3G3. 

h.  The  permanent  clerk  announced  to  the  Assembly  that  there  had 
been  put  into  his  hands  a  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
of  the  whole  case  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  before  that  body.  This  case 
was  referred  to  the  Judicial  Committee. — 1831,  p.  321. 

IV.  In  the  former  case,  the  reference  only  suspends  the  decision 
of  the  judicatory  from  which  it  comes:  in  the  latter  case,  it  totally 
relinquishes  the  decision,  and  submits  the  whole  cause  to  the  final 
judgment  of  the  superior  judicatory. 

[Against  the  reference  above,  iii.,  a  complaint  was  entered,  as  also  a 
complaint  against  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  in  the  case.  After  the 
whole  proceedings  of  the  I*resbytery  had  been  read,  and  the  sermon  enti- 
tled "  The  Way  of  Salvation,"}  the  j^'arties  then  agreed  to  submit  the  case 
to  the  Assembly  without  argument,  when  it  was  resolved  to  refer  the 


OF    EEFERENCES.  545 

wliole  case  to  a  select  Committee.  Dr.  Miller,  Dr.  Matthews,  Dr.  Lan- 
sing, Dr.  Fisk,  Dr.  Spring,  Dr.  J.  McDowell,  Mr.  Bacon,  Mr.  Ross,  Mr. 
E.  White,  ]\Ir.  Jessup  and  JNIr.  Napier  were  appointed  this  Committee. — 
1831,  p.  325. 

Subsequently,  the  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  whole  ease  in 
relation  to  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  made  a  report,  which  being  read  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.  : 

That  after  bestowing  upon  the  case  the  most  deliberate  and  serious  con- 
sideration, the  Committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  neither  necessary, 
nor  for  edification,  to  go  into  the  discussion  of  all  the  various  and  minute 
details  which  are  comprehended  in  the  documents  relating  to  this  case. 
For  the  purpose,  however,  of  bringing  the  matter  in  controversy,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  a  regular  and  satisfactory  issue,  they  would  recommend  to  the 
Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  viz. : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  General  Assembly,  while  it  appreciates  the  consci- 
entious zeal  for  the  purity  of  the  Church,  by  which  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia is  believed  to  have  been  actuated  in  its  proceedings  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Barnes;  and  while  it  judges  that  the  sermon  by  Mr.  Barnes,  entitled 
"  The  Way  of  Salvation,"  contains  a  number  of  unguarded  and  objec- 
tionable passages,  yet  is  of  opinion  that,  especially  after  the  explanations 
which  were  given  by  him  of  those  passages,  the  Presbytery  ought  to  have 
suffered  the  whole  to  pass  without  further  notice. 

Resolved,  2.  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  ought  to  suspend  all  further  proceedings  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Barnes. 

Resolved,  3.  That  it  will  be  expedient,  as  soon  as  the  regular  steps  can 
be  taken,  to  divide  the  Presbytery  in  such  way  as  will  be  best  calculated 
to  promote  the  peace  of  the  ministers  and  churches  belonging  to  the  Pres- 
bytery. 

With  respect  to  the  abstract  points  proposed  to  the  Assembly  for  their 
decision  in  the  Reference  of  the  Presbytery,  the  Committee  are  of  the 
opinion  that  if  they  be  answered  they  had  better  be  discussed  and  decided 
in  thesi  separate  from  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  that  the  other  complaints  and  the  ref- 
erence in  relation  to  the  case  of  JNIr.  Barnes,  they  considered  as  merged 
in  the  report  just  adopted.     This  report  was  accepted. 

The  Assembly  having  finished  the  business  in  relation  to  Mr.  Barnes, 
united  in  special  prayer,  returning  thanks  to  God  for  the  harmonious  re- 
sult to  which  they  have  come;  and  imploring  the  blessing  of  God  on  their 
decision. — 1831,  p.  329. 

V.  Although  reference  may  in  some  cases,  as  before  stated,  be 
higlily  proper;  yet  it  is,  generally  speaking,  more  conducive  to  the 
public  good,  that  each  judicatory  should  fulfill  its  duty  by  exercising 
its  judgment. 

VI.  Although  a  reference  ought,  generally,  to  procure  advice  from 
the  superior  judicatory;  yet  that  judicatory  is  not  necessarily  bound 
to  give  a  final  judgment  in  the  case,  even  if  requested  to  do  so;  but 
may  remit  the  whole  cause,  either  with  or  without  advice,  back  to  the 
judicatory  by  which  it  was  referred. 

[See  under  viii.,  below. 

The  Committee   appointed  to  draw  a  minute  on  the  subject  of  the 
69 


546  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

memorial  from  the  session  of  the  First  Church  in  Genoa,  reported  the  fol- 
lowing, which  was  adopted,  viz.: 

lieso/ved,  That  the  church  of  Genoa  be  referred  to  the  minute  of  the 
Assembly  formed  in  the  case  of  David  Price,  in  the  )'ear  1825 ;  from 
which  it  will  appear,  that  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  "  an  admon- 
ition" was  "deserved"  by  the  said  Price,  in  consequence  of  his  unchris- 
tian conduct.  And  it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  that  the  session 
ought  immediately  to  have  administered  such  admonition  ;  that  they  ought 
still  to  administer  it;  and  that  if  the  said  Price  refuse  to  submit  to  such 
admonition,  or  do  not  thereupon  manifest  repentance  and  Christian  tem- 
per, to  the  satisfaction  of  the  church,  he  ought  not  to  be  received  into  the 
communion  of  that  or  any  other  Presbyterian  Church. — 1827,  p.  202. 

YII.  In  cases  of  reference,  the  members  of  the  inferior  judicatory 
making  it,  retain  all  the  privileges  of  deliberating  and  voting,  in  the 
course  of  trial  and  judgment  before  the  superior  judicatory,  which 
they  would  have  had,  if  no  reference  had  been  made. 

A'lII.  References  are,  generally,  to  be  carried  to  the  judicatory 
immediately  superior. 

1.  Reference  Directly  to  the  Assembly  Permitted. 

a.  The  General  Assembly  sympathize  with  you  (the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony) in  the  painful  business  detailed  to  them,  and  lament  the  unpleasant 
events  which  have  taken  place  relative  to  Dr.  Kollock.  And  it  would 
afford  the  Assembly  no  small  degree  of  pleasure  fully  to  comply  Vvith  the 
request  of  the  Presbytery,  and  in  such  manner  as  to  remove  their  difficul- 
ties and  heal  the  wounds  which  have  been  inflicted.  It  will  be  admitted 
by  all  that  the  decisions  of  the  Assembly  should  be  marked  with  correct- 
ness and  wisdom,  and  it  will  be  as  generally  admitted  that  it  is  highly 
needful  to  enable  them  to  do  this,  that  they  have  a  correct  and  clear  view 
of  the  cases  or  facts  on  which  they  are  to  decide.  The  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony request  the  Assembly  to  examine  their  conduct,  and  to  censure  or 
support  them,  as  they  shall  appear  to  have  done  right  or  wrong.  The 
Assembly  are  ready  to  do  this,  and  it  is  believed  will  cheerfully  do  it  as 
soon  as  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  which  relate  to  this 
subject,  shall  be  fully  liefore  them.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  with  pleasure 
that  the  Assembly  reflect  that  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  by  can-ying 
this  subject  to  the  Synod  of  which  they  are  a  constituent  part,  may  i)rob- 
ably  obtain  a  more  speedy  relief  than  they  could  receive  in  the  event  of 
waiting  for  the  decision  of  the  next  General  Assembly. — 181(),  ji.  615. 

b.  The  Permanent  Clerk  announced  to  the  Assembly,  that  there  had 
been  put  into  his  hands  a  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia 
of  the  whole  case  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  before  that  body.  Tliis  case 
was  referred  to  the  Judicial  Committee.— 18ol,  p.  .'521. 

c.  And  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Horace  Belknap,  referred  to  the  General 
Assemblv  by  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony.  Referred  to  the  Judicial  Com- 
mittee.—1831,  p.  319. 

[See  also  1832,  pp.  362,  363.] 

d.  Overture  No.  6,  viz.:  A  request  from  the  Presbytery  of  Delaware 
for  advice  in  a  certain  case,  was  referred  back  again  to  the  Presbytery  for 
a  more  particular  statement  of  the  case,  and  that  said  Presbytery  may 
send  it,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Synod  for  advice. — 1832,  p.  362. 


OF    REFEEEXCES.  547 

IX.  In  cases  of  reference,  the  judicatory  referring  ought  to  have 
all  the  testimony,  and  other  documents,  duly  prepared,  produced,  and 
in  perfect  readiness ;  so  that  the  sujierior  judicatory  may  be  able  to 
consider  and  issue  the  case  with  as  little  difficulty  or  delay  as  pos- 
sible. 

1.   Testimony  Attested  by  the  Moderator  and  Clerk  SuflQcient. 

The  following  question,  signed  by  William  C.  Davis,  "Whether  testi- 
mony taken  before  a  session,  and  sent  up  to  the  Presbytery  under  the  sig- 
nature of  moderator  and  clerk,  will  not  be  sufficient  in  references  as  well 
as  appeals  to  render  the  case  thus  referred  both  orderly  and  cognizable  by 
Presbytery,"  was  answered  in  the  affirmative. — 1797,  p.  128. 

2.  A  Superior  Court  may  Entertain  a  Reference  which  is  not  Ac- 
companied by  the  Testimony,  and  Proceed  itself  to  take  it. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  approved,  "  with  one  exception, 
viz. :  According  to  the  record  on  page  66,  the  Synod  taught  and  acted  on 
the  principle  that  a  Presbytery  acts  irregularly,  which  upon  the  reference 
of  a  church  session,  takes  the  testimony  and  issues  the  case  according  to 
its  bearings,  even  when  the  parties  concerned  agree  to  the  reference. 
Your  Committee  are  of  opinion  that  this  principle  is  wrong  in  itself,  and 
evil  in  its  tendency,  and  therefore  recommend  this  Assembly  to  express  its 
disapprobation  of  it." — 1853,  p.  455,  O.  S. 

In  reply  to  a  protest  against  this  decision,  the  Assembly  says : 
The  action  condemned  is  not  "  in  exact  accordance  with  the  Constitu- 
tion, Discip.,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  ii.,  art.  ix.,"  as  asserted  by  the  protestant;  the 
article  referred  to  containing  a  rule,  designed  to  facilitate  business,  but  as 
its  language  shows,  it  does  not  preclude  a  Presbytery  from  taking  original 
testimony  in  certain  cases,  and  it  does  not  appear  from  the  records  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Muhlenburg  was  irregular  in  so  doing. — 1853,  p.  456, 
O.  S. 

Reference,  except  from  Synods  or  Presbyteries,  Discouraged. 

The  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Reconstruction  recommended  the 
following,  which  was  adopted: 

As  much  time  is  consumed,  and  the  attention  of  the  Assembly  dis- 
tracted with  overtures  and  questions  of  minor  importance,  coming  up 
from  various  quarters,  impeding  the  transaction  of  business  of  more 
general  interest,  it  is  recommended  that  the  Assembly  order  that,  here- 
after, bills  and  overtures  come  up  only  from  Synods  or  Presbyteries;  yet, 
that  this  may  not  prevent  any  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures  from 
bringing  before  the  house,  of  its  own  motion,  upon  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the 
Committee,  any  matter  which  they  may  deem  of  sufficient  importance  to 
engage  the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly. — 1870,  p.  90. 


548  OF   DISCIPLINE.  , 

SECTION  III. 

OF   APPEALS. 

I.  An  appeal  is  the  removal  of  a  cause  already  decided,  from  an 
inferior  to  a  suj)erior  judicatory,  by  a  party  aggrieved. 

[Before  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  its  present  form,  in  1821, 
no  distinction  was  made  between  an  appeal  and  a  complaint.  The  com- 
mon form  was,  "  we  appeal  and  complain."  Under'  this  broad  title  any 
decision  whatever  was  carried  by  any  parties  from  the  lower  courts  to  the 
higher.  Appeals  are  limited,  by  the  present  Constitution,  to  the  original 
parties  to  a  case  who  may  deem  themselves  aggrieved,  and  to  cases  which 
have  been  judicially  decided  by  a  lower  judicatory.  Under  this  head, 
however,  are  included  all  cases  of  whatever  character  which  have  been 
the  subject  of  a  decision  by  an  inferior  judicatory.  Cases  showing  the 
parties  whose  appeals  have  been  entertained,  and  the  subjects  to  which 
they  pertain,  may  be  found  under  sees.  ii.  and  iii. ;  sections  vi.,  vii.,  viii., 
ix.,  X.  and  xi.,  apply  also  to  complaints.  The  same  case  was  tried  both  as 
an  appeal  and  a  complaint. — 1834,  p.  431 ;  1835,  p.  490 ;  1836,  p.  276. 

1.-  The  Death  of  the  Respondent  bars  further  Prosecution. 

And  on  page  277  it  appears  that  the  Synod  of  New  York  decided  that 
the  death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Griffith  should  be  no  bar  in  the  way  of  the  prose- 
cution of  an  appeal  by  his  prosecutor  from  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Bedford  acquitting  Mr.  Griffith.  With  these  exceptions,  the  Com- 
mittee recommended  that  the  records  be  approved.  Their  report  was 
adopted.— 1833,  p.  400. 

2.  Appeals  Limited  to  Judicial  Cases. 

The  complaint  of  A.  D.  Metcalf,  etc.,  against  the  Synod  of  Virginia, 
for  deciding  that  appeals  may  lie  in  cases  not  judicial,  was  taken  up. 
The  decision  complained  of,  the  reasons  of  complaint  assigned  by  the 
complainants,  and  the  whole  record  of  the  Synod  in  the  case  were  read. 
The  complainants  were  heard  in  support  of  their  complaint.  The  Synod 
were  heard  in  defence  of  their  decision.  The  roll  was  called,  that  each 
member  of  the  Assembly  might  have  an  opportunity  of  expressing  his 
opinion.  After  which,  the  vote  was  taken,  and  the  complaint  was  sus- 
tained.—1839,  p.  160,  0.  S. 

II.  All  persons  who  have  submitted  to  a  regular  trial  in  an  infe- 
rior, may  appeal  to  a  higher  judicatory. 

III.  Any  irregularity  in  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatory  ; 
a  refusal  of  reasonable  indulgence  to  a  party  on  trial ;  declining  to 
receive  important  testimony;  hurrying  to  a  decision  before  the  testi- 
mony is  fully  taken ;  a  manifestation  of  prejudice  in  the  case ;  and 
mistake  or  injustice  in  the  decision — are  all  proper  grounds  of  ap- 
peal. 

[Appeals  have  been  Entertained  and  Issued  for  Causes  Named, 
viz.,]  1.  For  Refusing  to  Permit  a  Call. 

a.  The  unfinished  business  of  yesterday,  viz.,  an  appeal  from  a  decision 
of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  affirming  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of 


OF   APPEALS.  549 

Carlisle,  in  which  decision  the  Presbytery  resolved  not  to  put  into  his 
hands  a  call  for  the  Rev.  Henry  R.  Wilson,  from  the  congregation  of  Car- 
lisle, being  resumed  and  fully  discussed,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  be  affirmed. 

And  it  was  accordingly  affirmed. — 1814,  p.  548. 

h.  The  business  left  unfinished  yesterday  was  resumed,  viz.,  the  consid- 
eration of  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson  from  a  decision  of 
the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  reversing  a  decision  of  said 
Presbytery,  by  which  the  Presbytery  determined  not  to  give  leave  to  the 
congregation  of  Goodwill  to  prosecute  before  the  Presbytery  of  New  York 
a  call  which  they  had  prepared  for  the  Rev.  William  Gray,  a  member  of 
that  Presbytery. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hud- 
son be  sustained.  After  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject,  the  question 
being  taken  on  this  motion,  it  Avas  determined  in  the  affirmative,  and  the 
appeal  was  therefore  sustained. — 1817,  p.  644. 

2.  Against  a  Befusal  to  Obey  the  Superior  Court. 

An  appeal  from,  and  complaint  against,  a  vote  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  the  case  of  Mr.  Hindman,  was  introduced  before  the  Assem- 
bly through  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  and  read.  It  was  as  follows, 
viz. : 

It  was  overtured  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  that  the  Synod  be 
requested  to  review  the  minute  of  their  last  meeting  on  the  case  of  Mr. 
Hindman,  and  also  to  take  into  their  consideration  the  conduct  of  Lewes 
Presbytery,  in  the  affiiir  of  his  licensure. 

The  vote  being  put,  grant  their  request  or  notf  it  Was  carried  not. 

We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  annexed,  dissent  from  the  aforesaid  vote 
of  Synod,  and  complain  of  and  appeal  therefrom,  to  the  next  General 
Assembly,  for  the  following  reasons: 

1.  Because,  in  our  apprehension,  the  Synod  have,  by  their  vote  in  this 
affiiir,  deprived  aggrieved  members  of  a  privilege  to  which  they  have  a 
just  claim. 

2.  Because  the  Synod  by  this  vote  have,  in  our  opinion,  refused  to 
correct  the  errors  in  their  pi'oceedings  of  last  year,  which  were  censured 
by  the  General  Assembly,  and  which,  in  consequence  of  that  censure, 
ought  to  be  corrected. 

3.  Because  the  vote,  as  we  believe,  will,  in  its  effects,  tend  to  keep  alive 
and  increase  uneasiness  in  the  Presbyteries  of  New  Castle  and  Lewes. 

4.  Because  we  believe  that  the  whole  transactions  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia, relative  to  this  affair,  have  been  in  direct  violation  of  a  known 
and  wholesome  rule  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  respect- 
ing the  licensure  of  candidates,  and  contained  in  tiieir  ]\linutes  of  1764, 
pages  78  and  80.  And  we  likewise  believe,  that  this  violation  has  a  tend- 
encv  to  promote  irregularity,  deception  and  injury,  both  among  tlie  churches 
and  judicatures  of  the  Presbyterian  body. — 1792,  p.  53. 

[This  appeal  was  entertained  and  issued,  see  p.  56.  The  Synod  was  cen- 
sured, but  the  licensure  complained  of  was  confirmed,  though  declared  to 
be  irregular.] 

3.  Appeal  for  Refusing  to  receive  an  Applicant. 

A  complaint  and  ajipoal  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Ledlie  Birch,  against  cer- 
tain proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  in  the  case  of  ]\Ii'.  Birch,  par- 
ticularly for  refusing  to  receive  him  as  a  member  of  their  body,  on  the 
ground  of  a  supposed  want  of  acquaintance  with  experimental  religion, 


550  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

together  with  a  representation  of  the  congregation  of  Washington,  in  the 
bounds  of  said  Presbytery,  on  the  same  subject,  was  brought  in  by  the 
Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures.     On  motion, 

Resolved,  That  tlie  Assembly  will  proceed,  on  Monday  morning  next,  to 
hear  said  complaint  and  appeal. — 1801,  p.  213. 

Subsequently  the  Assembly — 

Resolved,  That  no  evidence  of  censurable  procedure  in  the  Presbytery 
of  Ohio,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Birch,  has  appeared  to  this  house ;  inasmuch 
as  there  is  a  discretionary  power  necessarily  lodged  in  every  Presbytery  to 
judge  of  the  qualifications  of  those  whom  they  receive,  especially  with 
respect  to  experimental  religion. — 1801,  p.  218. 

The  Assembly  having  examined  Mr.  Birch,  especially  upon  his  acquaint- 
ance with  experimental  religion.  Resolved,  That  they  find  no  obstruction 
against  any  Presbyter}'  to  which  he  may  apply  taking  him  up  and  pro- 
ceeding with  him  agreeably  to  the  rules  and  regulations  in  this  case  made 
and  provided. — 1801,  p.  221.  In  the  next  Assembly  Mr.  Birch  complains, 
inter  alia,  "  That  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio  rejected  him,  in  opposition  to  the 
decision  and  intention  of  the  General  Assembly." — 1802,  p.  246.  This 
complaint  was  not  sustained. 

4.  Appeal  against  an  Order  or  Decision  of  the  Superior  Court. 

a.  An  appeal  from  the  session  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  of  Phila- 
delphia from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  affirming  a  decision 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  w'hich  decision  the  Presbytery  re- 
quired said  session  within  twenty  days  from  the  date  of  their  decision,  or 
after  the  final  determination  of  the  case,  to  convene  the  congregation  for 
the  purpose  of  electing  a  pastor,  was  determined  in  the  affirmative. — 1814, 
p.  559. 

For  the  full  minute  of  the  decision,  see  Form  of  Government,  chap, 
xiv.,  sec.  i. 

b.  [The  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  appealed  against  and  com- 
plained of  the  act  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  ordering  it  to  be  merged 
in  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  Both  appeal  and  complaint  were  sus- 
tained and  the  act  of  the  Synod  p?'o  ta}ito  declared  void.] — 1834,  p.  432. 

e.  The  Assembly  took  up  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia  in  relation  to  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia dissolving  them  as  a  Presbytery. 

The  final  vote  was  taken,  first  on  the  appeal,  which  was  sustained,  and 
then  on  the  complaint,  which  was  also  sustained. — 1836,  pp.  273-276. 

5.  An  Appeal  -will  not  Lie  against  a  Judicatory  for  Obeying  the 
Order  of  a  Superior  Judicatory. 

Appeal  of  Eev.  INIr.  Hummer  against  the  Presbytery  of  Highland.  The 
last  General  Assembly  passed  the  following  order,  viz.:  Overture  No.  19. 
That  the  General  Assembly  would  take  action  and  give  relief  in  the  case 
of  Rev.  Michael  Hummer,  who,  having  been  deposed  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Iowa,  had  been  restored  by  the  Presbytery  of  Highland  against  the 
remonstrance  of  the  Presbytery  of  Iowa,  just  as  if  he  was  an  independent 
minister. 

In  answer,  the  Assembly  declares  that  it  is  irregular  and  unconstitu- 
tional for  any  Presbytery  to  receive  and  restore  a  member  of  another 
Presbytery  who  had  been  deposed,  and  therefore  the  action  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of' Highland,  in  restoring  Mr.  Hummer,  was  improper;  and  the 


OF   APPEALS.  551 

Presbytery  of  Highland  is  directed  to  reconsider  its  action,  and  proceed 
according  to  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution. 

The  report  was  adopted. 

The  Presbytery  of  Highland  adopted  the  following  minute: 

Whereas,  We  believe  that  our  action  in  the  reception  of  Brother  Hum- 
mer was  unconstitutional ;  and  whereas,  we  have  no  choice,  in  view  of  the 
direct  injuncti(m  of  the  General  Assembly;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  do  now  proceed  to  reconsider  the  action  of  this  Pres- 
bytery, by  which  INIr.  Hummer  was  received  into  this  body. 

Resolved,  That  this  action  of  Presbytery  be  understood  as  putting  the 
case  into  the  position  it  occupied  previous  to  his  reception. 

Resolved,  That  Presbytery  earnestly  advise  Mr.  Hummer  to  appeal  once 
more  to  the  Presbytery  of  Iowa  to  take  up  his  case,  in  order  that,  in  the 
event  of  their  refusal  to  do  him  justice,  he  may  appeal  to  the  Synod,  and 
thence,  if  necessary,  to  the  General  Assembly — which  resolution  was 
adopted. 

Against  this  proceeding  Mr.  Hummer  appeals. 

But  it  appears  that  the  Presbytery  of  Highland  did  nothing  more  than 
they  were  required  to  do  by  the  General  Assembly ;  that  is  to  say,  they 
reconsidered  and  set  aside  the  action  which  the  Assembly  had  dechired 
"irregular,"  "unconstitutional,"  and  "improper."  In  the  judgment  of 
the  Committee,  an  appeal  does  not  lie  in  such  a  case,  and  they  recom- 
mend that  it  be  dismissed,  and  Mr.  Hummer  have  leave  to  withdraw  his 
papers. 

The  report  was  accepted  and  adopted,  and  the  case  dismissed, — 1863,  p. 
35,  O.  S. 

6.  An  Appeal  Dismissed  because  no  Evidence  is  presented  to 
Sustain  the  Allegation. 

Appeal  and  complaint  of  certain  persons  claiming  to  be  ruling  elders 
of  the  church  at  Little  Falls  vs.  the  Synod  of  Albany. 

That  they  have  examined  the  records  and  papers  in  said  case ;  and 
although  the  appeal  has  been  taken  in  proper  form,  and  after  due  notice, 
yet,  as  there  has  been  presented  no  evidence  to  sustain  the  allegations  set 
forth  as  grounds  of  reversal,  and  as  the  allegations  cannot  therefore  be 
tried  by  the  Assembly,  the  Committee  recommend  that  the  said  appeal 
and  complaint  be  dismissed.     Adopted. — 1861,  p.  312,  O.  S. 

Also  case  of  AVilliara  McElwee  t's.  Synod  of  Toledo. — 1873,  p.  509. 

v.  Appeal  "will  not  Lie  against  a  Refusal  to  Adopt  a  Paper  or 
Determine  a  Constitutional  Question  in  thesi. 

a.  The  Judicial  Committee  having  had  under  consideration  No.  1,  the 
appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Eobert  J.  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  and 
others,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  quorum 
question  ;  and  No.  2,  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Kev.  R.  J.  Breck- 
inridge, D.  D.,  and  others,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pliihidel- 
phia,  on  the  question  of  the  imposition  of  hands  in  ordination,  rejKtrt,  that 
in  their  opinion  the  Form  of  Government  and  Diseii)line  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  do  not  authorize  the  appellants  and  comphiinants  to  bring 
before  the  General  Assembly,  either  an  appeal  or  comphiint  in  the  cases 
referred  to.     The  report  was  adopted. — 1844,  p.  366,  O.  S. 

[Against  this  a  protest  was  entered,  and  the  Assembly  rejoin.  See 
below,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iv.,  sub-sec  ii.] 


552  OF    DLSCIPLIXE. 

8.  Nor  -where  the  Court  acts  -within  the  Limits  of  its  Po-wer  and 

Authority. 

The  Special  Committee,  appointed  to  prepare  a  minute  expressive  of  the 
sense  of  the  Assembly  in  passing  the  vote  in  the  case  of  the  appeal  of 
Silas  Miller  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  recommended  the 
adoption  of  the  following  minute: 

The  Assembly,  having  heard  the  appeal  of  Silas  Miller  from  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  the  sentence  appealed  from  and  the  reasons 
assigned  therefor,  the  whole  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  in  the 
case,  including  all  the  testimony  and  the  reasons  of  their  decision  ;  and 
having  heard  the  original  parties  by  their  counsel,  namely,  the  appellant,, 
by  his  counsel,  Rev.  George  I.  King,  D.  D.,  and  the  session  of  the  church 
of  Tuscola,  by  the  Rev.  Edwin  Black  ;  and  having  also  heard  the  Rev. 
Livingston  M.  Glover,  D.  D.,  and  others,  members  of  the  said  Synod,  in 
explanation  of  the  grounds  of  their  decision,  and  having  carefully  consid- 
ered said  appeal  and  the  reasons  assigned  therefor  by  the  appellant,  are 
of  the  ojiinion  that  there  is  no  valid  ground  for  the  appeal,  in  that  it  does 
not  appear  that  the  Synod  exceeded  its  power  and  authority  in  the  prem- 
ises, or  that  it  did  any  of  the  matters  or  things  specified  in  chap,  vii.,  sec. 
iii.,  paragraph  3,  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  as  being  proper  grounds  of 
appeal ;  and  therefore  the  Assembly  do  now  order  the  appeal  of  said  Silas 
Miller  to  be  dismissed,  and  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  to  be  con- 
firmed.—1867,  p.  516,  N.  S. 

9.  Nor  -where  the  Action  below  -was  Regular,  and  Itself  accord- 

ing to  the  Equities  of  the  Case. 

Sixth.  Case  of  M.  A.  Rockefeller,  H.  N.  Waples,  and  M,  E.  Starick  vs. 
the  Synod  of  Harrisbui-g. 

These  persons  complain  and  appeal,  because  the  Synod  decided  their 
case  without  hearing  both  sides  fully,  since  their  representative  was  absent 
on  the  last  day  of  the  hearing;  and  because  of  injustice,  in  that  the  Synod 
did  not  regard  the  embarrassments  of  their  position,  and  the  irregularity 
of  the  action  of  the  session  and  the  Presbytery,  from  which  they  ai)j>ealed. 

The  Committee  learn  from  the  records  of  the  Synod,  to  which  tiiese  ap- 
pellants refer,  as  their  only  testimony,  that  a  full  hearing  was  granted, 
their  representative  being  heard  as  long  as  he  desired  to  speak,  and  in  his 
absence,  after  having  addressed  the  Synod,  another  representative  was 
permitted  to  serve  in  his  place ;  and  all  the  provisions  of  the  Book  were 
granted  the  appellants.  ^loreover,  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  from  which 
the  appeal  was  taken,  contained  an  injunction  upon  the  Presbytery,  to 
enjoin  the  session  to  invite  these  n)embers  of  the  Church  to  return  to  their 
duties  and  privileges  in  the  Church,  with  the  assurance  that,  if  they  would 
do  so,  the  action  against  them  should  be  annulled.  The  Committee,  there- 
fore, fail  to  find  ground  for  their  complaint,  for  either  of  the  reasons  they 
specify,  and  recommend  that  the  case  be  dismissed.  Adoi)ted. — 1873,  p. 
509. 

IV.  Appeals  may  be,  either  from  a  part  of  the  ])rooecdings  of  a 
judicatory,  or  from  a  definitive  sentence. 

V.  Every  appellant  is  bound  to  give  notice  of  his  intention  to 
appeal,  and  also  to  lay  the  reasons  thereof,  in  writing,  before  the 
judicatory  appealed  from,  either  before  its  rising,  or  witiiin  ten  days 


OF   APPEALS.  553 

thereafter.     If  this  notice,  or  these  reasons,  be  not  given  to  the  judi- 
catory while  in  session,  they  shall  be  lodged  with  the  moderator. 

1.  Notice  must  be  Given  and  Reasons  in  Writing-. 

a.  An  appeal  of  Mr.  Benjaiuiu  Bell  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Geneva,  aud  also  an  appeal  of  Mr.  Bell  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Geneva,  were  laid  before  the  Assembly  by  the  Judicial  Committee. 
These  appeals  were  both  dismissed,  on  account  of  the  judicatories,  from 
whose  decisions  they  had  been  taken,  not  having  received  due  notice  from 
Mr.  Bell  that  he  designed  to  prosecute  them  before  this  Assembly. — 1821, 
p.  25. 

h.  The  appeal  of  Mr.  Charles  Yale  from  a  sentence  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Bath,  deposing  him  from  the  gospel  ministry,  was  taken  up  and  dis- 
missed, because  it  appeared  that  Mr.  Yale  gave  notice  to  said  Presbytery 
that  he  should  appeal  to  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  several  days  before  he  sig- 
nified his  desire  to  the  moderator  of  Presbytery  to  appeal  to  the  General 
Assembly.— 1826,  p.  187. 

c.  Resolved,  That  the  appeal  [of  certain  pew  owners  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Troy]  be  dismissed,  on  tlie  ground  that  the  Synod  has 
not  had  the  constitutional  notice  of  the  reasons  of  the  appeal — 1828, 
p.  242. 

2.  Evidence  that  Notice  has  been  Given  is  Required. 

a.  The  Judicial  Committee,  to  whom  was  recommitted  the  appeal  of  the 
church  of  Bergen,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz.  : 

They  recommend  that  said  appeal  be  dismissed,  on  the  ground  that  the 
only  paper  which  appears  to  be  intended  as  an  appeal,  is  without  date  or 
signature,  or  evidence  that  it  was  ever  before  the  Synod  of  Genesee,  or 
lodged  with  the  moderator  of  said  Synod. — 1830,  p.  292. 

A  Synod  Censured  for  Entertaining  an  Appeal  tvitJiout  Notice. 

h.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Utica  were  approved  with  the  follow- 
ing exceptions: 

1.  That  the  Synod  issued  an  appeal  from  the  inferior  judicatory,  when 
it  appeared  before  them  that  an  appellant  had  not  given  notice  in  writing 
that  he  should  appeal,  with  his  reasons  assigned  for  appealing,  as  required 
by  the  Book  of  Discipline,  before  the  rising  of  the  judicatory  appealed 
from,  or  within  ten  days  thereafter. 

2.  That  the  Synod  violated  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  in  quali- 
fying the  members  of  the  inferior  judicatory  to  ascertain  whether  an 
appeal  had  been  given,  when  the  Book  of  Discipline  requires  that  the 
appeal  shall  be  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  moderator;  and  further,  tluit 
the  inferior  judicatory  shall  send  authentic  copies  of  all  the  records,  and  of 
all  the  testimony  relating  to  the  matter  of  appeal  up  to  the  Synod,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  issue  the  appeal,  when  found  to  be  in  order,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Book  of  Discipline. — 1840,  p.  12,  N.  S. 

c.  The  Committee  further  reported  No.  13,  viz.:  Complaint  of  John 
Cochran  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  reconnnended  that  the 
complainant  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  papers,  on  the  ground  that  the 
Committee  have  no  evidence  that  notice  of  said  complaint  was  given  to 
the  Synod.— 1834,  p.  434. 
70 


554  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

3.  "When  a  Ne-w  Trial  is  G-ranted  by  the  Superior  Court,  Notice 
must  be  Given  by  the  Appellant. 

The  appeal  of  Mr.  Craighead  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky was  taken  up,  and  being  read,  it  appeared  on  inquiry  that  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky  was  not  ready  for  trial,  because  Mr.  Craighead  had 
failed  to  give  them  notice  that  he  intended  to  avail  himself  of  the  privi- 
lege granted  by  the  last  Assembly,  by  prosecuting  his  appeal ;  therefore, 
Resolved,  That  the  further  consideration  of  this  appeal  be  postponed,  and 
that  Mr.  Craighead  be  informed,  that  if  he  wishes  to  prosecute  his  appeal 
before  the  next  General  Assembly,  he  must  give  notice  of  his  intention  to 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky. — 1823,  p.  92. 

4.  Failvire  of  the  Court  to  Receive  Notice  does  not  bar  the  Ap- 
pellant. 

This  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  Mr.  Lowrey  complied  with  the  rule 
of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  respecting  the  notice  given,  in  the  case  of  his 
appeal ;  but  as  this  notice  appears  not  to  have  been  received  by  the  Synod, 
they  were  not  censurable  for  not  sending  up  the  records. — 1824,  p.  115. 

[In  this  case  the  Assembly  satisfied  itself  that  the  notice  was  sent  within 
the  ten  days  after  the  rising  of  the  judicatory.] 

5.  Leave  to  Sho"W"  that  Notice  has  been  Given  to  the  Court  Ap- 
pealed from. 

On  motion  of  E.  P.  Humphrey,  it  was  Resolved,  That  the  case  be  re- 
ferred to  the  next  General  Assembly  with  leave  to  appellants  to  show 
them  that  they  gave  the  Synod  notice  for  an  appeal. — 1859,  p.  540,  O.  S. 

6.  On  Evidence  of  Notice  the  Case  Reinstated. 

No  reasons  accompany  the  complaint,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that 
any  notice  of  complaint  was  given  to  the  Synod.  Complaint  dismissed 
and  leave  given  to  withdraw  papers. — 1865,  p.  542,  O.  S. 

[The  next  year  the  complainant  above  came  before  the  Assembly  by 
overture  or  memorial,  when  action  was  taken,  as  follows,  viz.:] 

Also  Overture  No.  21,  relating  to  an  appeal  of  the  Rev.  L.  R.  Lock- 
wood,  presented  by  his  counsel.  Rev.  James  Remington. 

This  appeal  against  the  Synod  of  Iowa,  for  not  sustaining  his  appeal 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Dubuque,  was  dismissed  by  the  last  Assembly,  on 
the  ground  that  no  reason  accompanied  the  complaint,  and  there  was  no 
evidence  that  any  notice  of  complaint  was  given  to  the  Synod.  ]\Ir.  Lock- 
wood  now  memorializes  this  Assembly,  and  alleges  that  the  recjuired  notice 
of  appeal*  was  given  to  the  Synod,  and  tluxt  he  was  then,  and  still  is,  pre- 
vented from  attending  the  Assembly  during  its  last  and  present  sessions, 
and  he  asks  tluit  liis  appeal  nuiy  be  reinstated,  and  referred  to  the  next 
Assembly  for  trial. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  his  request  be  granted.  He  furtlier 
asks  that  the  Assembly  direct  the  Presbytery  of  Dubuque  to  grant  him 
a  new  trial,  on  the  ground  of  new  testimony. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  this  application  be  referred  to  the 
Presbytery  of  Dubuque,  to  the  end  that  if  the  new  testimony  be  found 
of  sufficient  importance  to  justify,  that  Presbytery  may  afford  Mr.  Lock- 
wood  the  relief  lie  asks,  liut  if,  in  their  judgment,  a  new  trial  ought  not 
to  be  granted,  that  then  the  ai>i)eal  shall  stand  for  trial  on  the  record  as 
now  existing,  before  the  next  General  Assembly. 

The  rejiort  was  adopted. — 18G6,  p.  72,  O.  S. 


OF    APPEALS.  555 

TI.  Appeals  are  generally  to  be  carried  in  regular  gradation,  from 
an  inferior  judicatory  to  the  one  immediately  superior. 

1.  Appeals  may  be  Prosecuted  directly  before  the  Assembly, 

a.  That  inasmuch  as  the  request  of  Mr.  Bourne  to  be  tried  on  an  appeal 
before  the  General  Assembly  rather  than  the  Synod  may  be  reasonahle, 
and  inasmuch  as  the  words  of  our  Constitution,  viz. :  "  The  Assembly 
sliall  receive  and  issue  all  appeals  and  references  which  may  be  regularly 
brought  before  them  from  the  inferior  judicatories,"  etc.,  have  been  inter- 
preted favorably  to  such  a  request,  the  General  Assembly  do  order,  that 
a  certified  copy  of  the  records  of  the  Lexington  Presbytery  in  this  case  be 
duly  made,  and  transmitted  to  the  next  Assembly,  unless  the  Synod  of 
Virginia,  to  which  the  Assembly  can  have  no  objection,  shall  have  previ- 
ously received  the  appeal.  [But  that  this  constitutional  question,  as  well 
as  the  merits  of  the  case,  shall  remain  open  for  discussion  at  that  time.] — 
1816,  p.  627. 

b.  Resolved,  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia  be  approved, 
except  their  censure  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington  for  allowing  an  ap- 
peal from  their  decision  directly  to  the  Assembly,  without  noticing  the 
supposed  irregularity  of  such  appeal. — 1818,  p.  688. 

c.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  in  relation  to  the 
practice  of  inferior  judicatories  in  carrying  appeals  and  complaints  directly 
to  the  General  Assembly,  without  first  bringing  them  to  their  respective 
Synods,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. :  That  the 
Constitution  of  our  Church  is  so  explicit  that  it  requires  no  order  of  the 
Assembly  in  relation  to  the  case  brought  to  view  in  this  overture. — 1833, 
p.  396. 

[The  principle  guiding  the  Assembly  seems  to  be  that  where  there  is  no 
sufficient  reason  for  passing  by  the  next  superior  court,  the  case  should 
go  there.  But  where  good  reasons  for  carrying  it  directly  to  the  Assem- 
bly are  assigned,  it  w'ill  be  entertained.  In  this  the  usage  is  the  same 
both  as  to  appeals  and  complaints.] 

2.  Appeals  Dismissed  because  not  first  Brought  in  the  Lower 

Courts. 

a.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  two  appeals  of  Samuel  Lowrey; 
the  first  from  a  special  decision  of  the  session  of  the  Second  Presliyterian 
Church  of  Cincinnati ;  the  second  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Miami.  These  appeals  were  dismissed,  because  the  appellant  liad  not 
prosecuted  his  appeals  before  the  inferior  judicatories. — 1822,  p.  36. 

h.  The  Judicial  Committee  made  the  fdlowing  report  on  the  complaint 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelpliia  against  the  Presbytery  of  Cohuubia, 
relative  to  the  licensure  of  Mr.  Samuel  Shaffer,  which  was  adopted,  viz. : 
That  it  is  a  desirable  thing  to  prevent  the  unnecessary  accumulation  of 
business  before  the  General  Assembly  ;  that  no  good  reason  appears  why 
the  Svnod  of  Albany,  who  must  be  entirely  competent  to  issue  the  com 
plaint,  should  be  passed  by,  and  that,  therefore,  in  their  judgment,  the 
matter  ought  to  go  before  that  body. — 1828,  p.  237. 

c.  The  Judicial  Committee  made  a  report  in  relation  to  the  appeal  of 
]Mr.  Matthew  H.  Rice,  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  East  Hanover, 
which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  the  appellant  had  leave  to  withdraw  his  appeal  on  the  following 
ground,  viz. :  No  reasons  are  assigned  by  the  appellant  for  making  this 
appeal  to  the  General  Assembly  instead  of  the  Synod. — 1830,  p.  298. 


556  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

d.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  on  the  complaint  of  John  Cochran 
against  the  session  of  the  Eighth  Presbyterian  Church  in  Philadelphia, 
and  against  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  their  report  was  adopted, 
and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

The  complaint  of  John  Cochran  against  a  decision  of  the  session  of  the 
Eighth  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia,  which  was  dismissed  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  as  "  irrelevant  and  unfounded,"  appears  to 
have  been  regularly  conducted,  except  that  it  is  brought  directly  to  the 
Assembly,  from  the  Presbytery,  instead  of  being  carried  first  to  the  Synod; 
and  no  reasons  are  assigned  for  this  course.  Your  Committee  would  there- 
fore recommend  that  this  case  be  sent  to  the  Synod  for  adjudication,  should 
Mr.  Cochran  choose  to  prosecute  his  complaint. — 1833,  p.  409. 

e.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  on  judicial  business  No.  7,  viz.: 
the  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Otsego,  by  the  church 
at  Cooperstown,  that  it  aj^jDcars  from  the  documents  that  the  appeal  is 
made  by  said  church  immediately  from  Presbytery  to  the  Assembly ;  and 
they  recommend  that  the  appellants  have  leave  to  withdraw  their  appeal, 
and  prosecute  it  before  the  Synod  of  Utica.  This  rejiort  was  adopted. — 
1834,  p.  432. 

/.  The  appeal  of  Mr.  Charles  Yale,  from  a  sentence  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Bath,  deposing  him  from  the  gospel  ministry,  was  taken  up  and  dismissed, 
because  it  appeared  that  Mr.  Yale  gave  notice  to  said  Presbytery  that  he 
should  appeal  to  the  Synod  of  Geneva,  several  days  before  he  signified  his 
desire  to  the  moderator  of  Presbvtery  to  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly. 
—1826,  p.  187. 

g.  That  John  Turbitt  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  appeal  from  the  de- 
cision of  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria,  deposing  him  from  the  ministry,  be- 
cause the  case  has  not  been  presented  before  the  Synod. — 1859,  p.  516, 
O.  S. 

h.  It  is  earnestly  recommended  by  this  Assembly  to  the  Synod  of  Illi- 
nois, to  reconsider  their  judgment  in  the  case  of  Mr.  John  Turbitt,  de- 
clared at  their  late  meeting,  October,  1859 ;  and  without  regarding  the 
circumstance  of  his  having  originally  passed  over  the  Synod  and  appealed 
directly  to  the  Assembly,  nor  the  circumstance  of  so  much  time  having 
elapsed  since  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  against  him,  to  take  up  his 
case,  and  either  try  it  as  an  appeal  against  the  Presbytery  upou  the  old 
evidence,  or  else  remand  it  to  the  Presbytery  for  their  hearing  of  the  new 
testimony. — 1860,  p.  46,  O.  S. 

i.  Case  of  Rev.  \V.  M.  White  vs.  the  Presbytery  of  Washington.  From 
the  papers  before  the  Committee,  it  appears  that  Mr.  White  was  suspended 
from  the  ministry,  and  excluded  from  the  communion  of  the  church  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Washington  at  its  sessions  in  November,  1870 ;  that 
since  that  time  he  has  resided  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Pittsburg,  and  that  he  made  application  to  the  Presbytery  of  Washington, 
at  its  sessions  in  April,  1873,  for  a  dismission,  with  a  certificate  of  his 
standing,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Pittsburg.  This  recjuest  the  Presbytery  of 
Washington  declined  to  grant;  and,  respecting  their  decision,  have  come 
into  the  hands  of  your  Conmiittee,  1.  A  comi)laint  of  Rev.  W.  M.  White ; 
2.  A  complaint  of  Revs.  David  ]\IcKinney  and  Richard  Lea,  resident  in 
Pittsburg;  3.  A  petition,  signed  by  ministers  and  church  members,  living 
in  and  near  the  city  of  Pittsburg,  praying  that  the  decision  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Washington  may  be  reversed,  together  with  the  answers  of  said 
Presbytery  to  these  complaints. 

The  complaints  have  not  been  before  the  Synod,  with  which  these  Pres- 
byteries are  connected,  for  the  alleged  reason  that  there  has  been  no  meet- 


OF   APPEALS.  557 

ing  of  the  Synod  since  the  action  of  Presbytery,  and  the  complainants 
prefer  not  to  wait  until  the  session  of  the  Synod  in  the  autumn.  Your 
Committee,  however,  do  not  see  sufficient  cause  in  this  case  for  departure 
from  the  rule  of  our  Book  of  Discipline  (chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.),  viz.:  "Ap- 
peals are  generally  to  be  carried  in  regular  gradation,  from  an  inferior 
judicatory  to  the  one  immediately  superior," — and  therefore,  recommend 
that  all  the  papers  in  the  case  be  referred  to  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg. 
Adopted.— 1873,  p.  508. 

3.  Where  there  is  no  Common  Relation,  a  Complaint  is  Allowed. 

Also,  Judicial  Case  No.  3.  Being  a  complaint  of  the  Third  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  against  the  Presbytery  of  Luzerne,  for  an  alleged  invasion 
of  Presbyterial  jurisdiction.  The  case  is  brought  before  the  Assembly, 
because  of  these  Presbyteries  having  had  no  common  Synodical  relations. 

The  Committee  propose  that  the  new  Synod  take  \ip  the  case,  and  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Luzerne  cease  all  action  until  the  Synod  decides. — 1870, 
p.  27. 

YII.  The  appellant  shall  lodge  his  appeal,  and  the  reasons  of  it, 
with  the  clerk  of  the  higher  judicatory,  before  the  close  of  the  second 
day  of  their  session. 

[The  same  rule  applies  to  complaints.] 

1.  The  Appellant  must  Furnish  the  Necessary  Documents. 

a.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  that  they  had  had  under  their  con- 
sideration papers  marked — Benjamin  Bell's  appeal,  which  purports  to  be 
an  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva ;  but  tliere  has  been 
laid  before  the  Committee  no  copy  of  the  decision  appealed  from,  no  ap- 
peal, nor  reasons  of  the  appeal,  nor  indeed  anything  but  Mr.  Bell's  plea, 
intended  by  him  to  be  laid  before  the  Assembly;  wherefore  the  Commit- 
tee requested  to  be  discharged  from  further  consideration  of  this  case. 

The  request  of  the  Committee  was  granted,  and  they  were  accordingly 
discharged. — 1822,  p.  45. 

h.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  that  they  had  before  them  an  ap- 
peal of  JNIr.  Benjamin  Bell,  and  requested  that  they  be  discharged  from 
any  further  consideration  of  this  apj)eal,  inasmuch  as  ]\Ir.  Bell  has  pre- 
sented no  documents  but  his  plea,  and  no  notice  of  this  appeal  is  to  be 
found  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva;  and  their  request  was 
granted.— 1823,  p.  87. 

e.  Debarred  as  not  being  within  the  Constitutional  Time. 

The  permanent  clerk  reported  that  a  complaint  had  been  put  into  his 
hands  this  morning,  the  ninth  day  of  the  session,  from  ^Ir.  James  Dick- 
inson, a  ruling  elder  in  the  Church  of  Kipley,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Buf- 
falo. 

Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  this  complaint  was  not  presented  within 
the  constitutional  time,  the  Assembly  do  not  receive  it. — 1834,  p.  429. 

[See  also  1837,  p.  480.] 

2.  Deferred  in  the  Absence  of  Necessary  Documents. 

Mr.  Bourne's  petition  states  a  decision  to  have  passed  against  him  in 
the  Lexington  Presbytery,  which  by  a  supplementary  paper,  he  says  was 


558  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

on  the  27th  of  December  last,  and  contauied  a  sentence  of  deposition, 
from  which,  on  the  next  day,  he  gave  notice  to  the  Presbytery  that  he 
claimed  an  appeal  to  the  General  Assembly.  By  his  affidavit,  taken  be- 
fore an  alderman  of  this  city,  he  further  declares,  that  he,  by  the  permis- 
sion of  the  Presbytery,  transcribed  the  minutes  of  their  proceedings  ;  that 
he  afterward  wrote  in  form  what  he  denominates  an  appeal  (meaning,  it 
is  presumed,  his  causes  of  appeal),  and  transmitted  it  to  the  clerk  of  the 
Presbytery  with  a  demand  of  the  copy  of  the  records,  and  of  that  paper; 
but  that  he  had  received  a  letter  from  the  clerk  refusing  to  remove  them 
from  the  post-office.  By  his  petition,  he  asks  to  prosecute  his  cause  before 
the  Assembly,  without  having  first  brought  his  case  before  the  Synod  of 
Virginia;  and  that  if  such  hearing  cannot  be  granted  him  at  present,  that 
the  Assembly  will  assign  him  a  day.     Whereupon, 

Resolved,  1.  That  inasmuch  as  the  records  of  the  Lexington  Presbytery, 
the  names  of  the  parties  to  the  suit,  the  charges  made  before  them  in 
writing  against  Mr.  Bourne,  the  depositions  of  the  witnesses,  and  other 
written  documents,  are  not  before  the  Assembly;  and  as  every  principle 
of  equity  forbids  a  process  in  the  absence  of  documents  so  essential  to  its 
being  rightly  conducted — prayer  for  a  hearing  at  this  time  cannot  be 
granted. — 1816,  p.  626. 

[See  vi.,  above.  The  appeal  was  taken  up  and  issued. — 1817,  pp.  644, 
646.] 

3.  Dismissed  as  not  Lodged  in  Time. 

a.  The  Committee  report  that  the  complaint  of  Geo.  P.  Strong  and 
others,  against  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Louis,  was  not  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  clerk  of  the  Assembly  until  the  third  day  of  its  business,  it  is  there- 
fore barred  by  the  rule. 

It  was  dismissed. — 1863,  p.  23,  O.  S. 

h.  Also  complaint  of  Dr.  Alfred  Neviu,  against  the  Synod  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  complaint  did  not  come  into  the  hands  of  the  moderator  of 
this  Assembly  until  Monday,  the  fourth  day  of  the  sessions.  It  is  there- 
fore barred  by  the  rule. 

Dismissed. — 1863,  p.  24. 

c.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  an  appeal  and  complaint  of  Rev, 
Di".  John  W.  Martin,  against  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Allegheny 
City,  for  alleged  irregularity  in  dissolving  a  pastoral  relation.  Also 
an  appeal  and  complaint  of  Dr.  Martin,  against  the  Synod  of  Alle- 
gheny, in  reference  to  its  approval  of  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  al- 
leged to  be  defective.  Also  an  appeal  from  the  Synod  of  Southern  Iowa, 
in  the  case  of  Robert  Fulton,  with  the  statement,  in  each  of  these  cases, 
that  the  papers  were  not  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Assembly  within  the 
constitutional  time;  and,  therefore,  they  recommended,  that  the  appellants 
have  leave  to  withdraw  the  papers. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1870,  p.  106. 

d.  A  complaint  of  Erwin  "Wheeler  and  A.  Plallstraft,  against  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Des  Moines,  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Fisk  Harmon.  The  papers 
in  this  case  were  not  presented  until  the  fourth  day  of  the  sessions  of  the 
Assembly,  and  they  are  also  imperfect.  The  Committee  recommend  that 
the  parties  have  leave  to  withdraw  their  papers.  The  recommendation 
was  adopted. — 1872,  p.  51, 

e.  Case  of  Robert  Byers  vs.  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  South, 

The  papers  in  this  case  did  not  come  into  the  hands  of  the  Committee 
until  the  fourth  day  of  the  session,  and  after  parties  interested  in  it  had  left, 


OF   APPEALS.  559 

having  been  told  that  no  snch  papers  had  come  before  us  within  the  time 
prescribed  by  the  Book,  and  we  report  no  action  in  the  case. 
Adopted.— 1873,  p.  509. 

Case  of  Ignorar.ce  of  the  Rule. 

f.  Thechairmanofth- Judicial  Committee  stated  to  the  Assembly  that 
an  appeal  had  been  put  into  his  hands  from  Duncan  Hamilton  and  his 
wife,  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  which  appeal  had  not 
been  reported  to  the  clerk  of  the  house,  and  asked  the  direction  of  the 
Assembly  in  the  case.  On  inquiry,  it  appeared  this  appeal  was  in  the 
house  in  season  ;  and  the  persons  to  whom  it  was  entrusted  were  not 
aware  of  the  constitutional  rule  requiring  that  it  be  lodged  with  the 
clerk. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  o})inion  of  the  Assembly,  the  rule  has  virtually 
been  complied  with.— 1830,  p.  302. 

The  Rule  Interpreted  Liberally  where  due  Diligence  has  been  Used. 

g.  That,  in  examining  the  papers  and  records  in  the  matter  so  referred, 
your  Committee  find  as  follows: 

1.  That,  although,  in  bringing  the  case  before  the  General  Assembly, 
there  are  some  mistakes  and  omissions  in  the  required  forms  of  procedure, 
such  has  been  the  good  faith  and  diligence  of  the  complainant,  and  such 
would  be  the  manifest  and  irretrievable  injury  he  must  experience,  if  his 
complaint  be  dismissed,  that  your  Committee  believe  that,  according  to 
the  spirit  of  our  Book  of  Discipline,  the  complaint  is  properly  before  this 
body.  That,  in  proof  of  the  good  faith  and  diligence  of  the  complainant, 
it  appears,  that  he  was  advised,  by  one  of  the  oldest  members  of  the  Synod, 
to  lodge  his  complaint  in  the  hands  of  the  stated  clerk;  that,  according 
to  the  certifying  of  the  stated  clerk,  the  complaint  was  directed  to  him 
within  the  time  prescribed  by  the  Book  of  Discipline ;  and  that  the  stated 
clerk  of  the  Synod,  when  receiving  the  notice,  believing  it  to  be  properly 
directed,  neither  informed  the  moderator  of  it,  nor  advised  Mr.  Todd  oi' 
any  mistake  in  its  direction  ;  but  informed  other  members  of  the  Synod 
of  the  complaint,  and  finally  put  all  the  documents  into  the  hands  of  the 
commission  to  this  Assembly,  to  place  them  in  due  form  before  it.  Your 
Committee  are  also  assured,  that  Mr.  Todd  wrote  to  the  stated  clerk,  two 
or  three  days  previous  to  the  opening  of  the  Assembly,  earnestly  request- 
ing that  the  papers  might  not  fail  of  coming  before  the  Assembly ;  and, 
also,  that  he  expressed  the  desire  that,  if  his  presence  were  necessary,  he 
might  be  notified  of  it  by  telegram.— 1863,  p.  278,  N.  S. 

4.  In  the  absence  of  Records  through  the  Non-attendance  of  the 
Commissioner,  the  Appeal  Received  and  Referred. 

Dr.  Musgrave,  from  the  Judicial  Committee,  reported  Case  No.  3,  being 
the  appeal  of  Kev.  C.  J.  Abbott  against  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  ]Mis- 
souri.     The  Committee  reported  as  follows : 

The  Committee  are  verbally  informed,  that  this  case  originated  in  the 
Presbytery  of  St.  Louis,  upon  charges  preferred  by  common  fame  against 
the  appellant.  The  charges  were  sustained  in  the  Presbytery,  and  on 
appeal  to  the  Synod,  were  also  sustained  by  the  Synod  of  ^Missouri. 

The  Committee  were  also  verbally  informed,  that  an  appeal  was  taken 
from  the  action  from  the  Synod,  which  in  due  course  ought  to  have  been 
presented  to  the  last  Assembly ;  that  the  record  was  forwarded  to  the  city 


560  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

of  Philadelphia,  but  in  consequence  of  the  absence  from  that  body  of  the 
commissioner  to  whose  care  the  record  was  committed,  it  failed  to  be  pre- 
sented ;  and  the  appellant  now  asks  that  his  appeal  may  be  entered,  and 
that  it  be  referred  to  the  next  General  Assembly  for  trial. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  request  of  the  appellant  be  granted. 

The  report  was  adopted,  and  the  case  referred  to  the  next  General  As- 
sembly.—1862,  p.  608,  O.  S.  see  ante,  p.  518. 

5.  Where  the  Appeal  Failed  to  be  Lodged  in  Due  Time  through 
Mistake  of  the  Appellant,  it  ■was  Entered  and  Referred. 

Also,  Judicial  Case  No.  5,  the  appeal  of  Eev.  John  Turbitt  from  the 
decision  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  by  which  the  action  of  the  Presbyteiy  of 
Peoria,  in  deposing  the  appellant,  was  affirmed. 

The  Committee  reported  as  follows : 

This  appeal  appears  to  have  been  regularly  taken,  but  was  not  lodged 
with  the  clerk  of  this  Assembly  before  the  close  of  the  second  day's  ses- 
sions. (See  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  vii.)  The  Committee  have  reason 
to  believe  that  the  appellant  was  under  the  impression  that  the  present 
meeting  of  this  Assembly  was  to  be  at  Dayton,  in  this  State,  and  by  for- 
warding his  papers  to  that  place,  they  were  delayed,  so  that  they  were  not 
received  here  until  after  the  end  of  the  fourth  day's  sessions.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  Committee  recommend  that  the  appeal  be  docketed. 
And  as  it  satisfactorily  appears  to  the  Committee  that  the  appellant  has 
been  providentially  hindered  from  attendance  at  this  session,  they  further 
recommend  that  the  case  be  deferred  to  the  next  Assembly  for  trial. 

The  report  and  recommendation  were  adopted. — 1862,  p.  611,  O.  S. 

VIII.  In  taking  up  an  appeal,  after  ascertaining  that  the  appellant 
on  his  part  has  conducted  it  regularly,  the  first  step  shall  be  to  read 
the  sentence  appealed  from  :  secondly,  to  read  the  reasons  which  were 
assigned  by  the  appellant  for  his  appeal,  and  which  are  on  record : 
thirdly,  to  read  the  whole  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior 
judicatory  in  the  case,  including  all  the  testimony,  and  the  reasons  of 
their  decision :  fourthly,  to  hear  the  original  parties :  fifthly,  to  hear 
any  of  the  members  of  the  inferior  judicatory,  in  explanation  of  the 
grounds  of  their  decision,  or  of  their  dissent  from  it. 

[The  order  for  taking  up  a  complaint  is  the  same  as  in  an  appeal.  On 
questions  of  regularity  on  the  part  of  the  appellant  see  above,  sections  v. 
and  vii.] 

1.  In  the  Absence  of  Records,  the  Decision  of  the  Appeal  should 
be  Suspended.— Parol  Evidences  wrill  not  Supply  the  Place  of 
the  Records. 

In  the  case  of  Samuel  Lowrey  (see  1823,  p.  92)  it  appeared  on  inquiry 
that  neither  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  nor  the  records  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  iSIiami  were  brought  to  the  Assembly ;  but  as  the  delegates  be- 
longing to  the  Synod  admitted  it  to  be  a  fact,  as  stated  in  Mr.  Lowrey's 
appeal,  that  the  Presl>ytery  of  Miami  did  appoint  a  special  session,  com- 
posed of  elders  belonging  to  different  congregations,  for  the  purpose  of 
trying  Mi*.  Lowrey,  and  that  the  decision  of  such  a  special  session  was 
affirmed  by  the  Synod  of  Ohio;  therefore, 


OF    APPEALS.  561 

Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Lowry  be  sustained,  and  it  hereby  is 
sustained.— 1823,  p.  92. 

Against  this  decision  the  Synod  of  Ohio  memorialized  the  Assembly, 
and  the  Assembly  inter  alia  declare — 

This  Assembly  are  of  opinion  tliat  the  correct  mode  of  proceeding  for 
the  last  General  Assembly,  would  have  been,  to  have  suspended  a  decision 
on  the  appeal,  until  the  records  of  the  inferior  judicatories  should  have 
been  present,  because  the  rules  in  our  Form  of  Government  prescribe,  that 
before  a  judgment  is  given,  all  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatories 
in  the  case  should  be  read,  and  it  is  a  sound  maxim,  generally  admitted 
in  courts  of  justice,  that  the  best  evidence  which  the  case  admits  of  should 
be  required,  which,  in  all  trials,  is  undoubtedly  the  record  of  the  judicatory. 
But  while  they  entertain  this  opinion  of  the  mode  of  proceeding,  they  be- 
lieve that  the  decision  of  the  last  General  Assembly  was  substantially  cor- 
rect, and  was  not  different  from  what  it  would  have  been  if  they  had  had 
all  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatories  before  them:  for  the  fact 
on  which  they  founded  their  judgment,  has  been  fully  confirmed  to  this 
Assembly,  by  the  records  which  have  been  read  in  the  discussion  of  the 
case. — 1824,  p.  115. 

On  page  375,  in  case  of  a  complaint  against  the  decision  of  a  Presby- 
tery, no  evidence  appears  that  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  w^ere  read. 
Exceptions  to  Records,  Synod  of  Indiana,  1837,  p.  480. 

2.  Reading  of  the  Documents  by  Consent  Dispensed  -with. 

The  Assembly  entered  on  the  consideration  of  the  two  appeals  of  the 
Rev.  Robert  B.  Dobbins,  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  in 
the  cases  of  the  Rev.  William  L.  Maccalla,  and  the  session  of  the  church 
of  Augusta.  Tlie  Rev.  Dr.  E.  S.  Ely  appeared  in  behalf  of  jNIr.  Dobbins. 
The  parties  were  heard  until  they  declared  themselves  satisfied  (the  facts 
having  been  admitted  by  them,  and  the  reading  of  the  documents  by  con- 
sent dispensed  with).  The  roll  was  then  called,  that  the  members  of  the 
Assembly  might  express  their  opinions  on  the  subject;  after  which  Drs. 
Wylie,  M'Dowell  and  Leland  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  prepare  a 
minute  on  the  subject. — 1824,  p.  120. 

3.  The  Hearing  of  a  Voluminous  Case  Declined. — The  Case  Termi- 
nated by  the  Assembly  "without  fui'ther  Trial. 

On  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie,  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Scott,  the  Assembly  adopted  the  following  report  of  the  Judicial  Com- 
mittee : 

There  are  three  ways  in  which  this  complaint  might  be  disposed  of 

1.  The  Assembly  might  take  it  up,  wade  through  the  testimony,  re- 
ceive the  new  testimony  that  it  is  understood  the  complainant  wishes  to 
offer  to  decide  the  case.  But  against  this  course,  besides  other  difficulties, 
it  may  be  mentioned  as  a  very  serious  one,  that  the  bare  reading  of  the 
records  of  the  Presbytery  would  consume  four  or  five  days. 

2.  Another  mode  might  be  adopted,  by  referring  the  case  for  reconsid- 
eration to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana,  wlio  might  be  directed  to  take  any 
new  testimony  that  should  be  proj^erly  offered. 

3.  Or  the  General  Assembly  might  remand  the  case  to  the  Synod  of 
Mississippi,  to  hear  the  complaint,  and  dispose  of  it  in  a  regular  and  con- 
stitutional manner.     This,  it  is  deemed,  would  be  the  wisest  course. 

But,  were  either  of  these  modes  adopted,  it  would  require  a  great  con- 
sumption of  time,  and  subject  the  judicature  that  might  adjudicate  on  the 
71 


562  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

case  to  great  inconvenience,  and  no  inconsiderable  expense ;  and  instead 
of  resulting  in  practical  good,  might  produce  great  excitement,  and  conse- 
quences injurious  to  the  peace  and  edification  of  an  important  section  of 
our  Church.  The  testimony  is  so  voluminous,  that  to  form  a  correct 
judgment  on  it,  would  require  a  retentive  memory,  patient  attention,  dili- 
gent comparison  of  its  several  parts,  as  well  as  a  discriminating  mind. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  Presbytery  sanctioned  by  their  authority  the 
publication  of  the  speeches  on  both  sides  of  the  question. 

The  Committee  after  carefully  deliberating  on  the  sul)ject  were  unani- 
mously of  the  opinion  that  if  the  case  could  be  disposed  (if,  consistently 
with  the  rights  of  Mr.  Smylie,  without  remanding  it  to  either  of  the  in- 
ferior courts,  and  without  the  Assembly's  adjudicating  on  it,  all  the  ends 
of  justice  would  be  gained,  and  the  peace  of  the  Church  would  be  pro- 
moted. They  therefore  invited  Mr.  Smylie  to  a  friendly  interview,  in 
which  they  expressed  their  oj^inion,  and  he  stated  his  views.  He  did  not 
concur  with  the  Committee  in  regard  to  the  probable  consequences  of  the 
case  being  remanded  to  the  Synod  or  the  Presbytery;  and  stated  that  iu 
prosecuting  his  complaint  he  was  influenced  by  no  personal  feeling  against 
Dr.  Scott,  but  by  a  desire  that  truth  might  be  sustained,  justice  done  to 
all  concerned,  and  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  upheld  ;  but  if  the  Com- 
mittee would,  without  his  concurrence,  assume  the  responsibility  of  recom- 
mending to  the  General  Assembly  to  terminate  the  case  without  any  fur- 
ther trial,  and  the  Assembly  should  determine  to  adopt  this  as  the  wisest 
way  of  terminating  it,  he  would  submit,  and  feel  that  he  had  discharged  a 
duty,  which,  while  it  was  troublesome  and  painful,  had  put  him  to  no  in- 
considerable expense. 

It  is  due  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie  to  say,  that  the  Committee  believe, 
that  in  prosecuting  his  complaint,  he  has  been  prompted  by  a  sense  of 
duty  and  a  regard  to  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  and  governed  by 
what  he  deemed  its  purity  and  best  interests  required. 

The  Committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  follow- 
ing resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  representation  of  the  case  given  in  the 
above  statement  by  the  Judicial  Committee,  of  the  voluminous  nature  of 
the  testimony,  and  of  the  difficulties  attending  the  case,  and  believing  that 
the  interests  of  the  Church  will  be  best  promoted  by  adopting  the  course 
recommended  by  the  Committee,  and  being  willing  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bility of  acting  accordingly,  this  General  Assembly  do  hereby  terminate 
this  unhappy  case  without  any  further  judicial  trial. — 1847,  p.  385,  O.  S. 

4.   Matters  Foreign  to  the  Issue  may  by  Consent  be  Omitted,  in 

the  Reading-. 

a.  Resolved,  That  in  reading  the  minutes  of  Lexington  Presbytery,  the 
names  of  the  voters  in  calling  the  yens  and  nays  be  omitted,  uidess  called 
for  by  one  or  other  of  the  parties  litigant;  and  that  the  proceedings  of 
Presbytery,  in  reference  to  other  matters  foreign  to  the  issue  before  us,  be 
also  omitted,  unless  called  for  specially  by  one  of  the  parties. — 1848,  p. 
30,  O.  S. 

h.  The  Assembly  then  proceeded  to  take  up  the  business,  according  to 
the  recommendation  of  the  Judicial  Committee.  After  the  usual  admon- 
ition, read  from  the  Book,  to  the  members  in  their  judicial  capacity,  the 
papers  were  read,  according  to  the  constitutional  order ;  and  after  all  the 
papers  presentei  by  the  Committee  had  been  read,  a  recess  was  taken  for 
half  an  hour. 


OF   APPEALS.  563 

After  the  recess,  George  Howe  moved  that  the  whole  records  of  the 
Presbytery  in  relation  to  the  case  now  before  the  Assembly  be  read. 

This  motion  was  carried,  and  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Eliza- 
bethtown  were  accordingly  read,  in  everything  pertaining  to  the  case, 
until  it  was  carried  by  appeal  to  Synod  of  New  Jersey ;  the  nioderator 
deciding  that  any  subsequent  record  should  not  be  read. — 1858,  p.  291, 

5.  Documents  not  Read  may  be  used  in  Pleading.— In  a  Case  un- 
der Common  Fame,  the  Appellant  the  only  Original  Party. 

In  the  appeal  of  Alexander  Frazer,  against  the  Synod  of  Bulialo,  the 
course  required  in  the  Book  for  conducting  appeals  was  then  pursued ; 
and  at  the  third  stage  of  the  proceedings,  a  question  having  arisen  as  to 
the  reading  of  certain  printed  pamphlets  as  a  part  of  the  evidence,  it  wa.s 

Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  tlie  Assembly  it  is  not  necessary  to 
read  the  pamphlets  in  extenso,  but  counsel  can  make  such  use  of  them  as 
they  .see  fit  in  the  course  of  their  argument. — 1859,  p.  542,  O.  S. 

The  original  parties  being  called  for,  the  moderator  decided  that  the 
case  having  arisen  without  an  individual  prosecutor,  there  was  but  one 
original  party  before  the  court,  who  was  now  to  be  heard  by  A.  G.  Hall 
and  J.  Bliss,  representing  him. — 1859,  p.  543,  O.  S. 

The  nioderator  ruled  that  the  fifth  stage  of  the  proceeding  was  to  hear 
any  member  of  the  Synod  of  Buffalo,  present  as  a  commissioner.  An  ap- 
peal was  taken  from  the  decision  of  the  moderator,  but  was  not  sustained. 
—lb. 

6.  Case  Remanded  for  New  Trial  because  the  Original  Parties 
had  not  been  Heard. 

Complaint  and  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Passaic  against  the  Synod 
of  New  Jersey  [not  entertained  as  an  appeal  because  not  made  by  one  of 
the  original  parties.  See  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  xvii.]  con- 
tinued as  9-  complaint. 

Resolved,  That  the  case  be  returned  to  the  Synod  for  a  new  trial,  if  a 
new  trial  be  required. 

1.  Because  it  appears  from  the  record  of  the  Synod  that  the  original 
parties  in  the  case  were  never  heard  by  them,  the  original  parties  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Assembly  being  Mr.  William  B.  Guild  and  the  Commit- 
tee prosecuting  for  common  fame. 

2.  Because  the  reasons  for  the  decision  of  the  Synod  were  not  recorded 
according  to  the  requisition  in  chap,  iv.,  sec.  xxiii.,  Book  of  Discipline. — 
1861,  p.  344,  O.  S. 

7.  Case  Issued  where  no  Person  Appears  on  Behalf  of  the 

Respondent. 

The  Assemblv  took  up  the  complaint  of  the  minority  of  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky,  against  a  decision  of  the  majority  of  said  Synod,  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Benedict  H.  Hobbs. 

The  decision  complained  of,  the  complaint,  and  the  proceedings  of  the 
several  judicatories  in  the  case  were  read.  The  complainants  were  then 
heard :  no  persons  appeared  on  the  part  of  the  Synod. 

After  due  consideration,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted,  viz.: 

That  the  complaint  be,  and  it  is  hereby  sustained,  and  the  judgment  of 
the  Synod  is  reversed. — 1831,  p.  342. 


564  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

8.  Reasons  Assigned  by  an  Appellant  raust  be  Recorded.— They 

must  be  Couched  in  Decent  and  Respectful  Language. 

Overture  No.  6,  from  certain  ministers  and  ruling  elders,  requesting  the 
Assembly  to  decide  whether  the  clause  in  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap, 
vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  viii.,  "and  which  are  on  record,"  requires  that  these 
reasons  are  to  be  spread  on  the  book  of  the  minutes  of  the  court  appealed 
from,  or  whether  they  may  be  considered  as  on  record  when  simply  on  file. 
And  if  said  clause  requires  the  reasons  to  be  spread  on  the  minutes,  whether 
the  judicatory  has  authority  to  require  that  the  reasons  be  couched  in  de- 
cent" and  respectful  language,  and  contain  no  offensive  reflections  or  insin- 
uations against  the  judicatory,  as  in  the  case  of  dissent  and  protest. 

Recommended  that  this  Assembly  decide,  first,  that  th  reasons  must  be 
spread  on  the  minutes ;  second,  that  the  question  respecting  the  language 
be  answered  affirmatively. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1862,  p.  596,  O.  S. 

9.  Commission  Appointed  by  the  Assembly  -with  Full  Powers  by 

Consent  of  Parties. 

a.   Case  of  Mrs  Maria  Hill. — Appeal  vs.  Synod  of  Albany. 

The  Assembly  proceeded  to  the  second  order,  being  the  appeal  of  Mrs. 
Maria  Hill  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Albany. 

The  moderator  reminded  the  Assembly,  in  due  form,  of  the  judicial 
character  which  they  now  assumed. 

The  sentence  appealed  from  was  read. 

The  reasons  for  the  appeal  were  read,  and  also  the  proceedings  of  the 
inferior  judicatory. 

At  this  stage,  by  consent  of  the  representatives  of  the  original  parties, 
the  whole  matter  was  referred  to  a  Committee  consisting  of  Mr.  Samuel 
H.  Perkins,  Hon.  Charles  Noble  and  Mr.  Edward  D.  Mansfield.— 1864, 
p.  477,  N,  S. 

[The  commission  reported,  and  their  report  was  adopted  as  the  action 
of  the  Assembly.     See  decision  under  chap,  iv.,  sec.  x.,  above.] 

b.   Complaint  of  Seventh  Church  and  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  vs.  Synod  of 

Cincinnati. 

Also,  Judicial  Case  No.  5 — being  a  complaint  of  the  session  of  the  Sev- 
enth Church  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Cincinnati,  against  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  in  the 
case  of  the  Misses  Brown,  which  was  referred  to  this  Assembly  by  the  last 
General  Assembly  (see  Minutes,  page  313).  The  Committee  find  the  case 
in  order,  and  ready  to  be  taken  up  and  adjudicated,  if  this  body  so  please, 
in  the  usual  manner.  As  it  is,  however  (Digest,  p.  287),  declared  to  be 
the  province  of  the  Judicial  Committee  not  only  to  ascertain  whether  ap- 
peals and  references  to  the  Assembly  are  in  order,  but  also  to  propose  to 
the  Assembly  the  best  mode  of  proceeding  in  each  case,  the  Committee 
will  be  pardoned,  perha])s,  for  the  suggestion  that  all  the  ends  of  justice 
may  be  answered,  and  the  whole  matter  harmonized,  if  this  very  unusual 
case  be  dealt  with  in  a  somewhat  unusual  way.  It  is  of  such  a  nature  as 
to  be  unfit  for  public  discussion,  and  it  is  in  every  way  exceedingly  unde- 
sirable that  the  testimony  should  be  read  or  the  case  debated  in  the  open 
sessions  of  this  body.  According  to  the  Digest  (p.  144,  note),  no  deviation 
from  the  regular  order  prescribed  in  the  Book  should  be  allowed,  unless 
upon  the  consent  of  all  the  parties,  expressed  in  open  court.     The  parties 


OF   APPEALS.  565 

in  this  case,  feeling  as  every  one  does  who  knows  anything  of  its  character, 
that  it  ought  not  to  come  directly  before  the  Assembly,  if  a  satisfactory 
result  can  be  arrived  at  in  any  other  way,  have  consented  to  have  it 
referred  to  a  Committee  of  nine,  of  this  body,  taken  from  Presbyteries  so 
remote  as  to  be  without  prejudice  in  the  matter.  Influenced  by  these 
considerations,  which  are  altogether  of  an  extraordinary  character,  we 
venture  to  propose  that  such  a  Committee  be  appointed,  consisting  of  five 
ministers — Rev.  Dr.  Perkins  of  the  Presbytery  of  Burlington,  Dr.  Ban- 
nard  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  Dr.  Samuel  Wilson  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Redstone,  Dr.  Breed  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  Rev.  A.  V. 
C.  Schenck  of  the  Presbytery  of  Missouri,  and  four  ruling  elders — J.  K. 
Davidson  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  T.  T.  Alexander  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Transylvania,  D.  AV.  Patterson  of  the  Presbytery  of  Donegal,  and 
Charles  Crosby  of  the  Presbytery  of  Rock  River.  That  this  Committee 
be  directed  to  hear  the  parties,  and  report  to  this  body  during  its  present 
sessions,  for  their  final  action  in  the  case ;  and  that  they  hold  their  first 
meeting  for  this  purpose  at  half-past  seven  o'clock  this  evening,  in  the 
lecture-room  of  this  church. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1865,  p.  538,  O.  S. 

See  under  sec.  x.,  below. 

c.  Appeal  of  Lewis  Lockwood  vs.  Synod  of  loica. 

Judicial  case  No.  3 — being  the  appeal  of  the  Rev.  Lewis  R.  Lockwood 
from  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  of  Iowa  affirming  the  judgment  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Dubuque,  by  which  the  appellant  was  suspended  from  the 
ministry.  The  original  charges  against  ^Ir.  Lockwood  were  tabled  in  the 
name  of  common  fame.  The  accuser  here  represented  by  the  commis- 
sioner from  the  Presbytery  of  Dubuque,  and  the  appellant  by  liis  counsel, 
the  Rev.  A.  T.  Rankin,  consent  that  the  case  may  be  referred  to  a  com- 
mission of  seven  members,  to  be  appointed  by  the  moderator  of  the  As- 
sembly, to  hear  and  determine  it;  their  judgment  to  be  reported  to  the 
Assenibly  for  its  approval.  The  Committee  recommend  that  such  a  com- 
mission be  appointed  with  the  powers  and  duties  thus  indicated  and  con- 
sented to. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted,  and  the  following  commission  ap- 
pointed :  Ministers — W.  C.  Matthews,  D.  D.,  Andrew  Vance,  D.  D.,  Wil- 
liam J.  Gibson,  D.  D.,  J.  O.  Murrav,  P.  D.  Young.  Ruling  elders — W. 
R.  Bush,  William  McCrea.— 1867,  p.  327,  O.  S. 

[The  appeal  was  not  sustained,  and  the  judgment  of  the  lower  court 
was  affirmed.] — lb.,  p.  347. 

d.  Two  other  cases  of  appeal  were,  by  consent  of  parties  or  their  repre- 
sentatives, referred  to  commissions  by  the  same  Assembly,  p.  341.  Their 
reports  respectively  are  found  on  pages  355  and  360,  Minutes,  1867,  O.  S. 

e.  Appeal  of  Church  of  Mijiinsburg  vs.  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 

Also,  judicial  case  No.  6 — being  an  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  church 
of  Mifflinsburg,  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  for  its  action  in  the 
appeal  and  complaint  of  Rev.  Isaac  Grier,  D.  D. 

The  Committee  find  the  papers  to  be  in  order,  and  they  recommend,  as 
the  parties  are  so  agreed,  that  a  commission,  consistinir  of  Rev.  William 
M.  Paxton,  D.  D.,  Rev.  S.  G.  Specs,  D.  D.,  Mr.  H.  X.  McAlister,  Hon.  I. 
S.  Spencer,  Hon.  J.  B.  Skinner,  Hon.  Daniel  Haines,  and  Messrs.  H.  G. 
Spatford  and  Joseph  D.  Reinboth,  be  now  appointed  to  sit  on  this  case 
outside  of  the  house,  and  to  report  to  this  Assembly. — 1870,  p.  27. 


566  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

IX.  After  all  the  parties  shall  have  been  fully  heard,  anJ  all  tht 
information  gained  by  the  members  of  the  superior  judicatory,  fro  re 
those  of  the  inferior,  which  shall  be  deemed  requisite,  the  original 
parties,  and  all  the  members  of  the  inferior  judicatory,  shall  with- 
draw; when  the  clerk  shall  call  the  roll,  that  every  member  may 
have  an  opportunity  to  express  his  opinion  on  the  case ;  after  which 
the  final  vote  shall  be  taken. 

1.  The  "Withdra-wal  Construed  Literally. 

a.  The  appeal  of  Mr.  Joseph  E.  Bell,  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Concord,  suspending  him  from  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  was 
taken  up. 

The  appellant  having  requested  that  some  person  may  be  appointed  to 
manage  his  appeal,  the  Rev.  N.  S.  S.  Beman  was  accordingly  appointed. 

The  decision  of  the  Presbytery  appealed  from,  the  reasons  assigned  by 
the  appellant  for  his  appeal,  which  were  on  record,  and  the  whole  record 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatory  in  the  case  were  read. 

After  which,  Mr.  Beman,  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Bell,  was  heard.  The  Pres- 
bytery of  Concord  was  then  heard  by  their  delegate,  in  explanation  of 
the  grounds  of  their  decision. 

Mr.  Beman  and  the  delegate  from  Concord  then  withdrew.  The  roll 
was  then  called,  to  give  each  member. an  opportunity  to  express  his  opin- 
ion ;  after  which  the  final  vote  was  taken,  and  the  appeal  of  Mr,  Bell  was 
sustained.— 1828,  p.  238.     See  also  1836,  p.  265. 

b.  The  moderator  having  decided  that  the  rule  requiring  the  parties  to 
withdraw,  should  be  understood  in  the  obvious  and  literal  sense,  an  appeal 
was  taken  from  his  decision,  and  the  decision  was  sustained  by  a  large 
majority.— 1848,  p.  40,  O.  S. 

c.  Judicial  Case,  No.  2,  was  resumed,  and  the  roll  was  called  for  an 
expression  of  opinions,  the  parties,  with  the  appellant's  counsel,  having 
withdrawn  from  the  house. — 1849,  p.  262,  O.  S.  . 

d.  The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Georgia  were  approved,  Avith  the  excep- 
tion that  on  page  337  we  liave  the  following  minute:  "That  the  rule  in 
the  book  requiring  the  members  of  the  inferior  judicatory  to  withdraw 
from  the  house  be  understood  metaphorically,  and  that  the  rule  be  under- 
stood as  fully  complied  with,  by  excluding  the  Flint  Presbytery  from  any 
further  participation  in  the  discussion,  and  from  voting  in  the  case." — 
1858,  p.  289,  O.  S.     See  also  1858,  p.  296,  O.  S. ;  1859,  p.  546,  O.  S. 

2.  'Withdra-wal  Construed  Metaphorically. 

The  parties  were  then  considered  as  withdrawn. — 1834,  p.  443. 
The  parties  in  the  case  were  heard,  and  then  considered  as  withdrawn. — 
lb.,  p.  454  ;  also  1835,  p.  490 ;  1836,  p.  276  ;  1828,  p.  244. 

3.  Calling  the  Roll  for  Expression  of  Opinion. 

a.  Resolved,  That  during  the  remaining  sessions  of  this  Assembly  it  shall 
be  understood  that  when  the  roll  is  called,  in  the  trial  of  any  case,  the 
members  shall  be  confined  to  the  giving  of  their  opinion  without  reasons, 
according  to  the  letter  of  the  constitutional  rules. — 1836,  p.  276. 

b.  There  is  no  record  of  calling  the  roll  for  remarks  of  the  members 
before  taking  the  vote  in  the  case  of  an  appeal  by  A.  King.  Exception  to 
records,  Synod  of  Cincinnati. — 1849,  p.  177,  N.  S. 

c.  It  was  moved  and  carried,  That  the  calling  of  the  roll  be  dispensed 


OF  APPEALS.  567 

with.     Complaint  of  Rev.  N.  West  vs.  Synod  of  New  York.— 1864,  p.  328, 
O.  S.     See  Discipline,  chap,  i.,  sec.  iii. 

4.  The  Final  Vote  must  be  Taken. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Synod  of  Indiana  did  not  take  an  express  vote  on 
sustaining  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Harne  ,  and  the  sentence  on  record  is  vague 
and  inconsistent  with  itself,  that  the  whole  case  be  remitted  to  the  said 
Synod,  with  an  injunction  to  them  to  reconsider  the  case,  and  pass  a  defi- 
nite, precise  and  just  sentence. — 1837,  p.  480. 

5.  It  is  taken  Separately  on  each  Charge. 

The  business  left  unfinished  yesterday  was  resumed,  viz.,  the  trial  of 
Mr.  Bourne's  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington, 
by  which  Mr.  Bourne  was  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry,  and  the  fol- 
io ing  resolution  was  again  brought  before  the  Assembly,  and  being 
amended,  and  fully  discussed,  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  appeal  of  ]\Ir.  Bourne  be  dismissed,  and  that  the 
decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  declaring  him  deposed  from  the 
gospel  ministry  be,  and  it  is  hereby  confirmed,  on  the  first,  second,  third, 
fifth  and  sixth  charges. 

The  vote  was  taken  separately  on  each  of  these  charges,  and  was  de- 
clared in  the  affirmative. — 1818,  p.  682. 

X.  The  decision  may  be  either  to  confirm  or  reverse,  in  whole,  or 
in  part,  the  decision  of  the  inferior  judicatory ;  or  to  remit  the  cause, 
for  the  purpose  of  amending  the  record,  should  it  appear  to  be  incor- 
rect or  defective;  or  for  a  new  trial. 

I.  THE  DECISION   MAY  CONFIRM  THE  DECISION  OF  THE  LOWER 

COURT. 

1.  a.  1814,  p.  559,  560.   See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xv.,  sec.  i. 

6.  1868,  p.  648,  O.  S.  See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xvii., 
sec.  V. 

c.  1872,  pp.  15,  75,  80.  See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii.,  sec.  ii., 
13,  a,  b,  c. 

cl.  1859,  p.  546  and  547.  See  Discii)line,  i.,  iii.,  12,  a,  b,  case  of  Alex- 
ander Frazer  vs.  the  Synod  of  P)uffUlo,  and  Alexander  Gordon  vs.  the  same. 

e.  1866,  p.  74,  O,  S.  See  Disci})line,  chap,  v.,  sec.  v.  Case  of  Samuel 
Boyd.  In  this  case  it  was  held  that  the  appellant,  not  having  objected  to 
alleged  informalities  at  the  time  of  trial,  "  had  waived  all  informalities  in 
the  proceedings  antecedent  to  the  trial." 

/.  1867,  p.  847,  O.  S.  The  commission  report,  That  the  appeal  be  7wt 
sustained,  and  that  the  judgment  of  the  lower  court  be  affirmed.  Adopted. 
Also  1866,  p.  74,  O.  S. 

2.  In  Conflrming  the  Decision,  the  Assembly  Directs  that  if  a  New 
Trial  as  Ordered  be  not  Instituted  within  Six  Months  the  Decis- 
ion shall  be  Final. 

And,  therefore,  the  Assembly  do  now  order  and  direct  that  the  appeal 
of  the  said  Silas  ^Miller  be  dismissed,  and  the  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Illinois  be  confirmed  ;  and  the  Assembly  further  order  and  direct 
that,  if  the  session  of  the  church  of  Tuscola  do  not,  within  six  months 


568  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

from  the  date  hereof,  refer  the  ease  to  the  Presbytery  of  Wabash  for  a 
new  trial,  iu  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois,  then 
the  decision  of  the  said  Synod  sustaining  the  appeal  shall  become  abso- 
lute and  final,  and  the  said  Silas  Miller  shall  be  thereupon  restored  to  all 
the  rights  and  privileges  which  he  had  and  enjoyed  as  a  member  of  the 
church  of  Tuscola,  and  from  which  he  was  suspended  by  the  judgment 
and  sentence  of  the  session  of  said  church. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1867,  p.  517,  N.  S. 

3.  Confirmed,  because  "  It  does  not  appear  that  the  new  testimony  offered 
by  Mr.  Gwiun  has  in  any  important  point  changed  the  aspect  of  his 
case." — 1823,  p.  90.     See  below,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  iv. 

II.  THE  DECISION  MAY  REVERSE  THE  DECISION  OF  THE  LOWER  COURT. 

4.  Reversed  on  Revie^w  of  Testiraony. 

An  appeal  having  been  taken  by  Mr.  John  Gordon,  from  the  decision 
of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  affirming  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Redstone,  by  which  the  Presbytery  had  suspended  Mr.  Gordon  and  his 
wife  from  the  distinguishing  privileges  of  the  church,  on  tlie  charge  of 
ante-nuptial  fornication,  was  brought  in  by  the  Committee  on  Overtures. 
The  Assembly  having  before  tliem  the  evidence  which  had  been  before 
the  Synod,  and  having  fully  heard  the  members  of  that  Synod  present  iu 
defence  of  their  decision,  it  was,  on  motion, 

Resolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  in  affirming  the  judgment  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Redstone,  be  reversed. 

And  it,  therefore,  was  reversed. — 1807,  p.  386. 

5.  Reversed  without  Assigning  a  Reason. 

The  consideration  of  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  from  the 
decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Gwinn,  was  re- 
sumed, and  the  parties  were  heard  until  they  said  they  had  nothing  far- 
ther to  add. 

The  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  reversed  a  decision  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Ohio,  by  which  decision  the  Presbytery  had  suspended  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Gwinn,  sine  die,  from  the  office  of  the  gospei  ministry. 

A  motion  was  made  and  seconded,  that  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Ohio  be  sustained,  and  the  decision  of  the  Synod  in  the  case  be  re- 
versed, which  was  determined  in  the  affirmative. — 1819,  p.  709. 

[See  also  1821,  p.  25.] 

6.  Reversed  because  of  Disproportionate  Sentence. 
[See  above,  chap,  i.,  sec.  v.,  «,  b,  c] 

7.  Reversal  on  the  Ground  of  undue  Severity  does  not  Determine 
the  Innocence  of  the  Accused,  nor  ReUeve  him  from  other  Pro- 
cess. 

Judicial  Case  Ko.  6  was  then  taken  up — the  appeal  of  T.  F.  Worrall 
against  the  Synod  of  Illinois.  The  usual  charge  was  road  by  the  moder- 
ator, and  the  Assembly  proceeded  with  the  case  according  to  the  order 
prescribed  in  the  report  of  the  Committee,  which  is  as  follows : 

Tlie  Committee  re])ort  as  follows:  This  case  originated  before  the  ses- 
sion of  the  church  of  Bloomington,  on  charges  preferred  against  the  ap- 
pellant by  the  session  on  "  general  rumor," 


OF   APPEALS.  569 

After  an  examinatiou  the  session  convicted  him,  and  passed  sentence 
excluding  him  from  the  communion  of  the  Church. 

An  appeal  was  taken  from  this  decision  to  the  Presbytery  of  Blooming- 
ton,  which  refused  to  sustain  the  appeal.  An  appeal  was  taken  from 
thence  to  the  Synod,  which  refused  also  to  sustain  the  appeal.  From 
this  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Illinois  this  appeal  is  taken  to  the  General 
Assembly.  .  .  . 

The  final  vote  was  40  to  sustain,  39  to  sustain  in  part,  and  5  not  to  sus- 
tain. 

On  motion,  a  Committee  was  appointed  to  bring  in  a  minute,  expressive 
of  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  in  the  case. 

Messrs.  Hodge,  J.  D.  Smith  and  H.  K.  Clark  were  appointed  this  Com- 
mittee.    They  subsequently  reported  the  following,  which  was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  as  the  expression  of  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  That  the 
sentence  of  excommunication  against  T.  F.  Worrall,  by  the  session  of  the 
church  at  Bloomington,  Illinois,  be  reversed,  as  being  unduly  severe.  The 
Assembly,  however,  do  not  intend  by  this  decision  to  restore  Dr.  Worrall 
to  the  communion  of  the  Church,  from  which  he  is  now  understood  to  be 
suspended,  on  other  charges  still  under  adjudication ;  nor  do  the  Assembly 
intend  to  decide  that  he  did  not  deserve  censure  for  the  improper  language 
which  is  set  forth  in  the  charges  against  him. — 1861,  pp.  346,  347,  6.  S. 

8.  "Where  one  has  Absented  himself  from  the  Ordinances  of  the 
Church,  a  Qualified  Certificate  is  Sustained.— Decision  of  Synod 
Reversed  as  in  Error  in  Prescribing  a  Form  of  Certificate. 

The  Assembly  took  up  Judicial  Case  No.  6,  being  the  complaint  of  the 
Rev.  N.  West,  D.D.,  against  the  Synod  of  New  York. 

]\Ir.  Rowland  had  absented  himself  from  the  ordinances  of  the  Second 
Church  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  for  some  months.  Upon  application  for 
his  certificate,  the  session  gave  him  a  certificate  omitting  the  words,  "  at 
present  in  good  and  regular  standing,"  and  substituting  for  them  a  testi- 
monial to  his  previous  good  Christian  character;  inserting,  at  the  same 
time,  a  statement  of  the  fact  of  his  recent  absence  from  the  ordinances  of 
the  church.  Mr.  Rowland  brought  a  complaint  against  the  session,  before 
the  Presbytery  of  Nassau,  and  the  Presbytery  sustained  the  complaint. 
Mr.  West  complained  to  the  Synod  against  the  Presbytery.  The  Synod 
of  New  York,  by  a  vote  of  10  to  sustain,  12  to  sustain  in  part,  and  21  not 
to  sustain,  sustained  the  complaint  of  Rev.  N.  West  against  the  Presby- 
tery; and  then,  in  its  final  minute,  ordered  a  letter  in  the  usual  form  to 
be  given  to  Mr.  Rowland.  Against  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  in  adopt- 
ing this  minute,  IMr.  West  complains. 

The  moderator  reminded  the  members  that,  as  they  were  about  to  sit  in 
a  judicial  capacity,  they  sliould  regard  their  high  character  as  members  of 
a  court  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  sentence  complained  of  was  read,  and  is  as  follows : 

"The  Committee  appointed  to  bring  in  a  minute  in  the  case  of  the  com- 
plaint of  the  Rev.  N.  West  against  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Nas- 
sau, report  as  follows : 

"The  vote  of  the  Synod  was — to  sustain  the  complaint,  10;  to  sustain  iu 
part,  12;  not  to  sustain,  21.  The  Synod  therefore  sustains  the  complaint 
only  iu  part.  In  this  judgment  the  Synod  does  not  decide  that  the  papers 
given  to  Mr.  Rowland  v.ere  unconstitutional,  but  that,  under  the  circum- 
stances, they  deem  them  to  have  been  unadvised,  and  tlierefore,  as  a  meas- 
ure of  peace,  the  Synod  directs  the  session  of  the  Second  Church  to  give 
72 


570  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

to  Mr.  Rowland  and  wife  certificates  of  church  membership,  in  such  form 
as  is  usual  among  the  churches  of  this  city,  in  dismissing  members  in  good 
standing." 

The  reasons  assigned  by  the  complainant  for  his  complaint  were  then 
read  ;  also  the  whole  record  of  the  inferior  judicatories  in  the  case,  in- 
cluding the  testimony  aud  the  reasons  for  their  action. 

The  Rev.  N.  AVest,  D.  D.,  the  complainant  in  the  case,  was  heard. 

The  Synod  of  New  York  was  heard,  the  clerk  calling  the  names  of  its 
commissioners.     After  which  the  parties  were  directed  to  retire. 

It  was  moved  and  carried,  that  the  calling  of  the  roll  be  dispensed  with. 

The  vote  was  then  taken,  and  the  complaint  was  almost  unanimously 
sustained. 

Dr.  Rodgers  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  N.  West,  D.D.,  be  sustained, 
and  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  in  its  final  minute,  be,  and  it  hereby  is 
reversed ;  and  further,  that  the  Synod  erred  in  prescribing  to  the  session 
nf  the  Second  Church  of  Brooklyn,  the  form  of  a  certificate  to  be  granted 
to  Mr.  Rowland,  after  they  had  already  granted  a  certificate  to  him  which 
was  agreeable  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  aud  to  the  truth. — 1864, 
p.  328,  O.  S. 

9.  Reversed,  because  of  Unconstitutional  Action  of  the  Court  Ap- 

pealed, from. 

The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  motion  on  the  appeal  of  Mr. 
Lowrey  reported,  and  their  report  being  read  was  adopted,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz.: 

Mr.  Lowrey's  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio  being  taken 
up,  aud  the  sentence  appealed  from,  having  been  read,  together  with  the 
reasons  of  his  appeal,  it  appeared  on  inquiry,  that  neither  the  records  of 
the  Synod  of  Ohio,  nor  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Miami  were 
brought  to  the  Assembly;  but  as  the  delegates  belonging  to  that  Synod 
admitted  it  to  be  a  fact  as  stated  in  Mr.  Lowrey's  appeal,  that  the  Presby- 
tery of  Miami  did  appoint  a  special  session  composed  of  elders  belonging 
to  different  congregations,  for  the  purpose  of  trying  Mr.  Lowrey,  and  that 
the  decision  of  such  a  special  session  was  affirmed  by  the  Synod  of  Ohio ; 
therefore,  resolved,  that  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Lowrey  be  sustained,  aud  it 
hereby  is  sustained  ;  and  that  all  the  proceedings  in  the  case  be,  and  they 
hereby  are  reversed  on  the  ground  that  the  appointment  of  such  a  special 
session  is  entirely  unconstitutional;  and  if  Mr.  Lowrey  has  done  anything 
offensive,  he  ought  to  be  tried  by  the  courts  that  have  been  instituted  by 
the  Constitution  of  our  Church. — 1823,  p.  92. 

10.  "Where  Sentence  is  Reversed,  for  Irreg-ularity,  either  Party  may 
Institute  a  new  Trial. — If  Process  be  not  Commenced  -within  the 
time  Limited,  he  may  Demand  a  Letter,  as  in  Good  Standing. 

The  appeal  of  Mr.  Josejjh  E.  Bell,  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Concord,  suspending  him  from  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  was 
taken  up. 

The  a])pcllant  having  requested  that  some  person  may  be  appointed  to 
nuinage  his  appeal,  the  Rev.  N.  S.  S.  Bemau  was  accordingly  appointed. 

The  decision  of  the  Presbytery  appealed  from,  the  reasons  assigned  by 
the  appellant  for  his  appeal,  which  were  on  record,  and  the  whole  record 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatory  in  the  case  were  read. 

After  which,  Mr.  Bemau,  in  behalf  of  Mr..  Bell,  was  heard.     The  Pros- 


OF    APPEALS.  571 

bytery  of  Concord  was  then  heard  by  their  delegate,  in  explanation  of  the 
grounds  of  their  decision. 

Mr.  Beman  and  the  delegate  from  Concord  then  withdrew.  The  roll 
was  then  called,  to  give  each  member  an  opportunity  to  express  his  opin- 
ion ;  after  which  the  final  vote  was  taken,  and  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Bell  was 
sustained. 

Mr.  Frost,  Mr.  Plumer,  and  INIr.  Fine,  were  appointed  a  Committee  to 
prepare  a  minute  in  relation  to  the  above  decision. 

The  Committee  reported  the  following,  which  was  adopted : 

1.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  ^Ir.  Bell  was  and 
still  continues  to  be  fully  amenable  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord. 

2.  That  while  the  Assembly  do  not  wish  to  protect  the  guilty,  they  do 
judge  that  great  caution,  deliberation,  and,  as  far  as  may  be,  the  rules  of 
discipline,  where  ministerial  character  is  impeached,  ought  to  be  strictly 
observed,  and  that  in  this  case  the  informality  was  exceptionable. 

o.  That  if  it  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  good  of  religion  and  the  honor 
of  the  ministerial  character,  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  are  entirely  compe- 
tent to  commence  a  new  trial ;  or  if  Mr.  Bell  shall  desire,  for  his  own  sake, 
a  new  trial,  the  door  is  still  open. 

4.  That  in  the  mean  time,  Mr.  Bell's  ministerial  standing  shall  be  con- 
sidered regular,  and  if  no  process  shall  be  commenced  by  either  jiarty 
Avithin  the  space  of  six  months  from  the  first  of  June  next,  then  Mr.  Bell 
may  claim  from  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  a  dismission,  declaring  him  to 
be  in  regular  standing  — 1828,  p.  240. 

11.  Reversed,  for  Haste  and.  Unconstitutional  Action. 

The  Assembly  sustained  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Arthur,  from  the  sentence 
of  Presbytery,  by  which  he  was  suspended  from  the  gospel  ministry  on  the 
ground  of  contumacy,  because  the  Presbytery  appeared  to  have  been  pre- 
cipitate, and  not  to  have  observed  the  constitutional  rules.  See  Discipline, 
chap,  iv.,  sects,  vi.,  x.  and  xi. — 1822,  p.  53. 

[See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii.,  sec.  ii.,  10;  chap,  xiii.,  sec. 
vii.,  6.] 

12.  Sentence  Reversed,  and  the  Appellant  Declared  to  be  in  Reg- 
ular Standing. 

The  unfinished  business  of  the  forenoon  was  resumed,  viz.:  the  consider- 
ation of  the  appeal  of  JNIr.  James  Atwater  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Geneva,  affirming  a  decision  by  which  Mr.  Atwater  had  been  excom- 
municated by  the  church  at  Genoa. 

The  parties  were  fully  heard,  and  the  following  resolution,  after  some 
discussion,  was  adopted,  viz.: 

Resolved,  Tiiat  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Atwater  be  sustained,  and  it  hereby 
is  sustained;  and  that  Mr.  Atwater  have  liberty,  as  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  regular  standing,  to  connect  himself  with  any  church 
which  may  be  disposed  to  receive  him. — 1821,  p.  27. 

13.  The  Decision  may  Declare  the  Acts  of  the  Lower  Courts 

Void. 

a.  Besolved,  That  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Second  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  be  and  the  same  are 
herebv  sustained  ;  and  the  act  of  said  Synod,  so  far  as  it  was  intended  to 
unite 'the  said  Second  Presbytery  with  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  is 
hereby  declared  void.— 1834,  p.  432;  1854,  p.  33,  O.  S. 


572  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

5.  In  the  appeal  of  persons  claiming  to  be  the  church  of  St.  Charles  it 
was 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  herein  sustain  the  appeal,  pro  forma,  and 
orders  the  entire  setting  aside  of  all  the  proceedings  in  the  whole  case  in 
all  its  stages,  from  the  time  that  notice  was  first  given  to  call  a  meeting 
of  the  congregation  for  the  election  of  the  three  elders,  and  directs  all  the 
parties  to  stand  precisely  where  they  did  before  any  step  was  taken  in  it. — 
1838,  p.  19. 

c.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  understands  the  act  of  the  Assembly  of 
1838,  as  sustaining  the  appeal  of  Rev.  Hiram  Chamberlain,  not  upon  the 
merits  of  the  case,  but  on  account  of  informality  of  the  courts  below,  and 
that  "  in  the  entire  setting  aside  of  all  the  proceedings  in  the  whole  case," 
they  intended  not  only  to  annul  the  past,  but  also  to  forbid  all  subsequent 
action  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  regularly-constituted  authorities  of  that 
church,  and  they  hereby  declare  any  such  unconstitutional  action  that 
may  have  been  had  by  any  person,  or  persons,  in  connection  with  that 
church,  to  be  null  and  void. — 1840,  p.  302,  O.  S. 

14.  The  Reversal  Annuls  the  Acts  Complained  of. 

a.  The  appeal  and  complaint  of  Thomas  Bradford  and  others,  from  a 
decision  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  relative  to  the  installa- 
tion of  Mr.  Duffield,  were  taken  up.  The  appeal,  with  the  reasons  of  it, 
and  all  the  documents  in  the  case,  were  read.  The  parties  were  heard,  and 
were  then  considered  as  withdrawn  from  the  house.  The  roll  was  called 
to  give  the  members  an  opportunity  of  expressing  their  opinion.  After 
which,  the  final  vote  was  taken,  and  the  appeal  and  complaint  were  sus- 
tained. 

The  following  resolution  was  then  adopted  as  explanatory  of  the  above 
decision,  viz.: 

That  the  appeal  be  sustained,  and  the  acts  of  the  Presbytery  in  relation 
to  the  call  and  installation  of  Mr.  Duffield  be  and  they  hereby  are  reversed. 
—1835,  p.  490. 

b.  In  regard  to  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Dobbins  against  the  session  of  the 
church  of  Augusta  for  receiving  members  suspended  by  the  session  of  the 
church  of  Smyrna,  the  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  both  sessions  acted 
unconstitutionally,  the  session  of  Smyrna  in  suspending  said  members,  and 
the  session  of  Augusta  in  receiving  them  when  suspended.     Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  appeal  on  this  complaint  be  and  it  is  hereby  sus- 
tained ;  and  the  members  in  question  are  hereby  declared  to  be  still  mem- 
bers in  good  standing  in  the  church  of  Smyrna,  and  the  session  of  the 
church  of  Smyrna  are  hereby  directed  to  dismiss  said  members,  if  they 
still  desire  it,  that  they  may  regularly  connect  themselves  with  the  church 
of  Augusta. — 1824,  p.  125. 

III.  THE  DECISION  MAY  CONFIRM  OR  REVERSE  IN  PART. 

15.  Reversed  in  Part,  on  Ground  of  Irregularity. — Sustained  in 

Part. 

a.   The  Judicatory  may  not  Inflict  a  New  Sentence  without  New  Trial. 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly,  having  heard  and  considered  in 
detail  the  circumstances  and  merits  of  the  appeal  of  Newton  Hawes,  are 
of  the  opinion  that  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  Genesee  in  the  case, 
there  appears  to  be  nothing  irregular  or  censurable  until  they  come  to 
their  last  decision,  in  which  they  pass  a  new  and  severe  censure  on  the 


OF  APPEALS.  573 

appellant.  In  this  particular,  the  Assembly  judge  that  the  proceedings 
of  the  Synod  were  not  regular,  inasmuch  as  they  inflicted  a  new  censure 
without  a  new  and  regular  trial.  Had  the  Synod  contented  themselves 
■with  approving  the  doings  of  the  church  of  Warsaw,  in  declining  to  restore 
the  appellant  to  their  communion,  and  left  him  in  the  condition  of  a  sus- 
pended member,  they  would  have  acted  witii  entire  regularity ;  but  not 
pausing  at  this  point,  the  Assembly  consider  them  as  acting  on  matters 
not  regularly  brought  before  them  ;  and  therefore  resolved,  that  the  sen- 
tence of  the  Synod,  requiring  the  appellant  to  make  a  new  and  second 
confession,  be  reversed,  and  it  is  hereby  reversed,  and  that  the  other  part 
of  their  proceedings  and  decision  be  aftirmed,  and  they  are  hereby  affirmed. 
—1823,  p.  79. 

h.  Nor  Remove  all  Censure  where  they  find  Rebuke  Deserved. 

The  Assembly  having  heard  the  complaint  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle 
against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  in  the  case  of  William  S'  McDowell, 
with  the  facts  and  arguments  offered  both  by  the  Presbytery  and  the  Synod, 
judge  that  the  Synod  had  a  constitutional  right  to  reverse  the  decision  of 
the  Presbyteiy  in  the  case,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  as  to  them  might 
seem  proper;  but  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  right  the  Synod  have  not  duly 
regarded  the  principles  of  discipline  prescribed  in  the  Constitution,  inas- 
much as  it  appears  by  their  records  that  they  have  removed  all  censure 
from  a  man  whom  they  declare  to  be  deserving  of  rebuke,  Avithout  direct- 
ing that  rebuke  to  be  administered,  and  without  receiving  any  evidence  of 
his  penitence. — 1823,  p.  81. 

16.  Reversed  in  Part,  on  the  G-round  that  Irregularity  of  Proceed- 
ing- does  not  Necessarily  Invalidate. — 1856,  p.  517,  O.  S. 

See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii.,  sec.  ii.,  6,  a.  Reversed  in 
part  and  confirmed  in  part,  see  below,  sec.  xiii.,  case  of  Josiah  B.  Andrews. 
—1824,  p.  106. 

17.  Sustained  in  Part,  Reversed  in  Part. — Minute  in  the  Case. 

a.  Dr.  Perkins,  chairman  of  the  Special  Committee  on  Judicial  Case 
No.  5,  presented  a  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  judicial  case  originating  in 
the  session  of  the  Seventh  Presbyterian  Church  in  Cincinnati,  beg  leave 
to  report: 

1.  They  find  that  said  session  tried  certain  parties  upon  five  several 
charges,  and  found  them  guilty  upon  the  first,  second  and  fifth,  and  ad- 
judged them  worthy  of  serious  admonition  on  the  ground  of  the  first  and 
fifth,  and  suspension  upon  the  second. 

2.  The  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  deciding  the  case  upon  appeal,  affirmed 
the  decision  of  the  session. 

3.  The  Synod  of  Cincinnati  also  acting  upon  it  under  appeal,  reversed 
the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  and  session. 

4.  Your  Committee,  after  hearing  all  the  testimony  in  the  case,  and  all 
the  parties  thereto  by  their  representatives ;  and  after  full  and  protracted 
consideration,  while  they  find  in  the  proceedings  of  the  session  and  Pres- 
bytery no  evidence  of  other  than  a  kind  and  conscientious  desire  to  do 
justice  to  all  the  parties  concerned,  respectfully  recommend  the  following 
as  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  in  the  case : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  reversing  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  and  session  upon  the  first  and  fifth  charges  be  itself  reversed, 


574  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

and  the  session  be  instructed  to  administer  the  serious  admonition  of 
which  they  wisely  judged  the  parties  to  be  worthy. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  reversing  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  and  session  upon  the  second  charge,  be  sustained  in  part,  on 
the  ground  that  the  suspension  of  the  parties  accused  was  too  severe  in  the 
case,. and  that  the  session  be  i-ecommended  to  revoke  the  suspension  and 
admonish  the  parties. — 1865,  p.  550,  O.  S. 

[On  the  final  vote,  those  voting  "  to  sustain  in  part "  are  counted  with 
those  voting  simply  to  "sustain."  The  result,  however,  is  to  modify  the 
decision.     See  below.] 

b.  The  order  of  the  day  was  taken  up,  viz..  Judicial  Case,  No.  3.     The 
appeal  and  complaint  of  Kev.  John  Skinner,  D.  D.,  against  a  decision  of  . 
the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  declaring  him  guilty  of  libel  and  defama- 
tion, and  a  sentence  of  suspension  from  ministerial  functions  founded 
thereon.  .  .  . 

The  question  was  then  taken  on  Judicial  Case,  No.  3,  viz.,  the  appeal 
and  complaint  of  John  Skinner,  D.  D.,  again.st  the  Presbytery  of  Lexing- 
ton, and  the  complaint  of  Rev.  Mr.  Calhoun  against  the  same  Presbytery  ; 
and  the  result  was  as  follows,  viz. :  To  sustain  the  appeal,  40 ;  to  sustain 
in  part,  58  ;  not  to  sustain,  66. 

The  Special  Committee  in  the  case  of  Rev.  John  Skinner,  D.  D.,  pre- 
sented a  report,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Rev.  John  Skinner,  D.D.,  against  the 
Presbytery  of  Lexington,  is  sustained  pro  forma;  the  sentence  of  the 
Presbytery  is  revoked,  and  the  appellant  restored  to  all  the  functions  of 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 

The  complaint  of  the  Rev.  William  Calhoun  and  others  against  the 
same  Presbytery  is  dismissed. 

While  the  Assembly  do  fully  restore  the  appellant  to  the  functions  of 
the  ministry,  and  take  pleasure  in  recording  that  for  about  seven  years  he 
exhibited  talents  and  zeal  well  adapted  to  edify  the  Church  of  God,  and 
while  they  trust  that  he  will  hereafter  show  the  same  ability  and  fidelity 
in  the  Master's  cause,  they  are  constrained  to  express  their  deep  concern 
at  the  uncharitable  temper  and  litigiousness  exhibited  by  him  before  the 
inferior  judicatory,  and  their  disapprobation  of  his  course  in  printing  and 
circulating  his  Lexington  speech,  pending  his  complaint  to  the  Synod  of 
Virginia. 

Wherefore,  he  is  hereby  solemnly  admonished  in  relation  to  these  mat- 
ters, and  warned  carefully  to  avoid  them  in  future. 

The  Assembly  regret,  moreover,  that  they  find  no  evidence  that  any  of 
the  parties  have,  at  any  stage  of  this  unhappy  controversy,  resorted  to  the 
more  private  and  fraternal  methods  of  making  peace  among  brethren, 
which  are  suggested  in  the  word  of  God, 

And  the  Assembly  do  now  affectionately  and  solemnly  enjoin  on  all 
concerned  to  cultivate  a  spirit  of  charity  and  forgiveness,  to  study  the 
things  that  make  for  peace,  and  to  seek  by  importunate  prayer  the  influ- 
ences of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  the  wounds  inflicted  in  the  progress  of  this 
painful  case  may  be  healed,  and  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  Christ  may 
prevail  in  the  region  where  these  brethren  are  called  to  labor. — 1848, 
pp.  26,  41  and  49,  O.  S. 

18,  The  Decision  censures  the  Irregular  Excommunication  of  a  Mem- 
ber, and  Prescribes  the  Steps  -which  should  have  been  Taken. 

Complaint  of  Rev.  William  IVrkins,  et  al,  against  the  Synod  of  Illhiois. 
The  final  vote  was  taken,  w  ith  the  following  result,  viz. :  To  sustain  the 


OF   APPEALS.  675 

complaint,  38  ;  to  sustain  in  part,  43  ;  not  to  sustain,  79.  A  Committee 
was  appointed  to  bring  in  a  minute,  which  was  adopted,  as  follows,  viz. : 

The  Committee  appointed  to  bring  in  a  minute  in  reference  to  Judicial 
Case,  No.  1,  report,  first,  the  tacts  in  the  case.  A  communicant,  by  the 
name  of  Ambrose  Stone,  in  the  Irish  Grove  church,  for  a  long  time  ab- 
stained from  partaking  of  the  communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  .  He 
also,  for  a  long  time,  ceased  to  worship  God  in  his  family.  He  repeatedly 
requested  the  session  to  dissolve  his  connection  with  the  Church  of  Christ, 
assigning  as  the  only  reason  for  this  course  of  conduct,  that  he  believed 
he  had  never  been  honi  again,  and  that  he  had  no  love  to  Christ.  The 
session  did  eventually  comply  with  this  request,  and  resolved  that  his  con- 
nection with  the  church  be  dissolved. 

This  church  was  under  the  care  of  Sangamon  Presbytery.  The  Presby- 
tery upon  reviewing  the  records  of  the  session  of  Irish  Grove  church,  con- 
sidered this  a  case  of  excommunication,  and  declared  the  action  of  the 
session  not  only  unconstitutional,  but  also  null  and  void,  and  that  Mr, 
Stone  was  still  a  member  of  the  Irish  Grove  church.  The  moderator  and 
elder  from  that  session  claimed  the  right  to  vote  in  this  disapproval  of 
their  records,  which  Avas  refused  by  Presbytery.  The  session  then  com- 
plained to  the  Synod  of  Illinois  of  the  whole  action  of  the  Presbytery  in 
the  case.     The  Synod  sustained  and  approved  the  action  of  the  Presbytery. 

The  case  was  then  brought  before  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Irish 
Grove  church  session,  in  the  form  of  a  complaint  against  the  Synod  of 
Illinois,  because  it  sustained  the  action  of  the  Presbytery.  The  Assembly 
having  fully  heard  the  parties  in  the  case,  adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tions, viz. : 

Besolved,  1.  That  no  church  session  has  authority  to  dissolve  the  connec- 
tion of  a  communicant  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  except  by  excommuni- 
cation, and  that  the  sessions  of  our  Church  are  bound  to  proceed  according 
to  the  directions  given  in  our  Book  of  Discipline,  when  they  do  excom- 
municate a  member.  The  Assembly  does,  therefore,  condemn  the  action 
of  the  Irish  Grove  session  in  dissolving  the  connection  of  Mr.  Stone  with 
the  Church  of  Christ,  in  the  mauner  in  which  it  did,  as  irregular  and 
unconstitutional. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Sangamon  acted  correctly  in  not 
permitting  the  members  of  the  Irish  Grove  session  to  vote  for  approving 
or  disapproving  their  own  records ;  that  the  Presbytery  acted  correctly  in 
declaring  the  action  of  the  session,  in  Mr.  Stone's  case,  to  be  irregular  and 
unconstitutional ;  and  that  then  the  Presbytery,  without  proceeding  further, 
ought  to  have  required  the  session  to  review  and  correct  its  proceedings, 
in  this  case,  according  to  the  directions  given  in  our  Book  of  Discipline. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  Synod  ought  to""  have  directed  the  Presbytery  to 
require  the  session  to  review  and  correct  its  proceedings,  according  to  the 
directions  given  in  our  Book  of  Discipline. — 1851,  p.  33,  O.  S. 

19.  The  Decision  finds  Error  in  the  Courts  Below.— A  Presbytery- 
may  not  Unduly  Direct  and  Control  a  Session,  Synod  may  not 
Refuse  an  Appeal  from  a  Party  Aggrieved. 

This  General  Assembly  sustains  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  Robert  S. 
Finley  and  Smith  Bloointield,  against  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey. 

In  this  decision,  it  is  not  intended  to  censure  the  courts  below  for  want 
of  zeal  and  faithfulness  in  doing  according  to  their  best  jiidgment  what 
the  case  required.  ^Nluch  less  is  it  intended  to  reverse,  in  form,  what  has 
been  done  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Finley,  so  as  to  restore  him  to  his  pastoral 


676  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

relation,  in  the  Second  Church  of  Woodbridge ;  for  this  would  be  not 
only  impracticable,  in  the  circumstances,  as  they  now  exist,  but  inexpedi- 
ent, even  if  it  were  practicable. 

But  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabethtown  erred  in  attempting  too  much  to 
direct  and  control  the  action  of  that  session,  interfering  without  being 
called  to  do  so,  according  to  the  forms  of  our  Constitution  ;  in  arresting 
the  process  of  discipline,  before  it  had  been  issued,  while  the  session  were 
pursuing  it  in  an  orderly  manner;  and  in  dissolving  the  pastoral  relation 
upon  a  mere  presumption  of  a  majority  of  the  people  desiring  it,  without 
the  regular  application  of  either  party ;  thus  making  what  they  judged  a 
necessity  in  the  case,  of  more  im^iortance  than  the  forms  of  the  Consti- 
tution. 

The  Synod  of  New  Jersey  erred,  not  only  in  sustaining  the  action  of 
the  Presbytery  in  this  case,  but  also  in  refusing  to  entertain  as  an  appeal 
the  remedy  sought  by  a  party,  who  was  both  injured  and  aggrieved  by 
said  action  of  the  Presbytery. — 1858,  p.  300,  O.  S. 

IV.  THE  DECISION  MAY  REMIT  THE  CASE  TO  THE  LOWER  COURT. 
20.  It  may  Remand  the  Cause  for  Reconsideration. 

The  business  left  unfinished  yesterday,  viz.,  the  consideration  of  the 
appeal  of  Mr.  Todd  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  affirm- 
ing a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania,  by  Avhich  decision  Mr. 
Todd  was  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry  [was  taken  up],  and  after 
considerable  discussion  of  the  subject  of  the  appeal,  the  following  resolu- 
tion was  adopted,  viz.: 

The  Assembly  having  heard  the  documents  in  this  case,  were  of  opinion 
that  the  way  is  not  clear  at  present  for  a  reversal  of  the  sentence  of  sus- 
pension; but  as  it  appears  to  the  Assembly  that  Mr.  Todd's  opinions  have 
not  been  perfectly  understood,  and  whereas,  there  appeal's  to  have  been 
some  irregularity  as  to  the  nature  of  the  testimony  admitted  on  the  trial 
before  the  Presbytery  ;  therefore, 

Besolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  be  directed  to  recoiasider 
the  case  of  Mr.  Todd,  to  afford  him  another  opportunity  of  explaining  him- 
self, and  if  they  should  be  satisfied,  to  restore  him  to  his  former  standing. 
—1817,  p.  666. 

See  Discipline,  chap,  iv.,  sec.  vii.,  case  of  J.  H.  Spillman  vs.  Synod  of 
Kentucky.— 1860,  p.  45,  O.  S. 

21.  Judgment  Reversed  and  Case  Remitted  on  Grounds  Stated. 

On  the  complaint  of  William  H.  Beecher  and  others  against  the  Synod 
of  Genesee,  in  the  case  of  the  appeal  of  Dr.  Frank  from  the  decision  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Genesee,  the  Genei-al  Assembly  sustain  the  complaint 
and  reverse  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  on  the  following  grounds,  viz.: 

1.  That  the  merits  (^f  the  case  seem  to  be  expressly  declined  by  the 
Synod  as  the  subject-matter  of  adjudication. 

2.  That  the  Synod  appear  not  to  have  adhered  to  the  alternatives  pre- 
scribed by  the  Constitution.  See  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii., 
sub-sec.  X. 

3.  That  the  Synod  seem  to  have  forgotten  the  nature  and  the  limits  of 
their  appellate,  as  distinguished  from  the  original  jurisdiction  in  the  case, 
in  that  they  censure  at  their  bar  the  appellant,  in  a  way  competent,  in 
any  circumstances,  only  to  the  session  of  the  church  to  which  the  appel- 
lant was  primarily  amenable. 

4.  That  they  seem  to  have  forgotten  also,  in  restoring  the  appellant, 


OF   APPEALS.  577 

that  some  expression  of  repentance  ought  to  have  been  exacted,  especially 
if  their  rejjriinand  could,  from  any  tril)unal,  have  been  deserved. 

The  Assembly  therefore  rule  that  the  Synod  of  Genesee  should  review 
their  proceedings  in  this  case,  and  regarding  alike  the  rules  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  merits  of  the  case,  that  they  proceed  to  issue  the  same 
with  equity  and  wisdom. — 1840,  p.  11,  N.  S. 

22.  Referred  back  to  the  Court  belo-w  -with  Instructions. 

Whereas,  It  appears  that  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  in  the 
case  of  the  complaint  of  Franklin  Knox,  has  been  recorded  in  resolutions 
which  set  forth,  not  the  reasons  for  the  decision  in  the  case,  but  which  are, 
in  fact,  a  compromise;  which  also  admit  that,  at  most,  there  is  a  strong 
presumption  of  guilt,  but  not  evidence,  agreeably  to  the  Constitution,  suf- 
ficient to  convict ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  complaint  of  Franklin  Knox  against  the  Synod  of 
Missouri  be  referred  back  to  the  lower  judicatory,  and  that  the  Synod  lie 
and  hereby  is  instructed  to  reconsider  said  resolutions,  and  record  their 
decision  agreeably  to  the  evidence  and  the  principles  of  justice  recognized 
in  our  Constitution. — 1852,  p.  173,  N.  S. 

23.  The  Decision  details  the  Irregularity  of  the  Courts  below. 

The  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Committee  appointed  to  prepare 
a  minute  on  the  subject  of  IMr.  Craighead's  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  suspending  him  from  the  gospel  ministry  on  certain 
charges  of  heresy,  founded  on  a  sermon  preached  before  the  Synod,  wa& 
resumed,  and  after  some  discussion,  the  report  was  adopted,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz. : 

1.  The  General  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  the  conduct  of  ]Mr.  Craig- 
head in  preaching  such  a  sermon,  and  in  such  circumstances,  before  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  especially  as  he  had  been  suspected  by  his  brethren 
of  holding  erroneous  ojiinious,  was  highly  reprehensible. 

2.  The  General  Assembly  approve  the  conduct  of  the  Synod  in  relation 
to  this  matter.  While  they  were  firm  and  zealous  in  maintaining  what 
they  believed  to  be  truth,  they  were  to  an  uncommon  degree,  respectful 
and  affectionate  in  their  manner  of  dealing  with  ]\[r.  Craighead.  As  the 
sermon  was  delivered  in  their  hearing,  believing,  as  they  did,  that  it  con- 
tained dangerous  error,  they  were  bound  to  take  notice  of  it  and  express 
their  opinion  to  the  preacher. 

3.  But  they  cannot  ap])rove  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Craighead  when  before 
the  Synod.  He  indeed  manifested  a  lofty  and  indei)endent  spirit,  that 
would  not  be  controlled  by  authority,  and  there  was  not  exhibited  a  due 
respect  for  the  Synod  as  an  acknowledged  judicatory  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  His  conduct  was  not  respectful  and  conciliatory — which  certainly 
was  a  return  that  their  tenderness  to  him  called  for — but  it  was  that  of  a 
bold  and  confident  controvertist,  who  sets  his  opponents  at  defiance. 

4.  The  publication  of  this  sermon  and  defence  by  Mr.  Craighead,  after 
he  had  been  so  earnestly  entreated  by  the  Synod  "not  to  ofiend  against 
the  doctrines  of  the  Confession  and  the  feelings  of  his  Christian  brethren," 
was  even  more  reprehensible,  as  lar  as  evidence  is  before  us,  than  tiie  first 
preaching  of  it. 

5.  The  Presbvterv  of  Transylvania,  to  which  Mr.  Craighead  belonged, 
in  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duty,  could  not  have  con.nived  at  such 
conduct.  They  acted  "properly,  therefore,  in  calling  upon  Mr.  Craighead 
to  answer  for  this  publication."  Indeed,  they  deserve  much  commendation 
for  their  Avatchfulness,  zeal  and  firmness  in  promptly  meeting  an  evil  which 

73 


578  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

threatened  greatly  to  injure  the  welfare  of  the  Church.  And  when  it  is 
considered  that  the  man  with  whom  they  liad  to  deal  was  distinguished 
for  his  learning  and  eloquence,  reputable  in  his  character  and  standing  in 
society,  and  venerable  for  his  age,  it  was  a  duty  of  no  small  difficulty  and 
self-denial  which  they  were  called  to  perform.  But  they  did  not  shrink 
from  it.  Therefore,  whatever  may  have  been  their  errors  in  the  manner 
of  conducting  this  business,  or  the  errors  of  the  Synod,  it  is  the  opinion  of 
the  General  Assembly  that  they  performed  their  duty  in  difficult  circum- 
stances, and  that  their  whole  proceedings  were  prompted  by  pure  and 
coiiscientious  motives. 

6.  It  is  not  surprising  that  in  a  case  so  new  and  difficult  some  consider- 
able errors  in  point  of  form  should  have  occurred ;  the  jDriucipal  of  these 
the  General  Assembly  will  now  briefly  point  out. 

a.  There  was  a  great  deficiency  iu  the  charges  preferred  against  Mr. 
Craighead  as  it  relates  to  precision.  All  charges  for  heresy  should  be  as 
definite  as  possible.  The  article,  or  articles  of  faith  impugned,  should  be 
specified,  and  the  words  supposed  to  be  heretical  shown  to  be  in  repug- 
nance to  these  articles,  whether  the  reference  is  made  directly  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  a  standard  of  orthodoxy,  or  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  which  our 
Church  holds  to  be  a  summary  of  the  doctrines  of  Scripture.  But  in  none 
of  the  charges  against  Mr.  Craighead  is  this  done ;  and  in  twt)  of  them, 
third  and  fourth,  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  say  what  articles  of  faith  are 
supposed  to  be  contravened  in  the  errors  charged  on  Mr.  Craighead.  And 
the  last  two  charges  appear  to  be  so  vague  and  indefinite  as  to  be  incapa- 
ble of  proof  In  the  fifth  !Mr.  Craighead  is  charged  with  perverting,  etc., 
the  sentiments  of  the  preachers  and  writers  in  our  connection.  Now,  in 
our  connection  there  are  a  multitude  of  preachers  and  writers  differing  by 
many  shades  of  opinion  from  each  other.  How  then  can  this  be  a  just 
ground  of  accusation  ?  In  the  sixth,  he  is  charged  with  the  false  coloring 
of  fiicts,  etc.  But  no  facts  are  established  by  evidence  ;  none  are  specified 
in  the  charge ;  and  to  make  it  a  just  ground  of  accusation,  it  ought  to 
have  been  a  designed  and  malicious  discoloring  of  the  facts,  etc. 

b.  In  the  progress  of  this  case,  the  Presbytery  proceeded  regularly  to 
cite  the  accused,  once  and  again,  and  upon  his  not  appearing,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  trial,  and  having  gone  through  the  evidence,  they  referred 
the  whole  to  the  Synod  to  adjudicate  upon  it,  with  the  expression  of  their 
own  opinion,  that  j\Ir.  Craighead  ouglit  to  be  suspended.  The  Synod  met 
immediately  after  Presbytery  and  took  up  the  case,  and  in  concurrence 
^vith  the  opinion  of  the  Presbytery,  suspended  Mr.  Craigliead  from  the 
gospel  ministry. 

c.  In  this  proceeding,  the  General  Assembly  are  of  opinion,  that  there 
was  too  much  haste.  Mr.  Craighead  was  not  guilty  of  contumacy,  for  he 
wrote  two  letters  to  the  Presbytery,  excusing  himself  for  non-attendance ; 
and  if  he  had  been  guilty  of  contumacy,  he  ought  to  have  been  susf)eii(K'd 
on  that  ground.  Perhaps  no  man  ought  to  be  tried  on  charges  pixtei-red, 
and  to  be  supported  by  evidence,  who  is  not  present,  witliout  his  own  con- 
sent. A  trial,  in  the  nature  of  things,  cannot  be  imjiartinl,  when  there  is 
but  one  party  heard.  And  in  this  case  no  injury  would  have  been  sus- 
tained by  delay,  for  the  Synod  might  have  proceeded  instantly  to  condemn 
the  errors  of  I\Ir.  Craighead's  book,  as  the  General  As.<end)Iy  did  in  the 
case  of  The  Gospel  Phui  of  W.  C.  Davis;  the  process  against  the  author, 
however,  did  not  commence  till  some  time  afterward.  But,  however  this 
may  be,  the  General  Assend)ly  think  that  tlie  Synod  were  in  too  much 
haste.  It  was  reasonable  that  ^Ir.  Craighead  should  have  been  informed 
of  this  transfer  of  the  cause  to  a  higher  tribunal. 


OF   APPEALS.  579 

d.  There  is  only  one  other  thing  in  tlie  proceedings  on  which  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  will  remark,  which  is,  that  datements  were  given  as  evi- 
dence, by  the  members  of  Presbytery,  which  are  not  recorded,  and  which 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  given  under  the  usual  solemnity  of  au  oath. — 
1824,  pp.  120-122. 

24.   And  Remits  the  Case  -with  Instructions. 

Resolved,  That  as  the  proceedings  in  the  case  of  ]Mr.  Craighead,  have 
been,  in  many  respects,  irregular,  and  he  has  suffered  much  injury  from 
the  delay  produced  by  these  irregularities:  And,  whereas,  also  the  charges 
are  not  so  conclusively  established  as  to  remove  all  doubt,  the  General 
Assembly  cannot  see  their  way  clear  finally  to  confirm  the  sentence  of  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  although  they  are  of  opinion,  that  JNIr.  Craighead 
has  subjected  himself,  by  preaching  and  printing  this  sermon,  to  just  cen- 
sure. But  as  Mr.  Craighead  has  had  no  fair  opportunity  of  vindicating 
himself,  or  of  making  satisfactory  explanations  or  retractions,  tlierefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  whole  cause  be  transmitted  to  the  Presbytery  of 
West  Tennessee,  in  the  bounds  of  which  Mr.  Craighejid  resides ;  and  that 
they  be  directed  to  give  him  an  early  opportunity  of  offering  that  satis- 
faction which  the  Church  expects,  for  the  offence  received;  and  that  upon 
receiving  such  explanations  or  retractions  as  to  them  shall  be  satisfactory, 
Mr.  Craighead  be  restored  to  the  gospel  ministry  from  which  he  had  been 
suspended. — 1824,  p.  124. 

Mr.  Craighead  Restored. 

Mr.  Craighead  w-as  restored  to  the  ministry  by  the  Presbytery  of  "West 
Tennessee,  but  died  before  the  next  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly. 

25.   A  like  Decision. 

The  Committee  to  prepare  a  minute  expressive  of  the  sense  of  the 
Assembly  in  sustaining  the  complaint  of  Rev.  J.  A.  Smylie  against  the 
Synod  of  Mississippi,  submitted  tiie  following,  which  was  adopted,  viz.: 

1.  That  the  decision  of  this  Assembly  in  sustaining  the  complaint  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Smylie  against  the  Synod  of  Mississippi,  is  not  to  be  regarded  as 
deciding  the  merits  of  the  original  question,  that  is,  the  guilt  or  innocence 
of  the  individual  in  respect  to  whom  this  case  originated. 

2.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  should  have  recorded  the  results 
of  the  interlocutory  meeting  referred  to  in  the  complaint. 

3.  That  the  Synod  acted  unconstitutionally  in  permitting  the  Presl\v- 
tery  of  Louisiana  to  vote  on  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the  Judicial 
Committee  on  the  complaint  of  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie. 

4.  That  the  Synod  should  have  placed  on  its  records  the  above-men- 
tioned report. 

5.  That  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  erred  in  pleading  the  limitation  of 
time  for  their  noncompliance  with  the  resolution  of  the  Synod,  referring 
this  whole  case  to  them  for  a  full  investigation. 

6.  That  the  case  be  remanded  to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana,  accord- 
ing to  the  resolution  of  the  Synod,  for  such  action  as  is  demanded  by  the 
Book  of  Discipline. 

7.  That  the  decision  of  the  Assembly,  together  with  the  foregoing  min- 
ute, be  recorded  in  the  iNIinutes  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi  and  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Louisiana. — 1850,  p.  481,  O".  S. 


580  OF   DISCIPLINE. 


26.  Referred  back  by  Consent  of  Parties. 

Judicial  business  No.  9,  reported  by  the  Judicial  Committee,  viz. :  the 
complaint  of  Alexander  M.  Cowan  against  the  Synod  of  Utica,  was  taken 
up  and  the  complaint  read,  when,  with  the  consent  of  Mr.  Cowan  and  the 
members  of  the  Synod  present,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  subject  be  referred  back  to  the  Synod  of  Utica ;  and 
they  are  hereby  directed  to  issue  the  case  as  referred  to  them  by  the  Pres- 
byt'ery  of  Otsego.— 1834,  p.  434. 

27.  Referred  back  on  Account  of  Irregularities. 

The  unfinished  business  on  Judicial  Case  No.  4  was  resumed,  and  after 
further  discussion,  the  previous  question  was  moved  by  Judge  Ewiug  and 
sustained.  The  vote  was  then  taken,  on  the  motion  of  Drs.  Edwards  and 
Imbrie,  which  was  adopted,  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  the  case  be  retui-ned  to  the  Synod  for  a  new  trial,  if  a 
new  trial  be  required. 

1st.  Because  it  appears  from  the  record  of  the  Synod  that  the  original 
parties  in  the  case  were  never  heard  by  them  ;  the  original  parties,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Assembly,  being  Mr.  Wm.  B.  Guild,  and  the  Committee 
prosecuting  for  common  fame. 

2d.  Because  the  reasons  for  the  decision  of  the  Synod  were  not  re- 
corded according  to  the  requisition  in  chap,  iv.,  sec.  xxiii.,  Book  of  Disci- 
pline.—1861,  p.  344,  O.  S. 

28.  Discretion  of  a  Court  is  not  Subject  to  Revie-w. 

They  had  the  right  to  send  the  case  back  to  the  Presbytery  or  to  review 
the  whole  of  it,  according  to  their  discretion.  It  is  not  for  this  court  to 
decide  which  would  have  been  the  wiser  course.  The  Synod  judged  it 
best  to  review  the  whole  case,  and  their  discretion  is  not  a  matter  of  re- 
view by  this  body.— 1864,  p.  475.  N.  S. 

29.  Remitted  on  the  Recommendation  of  the  Judicial  Committee. 

a.  Also,  Judicial  Case  No,  2.  A  complaint  of  Christian  Kern  and 
others  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  New  Orleans. 

The  Committee  recommend,  that  it  be  again  referred  to  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Orleans,  with  the  injunction  that  the  complainants  be  allowed  a 
hearing. 

Adopted.— 1871,  p.  547. 

h.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  in  part — Case  No.  2 — an  appeal  of 
the  Rev.  Francis  M.  Dimmick,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Missouri  River, 
recommending  that  the  papers  in  the  case  be  returned  to  the  parties  pre- 
senting them,  that  they  may  be  adjudicated  by  the  Synod  of  Iowa,  South. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1872,  p.  50. 

c.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  No.  4,  a  complaint  of  the  Rev. 
Christian  Kern,  against  the  Presbytery  of  New  Orleans.  The  Committee 
recommend  that  the  complainant  be  referred  to  his  Synod  for  redress. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1872,  p.  84. 

30.   In  Passing  Judgment  a  Judicatory  may  not  Open  a  Case 
already  Settled. 

Judicial  Case,  No.  11,  is  the  appeal  of  Dr.  Thomas  F.  Worrell  against 
the  Synod  of  Illinois,  together  with  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  A. 
Cornelison  against  the  same  Synod. 


OF   APPEALS.  581 

The  Committee  report  that  the  appeal  and  complaint  relate  to  the  same 
matter,  and  they  recommend  that  they  be  tried  together  as  one  cause. 

The  papers  are  in  order,  and  the  case  is  ready  for  trial. 

The  Committee  find,  further,  that  the  Synod,  in  a  minute  expressing  its 
judgment  in  a  case  then  pending,  to  which  Dr.  Worrell  was  a  party, 
adopted  the  following  as  a  part  of  their  judgment:  "And,  further,  inas- 
much as  this  trial  grew  out  of  a  previous  one  with  Dr.  Worrell,  in  which 
the  adjustment  partook  of  the  natux-e  of  a  compromise,  and  certain  irreg- 
ularities which  are  not  constitutional ;  and  as  the  ends  of  discipline  were 
not  accomplished  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Worrell,  the  session  of  that  church 
should  review  their  proceedings  in  his  case."  This  part  of  the  minutes 
is  the  subject-matter  of  the  appeal  and  complaint.  In  the  judgment 
of  the  Committee,  it  was  not  competent  for  the  Synod,  when  judicially 
determining  one  case,  to  open  another  case  already  settled  and  determined  ; 
this  last  case  having  been  adjusted  two  years  before,  and  the  record  of  the 
adjustment  having  already  passed  before  Synod,  by  way  of  review  and 
control.  The  Committee,  therefore,  reconuuend  that  the  appeal  of  Dr. 
Worrell  be  sustained.  The  complaint  of  Mr.  Cornclison  being  to  the 
same  effect,  is  determined  by  this  judgment  ou  the  appeiil. — 18(33,  p.  67, 
O.  S. 

31.  The  Decision  Sustains  the  LoTver  Court  in  part,  but  one  Re- 
stored by  Judicial  Action  can  be  Deprived  again  only  by  New 
Process  and  Conviction. 

The  business  left  unfinished  on  Saturday  was  resumed,  viz. :  the  appeal 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Onondaga,  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Gen- 
eva, relative  to  the  restoration  of  the  Rev.  John  Sheplierd  to  the  gospel 
ministry,  who  has  been  deposed  by  the  Association  of  Fairfield,  Connecti- 
cut. After  considerable  discussion  ou  the  subject,  the  following  resolu- 
tions were  adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Geneva  relative  to  the  res- 
toration of  the  Rev.  John  Shepherd  to  the  oflice  of  the  gospel  ministry, 
so  far  as  it  censures  the  restoration  of  said  Shepherd,  who  was  deposed  l)y 
a  judicatory  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  fellowship  with  us,  be  and  hereby 
is  confirmed;  because  it  did  not  appear  from  the  records  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Onondaga,  that  said  restoration  took  place  in  consequence  of  any  con- 
fession of  the  alleged  crime  for  which  the  said  Shejiherd  was  deposed,  or 
of  any  profession  of  penitence  for  it,  or  of  any  conference  with  the  judi- 
catory which  deposed  him. 

2.  "That  the  appeal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Onondaga,  so  far  as  it  relates 
to  the  rescinding  of  their  vote  to  restore  the  Rev.  John  Shepherd,  be  and 
hereby  is  sustained,  on  the  second  reason  of  appeal,  and  upcui  that  alone ; 
because  the  Assembly  judges,  that  a  minister  of  the  gospl,  when  once 
restored  by  presbyterial  authority,  cannot  be  deprived  of  his  office,  except 
it  be  by  a  new  process  and  conviction. — 1818,  p.  687. 

32.  The  Decision  Reverses  all  the  Courts  below  and  Restores  the 

Appellant. 

The  As^emblv  took  up  the  appeal  of  Dr.  John  Rollins  from  a  decir^ion 
of  the  Svnod  of  West  Tennessee,  affirming  a  decision  of  tlie  Presbyterv 
of  Mississippi,  affirming  a  decision  of  the  session  of  the  Fii-st  Church  of 
New  Orleans,  by  which  ho  had  been  excluded  from  the  privileges  of  the 
church. 

Dr.  McAuley  was  appointed  to  manage  the  cause  of  the  appellant 


582  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

The  sentence  of  the  Synod  appealed  from,  the  reasons  on  record  which 
were  assigned  by  the  appellant  for  his  appeal,  and  the  whole  record  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  inferior  judicatories  in  the  case,  including  all  the 
testimony  and  the  reasons  of  their  decision,  were  read. 

Dr.  McAuley  was  then  heard  in  support  of  the  appeal.  Only  one  mem- 
ber of  the  Synod  w-as  present,  and  he  declined  saying  anything.  The  par- 
ties then  withdrew.  And  the  roll  was  called  in  part  to  give  the  members 
an  opportunity  to  express  their  opini(5n. 

The  Assembly  resumed  the  appeal  of  Dr.  Eollins.  The  remainder  of 
the  roll  was  called.  After  which  the  final  vote  was  taken,  when  the  ap- 
peal was  sustained,  and  the  decision  of  the  Synod  was  reversed,  and  Dr. 
Eoilins  was  restored  to  the  privileges  of  the  church. — 1830,  p.  307. 

33.  The  Decision  Declares  and  Decides  the  Several  Issues  In- 
volved. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  express  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly  on 
the  memorial  and  complaint  of  the  session  of  the  Fifth  Church  of  Phila- 
delphia, recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  which 
were  accordingly  adopted,  viz. : 

1.  Inasmuch  as  the  act  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  uniting  the  Sec- 
ond Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  to  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  was  iu 
contravention  of  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  passed  in  1832,  by  wiiich 
that  Presbytery  was  erected,  and  inasmuch  as  the  act  of  the  Synod  afore- 
said, by  an  appeal,  was  to  be  reviewed  and  acted  on,  by  the  next  General 
Assembly;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  complainants  of  the  Fifth  Church  erred  in  changing 
their  presbyterial  relation,  and  uniting  Avith  the  Second  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia  Synodical. 

2.  While  Presbyteries  have  the  right,  according  to  the  Constitution,  to 
visit  the  churches  under  their  care,  to  take  measures  to  correct  any  evils 
that  may  exist  in  them,  nevertheless,  as  in  this  case,  the  session  presented 
no  request,  and  there  was  no  apprehension  that  the  pulpit  would  not  be 
supplied,  the  Assembly  think  the  Second  Presbytery  erred  in  insisting  on 
the  right  to  supply  the  pulpit  of  the  Fifth  Church  under  the  then  existing 
state. 

3.  As  the  majority  of  the  session  felt  themselves  constrained  to  leave 
their  house  of  worship,  a}id  were  accompanied  by  a  large  number  of  the 
communicants,  and  as  they  had  a  show  of  reason  for  applying  to  the  Sec- 
ond Presl)ytery  Synodical,  by  the  act  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  form- 
ing that  Presbytery,  the  decision  of  the  Second  Presbytery  in  declaring 
the  four  elders  no  longer  elders  of  the  Fifth  Church  under  their  care,  if 
designed  to  afiect  either  their  character  or  their  standing,  is  liereby  de- 
clared to  be  void. 

4.  In  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  the  entire  Fifth  Church  is  under 
the  care  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  and  it  is  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  an  integral  part  t)f  it. — 1834,  p.  452. 

[For  resolution  5,  see  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xiii.,  sec.  vii.,  2.] 

34.  The  Decision  Restores  the  Status  in  quo. 

The  unfinished  business  of  the  morning  was  resumed,  viz. :  The  appeal 
and  complaint  of  Thomas  I'radford,  Esq.,  and  others,  against  a  decision 
.)f  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  dividing  the  Fifth  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  Phih\del])hia  into  two  churches. 

The  calling  of  the  roll  was  finished,  when  the  final  vote  was  taken. 


OF   APPEALS.  583 

The  question  was  put,  "Shall  the  appeal  and  complaint  be  sustained?" 
and  was  carried  in  the  affirniative. 

Whereupon  it  is  ordered  and  decreed  by  this  General  Assembly,  that 
the  act  and  decision  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadcljihia,  which 
divides  the  Fifth  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia  into 
two  distinct  churches,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  reversed ;  and  the  said 
Presbytery  is  hereby  directed  to  restore  to  the  session  of  said  church  the 
book  of  minutes  of  said  session. — 1835,  p.  478. 

XI.  If  an  appellant,  after  entering  his  appeal  to  a  superior  judi- 
catory, fail  to  prosecute  it,  it  shall  be  considered  as  abandoned,  and 
the  sentence  appealed  from  shall  be  final.  And  an  apj)ellant  shall  be 
considered  as  abandoning  his  appeal,  if  he  do  not  appear  before  the 
judicatory  appealed  to,  on  the  first  or  second  day  of  its  meeting,  next 
ensuing  the  date  of  his  notice  of  appeal :  except  in  cases  in  Avhich  the 
appellant  can  make  it  appear  that  he  was  prevented  from  seasonably 
prosecuting  his  appeal  by  the  providence  of  God. 

1.  Case  of  the  Application  of  the  Rule. 

On  motion.  Resolved,  That  in  case  of  an  appeal  or  complaint  entered  in 
an  inferior  judicatory  to  a  superior,  if  the  appellant  or  appellants  do  not 
appear  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  superior  judicatory,  protest  may  be 
admitted,  at  the  instance  of  the  respondents,  at  the  last  session  of  such 
meeting,  that  the  appeal  is  fallen  from,  and  the  sentence  so  appealed  from 
shall  be  considered  as  final. — 1794,  p.  39.     See  1791,  p.  45. 

a.  A  Case  of  Thomas  B.  Craighead. 

The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  letter  and  appeal  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  B.  Craighead,  reported  that,  after  having  carefully  attended  to  the 
duty  assigned  them,  they  did  not  discover  any  sufficient  reason  why  he  has 
not  come  forward  to  prosecute  his  appeal  before  the  Assembly,  nor  why 
his  case  should  not  now  be  brought  to  issue ;  and  therefore  recommend 
that  the  representation  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  be  permitted,  if  so 
disposed,  to  enter  their  protest  in  proi)er  time  against  a  future  prosecution 
of  his  appeal,  and  thus  give  effect  to  a  standing  order  of  the  General  As- 
semblv,  that  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  be  considered  as  final. 

Rexolved,  That  the  foregoing  report  be  accepted,  and  that  Mr.  Craig- 
head be  furnished  with  an  attested  copy  of  this  decision  in  his  case. 

The  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  brought  forward  their  protest, 
which  being  read,  was  accepted,  and  is  as  follows  : 

The  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead  having  appealed  to  the  CJeneral  Assem- 
blv  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  made  in  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber last,  by  which  decision  the  said  Synod  directed  the  Presbytery  of  Tran- 
sylvania to  depose  the  said  Thomas  B.  Craighead  from  the  gospel  niinis- 
ti'V,  which  was  done  accordingly,  and  whereas  the  said  ]\Ir.  Craighead  has 
not  prosecuted  his  appeal  to  the  General  Assendjly,  and  the  subscriix'rs, 
members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  have  waited  till  the  last  day  of  the 
sessions  of  the  Assembly,  to  afford  opportunity  for  the  prosecution  of  said 
appeal ;  we  do,  therefore,  now  protest,  in  our  own  name,  and  on  behalf  of 
the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  against  the  future  prosecution  of  said  appeal,  and 


584  OF   DISCIPLIXE. 

declare  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  to  be  final,  agreeably  to  a  standing  order 
of  the  General  Assembly.     Signed,  James  Hoge, 

M.  G.  Wallce, 
J.  P.  Campbell. 
—1811,  p.  481. 

[See  below,  under  sees,  xi.,  xv.] 

b.  From  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  it  appeared  that  Guern- 
sey G.  Brown  had  appealed  from  a  decision  of  that  body  in  his  case  to 
the  General  Assembly.  As  Mr.  Brown  has  not  appeared  to  prosecute  his 
appeal,  and  the  commissioners  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucl<y  required  tliat 
his  absence  may,  according  to  a  rule  of  the  Assembly  on  the  subject,  pre- 
clude him  from  a  future  hearing;  therefore, /te-so/rec/.  That  Guernsey  G. 
Brown  be  considered  as  precluded  from  prosecuting  his  appeal. — 1821,  p.  30. 

e.  The  appeal  of  Benedict  Hobbs  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky was  taken  up,  and  the  appellant  not  being  present  to  prosecute  his 
appeal,  it  was  dismissed,  and  the  sentence  of  the  inferior  court  atfirmed. 

d.  The  appeal  of  Chloe  G.  Giles,  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Utica, 
was  taken  up,  and  the  appellant  not  being  present  to  prosecute  her  appeal, 
it  was  dismissed,  and  the  sentence  of  the  inferior  court  affirmed. — 1834, 
p.  452. 

Judicial  Case,  No.  2.  An  appeal  of  Mr.  Thomas  Davis  from  a  decision 
of  the  Synod  of  Memphis.  The  committee  recommended  the  following 
action  in  this  case,  viz.:  Whertxis,  INIr.  Thomas  Davis  has  failed  to  a])pear 
before  this  Assembly,  to  prosecute  his  appeal  from  the  Synod  of  Memphis  ; 
therefore, 

Resolved,  In  accordance  with  the  rule  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  in  this 
case  provided,  that  his  appeal  be  dismissed  from  the  further  attention  of 
this  body.— 1852,  p.  212,  O.  S. 

[See  1861,  p.  304,  O.  S.,  and  j:>a.ssi»i.] 

2.  Personal  Attendance  of  the  Appellant  is  not  Necessary. 

Pei'sonal  attendance  on  the  superior  judicatory  is  not  essential  to  the 
regular  prosecution  of  an  appeal. — 1822,  p.  58. 

3.  The  Appeal  may  be  Prosecuted  by  Proxy. 

a.  The  complaint  of  Rev.  Henry  Davis  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Utica,  was  taken  up,  and  dismissed  on  the  ground  that  the  complain- 
ant has  not  appeared  to  prosecute  his  complaint,  nor  any  other  person  in 
his  behalf.— 1834,  p.  454. 

h.  The  complaints  of  Kev.  G.  Dutfield  and  Vs .  11.  de  Witt  were  dis- 
missed on  the  ground  that  neither  the  complainants  themselves,  nor  any 
person  on  their  behalf  are  pre^^ent  to  prosecute  those  complaints. — 1835, 
p.  490 ;  1804,  p.  313,  O.  S. ;  1865,  p.  535,  O.  S. 

4.  In  the  Absence  of  the  Appella-nt  the  Court  assigns  Counsel. 

a.  The  Judicial  Committee  brought  before  the  Assembly  an  appeal  of 
Mr.  Newton  Hawes  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Genesee,  alfirming 
his  suspension  from  the  ordinances  of  the  church,  which  suspension  had 
been  determined  by  the  church  of  Warsaw.  Mr.  Hawes  not  being  })res- 
ent.  Dr.  Janeway  and  Mr.  Phillips  were  appointed  to  defend  and  support 
his  a])peal. — 1823,  p.  72. 

b.  The  Assembly  took  up  the  com])laint  agairist  the  Synod  of  Virginia 
by  the  Kev.  Samuel  Houston,  and  Jlev.  Samuel  B.  Wilson,  reporteil  by 
the  Judicial  Committee.     The  complainants  did  not  appear,  but  a  written 


OF   APPEALS.  585 

commuuication,  containing  the  reasons  of  their  complaint,  was  hxid  before 
the  Assembly.  At  the  request  of  the  complainants,  Mr.  Weed  was  ap- 
pointed to  manage  their  cause  in  their  absence. — 1827,  p.  210. 

5.  In  the  Absence  of  Complainant  Complaint  Dismissed  and  De- 
fendant Sustained. 

The  Judicial  Committee  report  Judicial  Case,  No.  3,  being  the  com- 
plaint of  E.  N.  Sawyer  and  others,  against  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
Chicago,  in  the  case  of  O.  M.  Hoagland,  as  being  fallen  from  ])y  the  failure 
of  the  complainants  to  appear  and  prosecute  their  complaint.  They, 
therefore,  recommend  that  the  complaint  be  dismissed,  and  that  ^Ir.  Hoag- 
land be  considered  as  entitled  to  all  his  former  rights  and  privileges  in 
the  church  of  Hopewell. — 1858,  p.  276,  O.  S. 

6.  Case  Continued  on  Satisfactory  Reasons  given. 

a.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  an  appeal  by  INIr.  James  Taylor, 
from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  and  that  the  communication 
of  Mr.  Taylor  gave  infoi-mation  that  by  reason  of  ill  health  he  was  unable 
to  attend  to  prosecute  hi-s  appeal  before  the  present  Assembly. 

Resolved,  That  Mr.  Taylor  have  leave  to  prosecute  his  appeal  before 
the  next  General  Assembly. — 1827,  p.  211. 

h.  A  complaint  of  Wm.  M.  Lively  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
New  York.  Mr.  Lively  being  unable,  through  sickness  in  his  family,  to 
attend  at  this  time  and  prosecute  his  complaint,  the  Committee  recom- 
mend, that  agreeably  to  his  request,  his  comj)]aint  be  referred  to  the  next 
General  Assembly.     This  report  was  adopted. — 1851,  p.  19,  O.  S. 

e.  An  appeal  of  Rev.  M.  Davis,  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Mem- 
phis, deposing  him  from  the  office  of  the  holy  ministry.  The  appellant 
being  unable,  by  reason  of  ill  health,  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  present 
Assembly,  and  desiring,  in  consequence,  the  continuance  of  his  cause  until 
the  next  General  Assembly.     The  report  was  adopted. — 1851,  p.  19,  O.  S. 

V.  "Where  the  Case  is  Continued  at  the  Request  of  the  Appellant, 
the  Sentence  Remains  in  Full  Force  until  the  Case  is  Issued. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  that  a  paper  had  been  put  into  their 
hands,  purporting  to  be  a  request  from  Mr.  C.  PI.  Baldwin,  to  ihe  mode- 
rator of  the  Assembly,  that  his  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
Genesee  be  continued  to  the  next  General  Assejnbly,  and  offering  reasons 
for  his  failure  to  appear  and  prosecute  it.  It  appears  from  the  Form  of 
Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  article  xi.,  that  his  case  is  regularly  before 
us  for  reference  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  if  his  excuse  for  now  fail- 
ing to  appear  shall  be  deemed  sufficient. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  Assembly,  in  view  of  the  reasons 
offered,  and  out  of  a  desire  to  grant  the  appellant  every  reasonable  indul- 
gence, continue  his  case  agreeably  to  his  request ;  it  being  understood  that 
the  sentence  of  the  Presbytery  remain  in  full  force  against  him  till  the 
case  be  finally  issued,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  our  Form  of 
Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  article  xv. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1858,  p.  580,  N.  S. 

8.  Dismissed  in  Absence  of  Appellant,  -with  Privilege  of  ReneTval. 

a.  The  appeal  of  Dr.  James  Snodgrass  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Pittsburg  was  called  up,  and  the  appeal  was  dismissed  on  the  ground 
74 


586  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

that  the  appellant  has  not  appeared,  either  in  j^erson  or  by  proxy,  to  pros- 
ecute said  appeal. 

The  Assembly,  however,  give  to  Dr.  Snodgrass  the  privilege  of  prose- 
cuting his  appeal  before  the  next  General  Assembly,  if  he  can  then  show 
sufficient  cause  for  its  further  prosecution. — 1832,  p.  376. 

b.  In  regard  to  a  future  prosecution  of  his  appeal,  the  appellant  must 
present  his  case,  with  reasons  for  previous  failure,  before  the  next  General 
Assemhlv,  whose  province  it  will  then  be  to  decide  upon  the  whole  sub- 
ject.—1850,  p.  463,  O.  S. 

9.  Where  an  Appeal  has  been  Dismissed  in  Error,  the  Assembly 
grant  a  Restoration  after  a  long  Interval,  "when  Satisfied  of  the 
Error. 

The  business  left  unfinished  in  the  morning,  viz. :  the  consideration  of 
the  report  of  the  Committee  to  which  had  been  referred  the  Rev.  T.  B, 
Craighead's  letter,  was  resumed,  and  the  report  was  adopted,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows, viz. : 

In  the  year  1811,  an  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
by  T.  B.  Craighead,  accompanied  by  a  letter  from  the  same,  was  laid  be- 
fore the  General  Assembly.  But  ]\Ir.  Craighead  not  appearing  in  person, 
to  prosecute  his  appeal,  permission  was  given  by  the  Assembly,  on  the  last 
day  of  their  sessions,  to  the  membei'S  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  who  Avere 
present,  to  enter  a  protest  against  the  prosecution  of  the  aforesaid  appeal, 
at  any  future  time.  This  was  supposed  to  be  required  by  a  standing  rule 
of  the  Assembly.  The  appeal  of  j\[r.  Craighead  was  therefore  not  heard, 
and  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  was  rendered  final. 

It  moreover  appears,  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  year  aforesaid, 
having  ado])ted  the  protest  of  the  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  as 
their  own  act,  did  declare  that  Mr.  Craighead  had  been  deposed,  whereas, 
the  decision  of  the  Synod  was  suspension  ;  and,  although  the  Synod  did 
direct  the  Presbytery  to  which  Mr.  Craighead  belonged,  to  depose  him,  if 
he  did  not,  at  their  next  stated  meeting,  retract  his  errors ;  yet  this  sen- 
tence could  not  have  been  constitutionally  inflicted,  because  Mr.  Craighead 
ap])ealed  from  the  decision  of  Synod,  the  eflect  of  which  was  to  arrest  all 
further  proceedings  in  the  case,  until  the  appeal  should  be  tried  ;  there- 
fore the  sentence  of  the  Assembly  declaring  Mr.  Craighead  deposed,  does 
not  accord  with  the  sentence  of  the  Synod,  which  was  suspension. 

From  the  above  history  of  facts,  your  Committee,  while  they  entirely 
dissent  from  many  of  tlie  opinions  contained  in  Mr.  Craighead's  letter,  and 
consider  its  publication  before  it  was  i)resented  to  the  Assembly  indec(.>rous 
and  improper,  are  of  opinion,  that  he  has  just  ground  of  complaint  in  re- 
gard to  the  ])rocee(lings  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1811  in  his  case,  and 
that  the  construction  put  on  the  standing  rule  of  the  Assembly  was  not 
correct;  for  jiersonal  attendance  on  the  superior  judicatory  is  not  essential 
to  the  regular  prosecution  of  an  appeal.  Moreover,  the  sentence  of  the 
Ass(mbly,  being  founded  in  error,  ought  to  be  considered  null  and  void, 
and  Mr.  Craighead  ought  to  be  considered  as  placed  in  the  same  situation 
as  befoi-e  the  decision  took  place,  and  as  possessing  the  right  to  prosecute 
his  appeal  before  this  judicatory. 

Ordered,  that  the  stated  clerk  forward  to  ]Mr.  Craighead  a  copy  of  the 
foregoing  minute. — 1822,  p.  52. 

XII.  Members  of  judicatories  a])pcalecl  from,  cannot  1)(>  allowed  to 
vote  in  the  superior  judicatory,  on  any  Cjuestion  connected  with  the 
appeal. 


OF   APPEALS.  587 

1.  The  Moderator,  being  a  Member  of  the  Court  Appealed  from, 

will  not  Sit. 

a.  Besolved,  That  no  minister  belonging  to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia, 
nor  elder  who  was  a  member  of  the  judicature  when  the  vote  appealed 
from  took  place,  shall  vote  in  the  decisicm  thereof  by  this  Assembly. 

The  moderator,  being  a  member  of  the  8ynod  of  Philadel])liia,  with- 
drew, and  Dr,  McKnight  took  the  chair. — 1792,  p.  56. 

b.  The  appeal  of  Mr.  Pope  Bushnell  was  resumed.  The  moderator 
being  a  member  of  the  Synod  appealed  from,  Mr.  Jennings,  the  last  mod- 
erator present,  took  the  chair. — 1826,  p.  184. 

c.  Judicial  Case  No.  1  was  taken  up.  The  moderator  being  a  party  in 
the  case,  vacated  the  chair,  and  on  motion,  Dr.  Krebs  was  requested  to  act 
as  moderator  during  the  trial  of  the  case. — 1866,  p.  48,  O.  S. 

d.  The  moderator,  on  the  ground  of  his  being  a  member  of  the  Synod 
complained  of,  voluntarily  relinquished  the  chair,  while  this  case  should 
be  pending. — 1852,  p.  164,  N.  S. 

2.  An  Interested  Party  should  not  Sit  on  a  Trial. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Genesee  were,  on  recommendation  of  the 
Committee,  approved,  with  the  following  exce|)tion  :  Of  a  decision  of  the 
moderator,  recorded  on  page  151,  that  a  member  of  a  Synod,  who  might 
be  interested  in  a  case  under  trial,  cannot  be  challenged;  which  decision 
is  unconstitutional,  and  ought  to  be  reversed  by  that  Synod. — 1846,  p.  20, 
K  S. 

3.  Members  of  the  Court  Appealed  from  may  not  Vote. 

The  Synod  of  Mississippi  acted  unconstitutionally  in  permitting  the 
Presbyter}'  of  Louisiana  to  vote  on  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the 
Judicial  Committee  on  the  complaint  of  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie. — 1850,  p.  481, 
O.  S. 

4.  The  Rule  applied  to  Review  of  Records. 

The  moderator  and  elder  from  the  session  of  Irish  Grove  claimed  the 
right  to  vote  on  the  disapproval  of  their  records;  which  was  refused  by 
Presbytery.     The  session  complained.     The  Assembly  inter  alia  decide — 

That  the  Presbytery  of  Sangamon  acted  correctly  in  not  permitting  the 
members  of  Irish  Grove  session  to  vote  for  approving  or  disapproving  their 
own  records. — 1851,  p.  33,  O.  vS. 

[See  in  full,  under  vii.,  iii.,  x.,  above.] 

5,  Members  of  a  Court  Appealed  from  may  Speak  on  Postpone- 
ment. 

Appeal  and  complaint  of  P.  S.  Finley,  etc.,  against  the  Synod  of  New 
Jersey. 

A  motion  was  made  by  James  Hoge  to  postpone  the  trial  of  this  cause 
to  the  next  General  Assembly. 

This  motion  was  discussed  at  length  ;  the  moderator  deciding,  in  the 
course  of  the  discussion,  that  the  members  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey 
might  speak  on  such  a  motion. — 1858,  p.  291,  O.  S. 


588  OF   DISCIPLINE. 


6.  An  Elder  belonging  to  the  Judicatory  Appealed  from,  though 
not  a  Member  of  the  Court  when  the  Case  "was  Issued,  may  not 
Sit. 

A  question  was  raised  by  Mr.  Cuuninghain,  an  elder  from  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  who  was  not  a  member  of  Synod  at  the  meeting  at  which 
the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes  was  tried  and  issued,  whether  he  has  a  right  to 
vote  in  this  case  in  the  Assembly.  After  some  discussion,  the  moderator 
decided  that  Mr.  Cunningham,  and  any  other  members  of  the  Assembly 
from  that  Synod  similarly  situated,  have  a  right  to  vote  in  the  Assembly. 
Fromi  this  decision  of  the  moderator  an  appeal  was  taken,  when,  by  a  vote 
of  the  Assembly,  the  decision  of  the  moderator  was  not  sustained,  and  it 
was  decided  that  Mr.  Cunningham,  and  others  similarly  situated,  have  no 
right  to  vote  on  the  case  in  the  Assembly. — 1836,  p.  265. 

7.  Ministers  v;rho  have  been  Dismissed  to  other  Bodies  before  the 

Action  Complained  of  are  not  Excluded. 

A  motion  was  made  that  Dr.  Skinner  and  Mr.  Dashiell,  who,  at  the 
time  the  trial  was  commenced  in  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Phi]a(leli)hia, 
were  either  not  dismissed  from  that  body,  or  had  not  yet  connected  them- 
selves with  any  other,  though  they  did  not  meet  with  the  Presbytery,  and 
before  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  were  members  of  other  Presbyteries, 
should  not  sit  in  judgment  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes.  This  motion  was 
decided  in  the  negative. — 1836,  p.  266. 

8.  A  Case  is  Remanded  where  Members  of  the  Judicatory  Ap- 

pealed from  Act  in  their  ovsrn  Case. 

Second  and  third.  Cases  of  ]\Ir.  Jefferson  Eamsey  and  Rev.  Andrew 
B.  Cross  vs.  the  Synod  of  Baltimore. 

The  persons  named  appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod,  by  which  a 
complaint  of  Mr.  Panisey  against  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and  one 
of  JNIr.  Cross  against  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore,  were  dismissed  as  hav- 
ing no  ground,  on  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee  of  the  Synod. 

Your  Committee  learn  from  the  records  of  the  Synod  that  one  clergy- 
man and  one  layman  res]iectively  from  each  of  these  Presbyteries  were 
members  of  the  Judicial  Committee;  that  the  moderator  of  the  Synod 
was  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and  the  moderator,  pro 
tern.,  who  was  in  the  chair  at  the  time  of  the  action  complained  of,  w^.s  a 
member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore ;  that  the  case  was  not  stated  in 
any  form  to  the  Synod,  but  when  the  Judicial  Committee  reported,  in  each 
case,  that  there  was  no  ground  of  complaint,  their  report  was  adopted  un- 
der the  call  for  the  previous  question.  From  all  these  facts,  the  Commit- 
tee are  of  opinion  that  the  cases  should  be  readjudicated  by  the  Synod  of 
Baltimore,  and  so  recommend  to  the  Assembly. 

Adopted. — 1873,  p.  508. 

XIII.  If  the  nionibers  of  tlie  inferior  judicatory,  in  case  of  a  sen- 
tence appealed  from,  ai)pear  to  have  acted  according  to  the  best  of 
their  judgment,  and  witli  good  intention,  tliev  incur  no  censure,  al- 
though their  sentence  be  reversed.  Yet,  if  tliey  appear  to  have  acted 
irregularly  or  corruptly,  tliey  shall  be  censured  as  the  case  may- 
require. 


OF   APPEALS.  589 

1.  A  Case  of  Censure. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  minute  to  be  adopted  by  tlie  As- 
sembly, in  relation  to  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Kev.  Josiah  B. 
Andrews,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  affirming  a  de- 
cision of  the  Presbytery  of  Jersey,  by  which  Mi.  Andrews  was  admonished, 
reported,  and  their  report  being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.  : 

The  General  Assembly,  after  maturely  and  prayerfully  considering  the 
appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Josiah  B.  Andrews,  from  a  sentence  of 
the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  adopted  the  following  minute,  viz: 

While  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  the  Presbytery  of  Jersey  in 
originating,  conducting  and  issuing  this  prosecution,  do  not  appear  to 
have  exercised  that  cautious  regard  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution, 
in  cases  of  process,  which  are  so  efficient  in  matters  of  discipline,  and 
while  they  deem  this  applicable  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Presbytei'y  in 
relation  to  both  the  parties,  Remlved, 

First,  That  the  sentence  of  the  Presbytery  and  Synod  so  for  as  it  cen- 
sures the  Rev.  Josiah  B.  Andrews,  for  an  imprudence  of  conduct  and  a 
want  of  tenderness  toward  the  reputation  of  certain  members  of  the 
church  in  Perth  Amboy,  be  affirmed  anil  it  hereby  is  affirmed. 

Second,  That  the  sentence  of  the  Presbytery  and  Synod,  censuring  the 
Rev.  Josiah  B.  Andrews  for  "  a  very  reprehensible  degree  of  equivoca- 
tion," be  i-eversed,  and  it  hereby  is  reversed. — 1824,  p.  106. 

XIV.  If  an  appellant  is  found  to  manifest  a  litigious  or  other  un- 
christian spirit  in  the  prosecution  of  his  a})peal,  he  shall  be  censured 
accordino-  to  the  degree  of  his  offence. 

XV.  The  necessary  operation  of  an  appeal  is  to  suspend  all  fur- 
ther proceedings  on  the  ground  of  the  sentence  appealed  from.  But 
if  a  sentence  of  suspension,  or  excommunication  from  church  privi- 
leges, or  of  deposition  from  office,  be  the  sentence  appealed  froni,  it 
shall  be  considered  as  in  force  until  the  appeal  shall  be  issued. 

See  above,  sec.  x. 

1.  An  Appeal  Arrests  all  Process  until  it  be  Issued. 

It  moreover  appears,  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  year  aforesaid 
having  adopted  the  protest  of  the  members  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  as 
their  own  act,  did  declare  that  INIr.  Craighead  had  been  deposed,  whereas, 
the  decision  of  the  Synod  was  suspension  ;  and  although  the  Synod  did 
direct  the  Presbytery  to  which  ^Ir.  Craighead  belonged,  to  depose  him, 
if  he  did  not,  at  their  next  stated  meeting,  retract  his  errors  ;  yet  this  sen- 
tence could  not  have  been  constitutionally  inflicted,  because  Mr.  Craig- 
head appealed  from  the  decision  of  Synod  ;  the  effect  of  which  was  to  arrest 
all  further  proceedings  in  the  case  until  the  appeal  should  be  tried  ;  there- 
fore, the  sentence  of  the  Assemldy  declaring  ^Ir.  Craighead  deposed,  does 
not  accord  with  the  sentence  of  the  Synod,  which  was  suspension. — 1822, 
p.  52. 

See  above  under  sec.  xi.     Case  of  C.  H.  Baldwin,  1858,  page  580,  N.  S. 

2.  Suspension  is  Continued,  until  the  Issue  of  the  Appeal,  -which 

mvist  be  at  the  next  Meeting  of  the  Court  above. 
Overture  No.  12.     T.  F.  Worrell  requested  the  Assembly  to  answer  the 
following  question,  viz.,  Whether,  when  a  person  is  suspended  from  the 


590  OF   DISCIPLTXE. 

church  by  a  session,  and  restored  by  the  Presbytery,  the  notice  of  appeal 
by  the  session  continues  the  person  under  suspension  ;  and  if  so,  how  long 
can  such  suspension  be  continued  without  the  appeal  being  issued? 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  following  answer  be  returned,  viz. : 
That  the  notice  of  appeal  does  continue  the  person  under  suspension  un- 
til tlie  appeal  is  issued,  which  must  be  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  upper 
court. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1862,  p.  597,  O.  S. 

3,  An  Appeal  against  Certain  Action  does  not  Debar  the  Court 
from  Acting  upon  the  continued  disturbed  State  of  a  Church. 

The  question  of  a  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation  between  Dr. 
McPheeters  and  the  Pine  St.  Church  was  originally  brought  in  an  (jr- 
derly  manner  before  the  Presbytery,  by  petition  from  a  minority  of 
said  church,  and  a  personal  tender  of  resignation  by  the  pastor,  and  after 
all  the  constitutional  steps  were  taken  with  care  and  deliberation,  was 
decided  by  the  Presbytery,  acting  for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the 
church. 

That  which  was  called  an  appeal  and  complaint  to  Synod  from  that 
action  could  not  so  suspend  all  further  proceedings  as  to  j^revent  the 
Presbytery  from  considering  and  acting  upon  the  continued  disturbed 
state  of  that  congregation. — 1864,  p.  327,  0.  S. 

See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.,  xii. 

XVI.  It  shall  always  be  deemed  the  duty  of  the  judicatory,  whose 
judgment  is  appealed  from,  to  send  authentic  copies  of  all  their  rec- 
ords, and  of  the  M'hole  testimony  relating  to  the  matter  of  the  appeal. 
And  if  any  judicatory  shall  neglect  its  duty  in  this  respect;  especially, 
if  thereby  an  appellant,  who  has  conducted  with  regularity  on  his 
part,  is  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  having  his  aj>peal  seasonably 
issued ;  such  judicatory  shall  be  censured  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case. 

1.  Copies  taken  by  the  Appellant  not  Svifficient.— The  Records  or 
Authenticated  Copies  Required. 

3.  That  by  the  "forms  of  processes,"  etc.,  Mr.  Bourne  ought  to  be  "allowed 
copies  of  the  whole  proceedings"  in  his  case;  yet  "the  judicatory  appealed 
from"  is,  by  the  same  rules,  "to  send  authentic  copies  of  the  whole  pro- 
cess;" his  copy,  therefore,  Avhich  he  says  was  taken  by  liimself,  but  is  not 
shown  to  the  Assembly,  is  not  sufficient;  his  affiilavit  is  not  required  by 
the  course  of  proceeding  in  this  body;  and  the  three  papers  presented  by 
him  are  not  to  be  considered  as  the  commencement  of  a  cause,  or  the  entry 
of  an  appeal  in  this  judicatory.  Nevertheless,  ^h\  Bourne  shall  not  suffer 
any  inconvenience  which  the'Assembly  can  prevent  on  the  account  of  any 
failures  of  the  inferior  judicatories,  if  a  default  should  in  future  appear  on 
their  part,  the  evidence  of  such  circumstance  being  not  as  yet  nuule  clear 
to  this  Assembly.— 1816,  p.  627. 

2.  On  the  Failure  of  the  Judicatory  to  send  up  Authenticated 

Copies  of  the  Testimony,  the  Appeal  is  Sustained. 
The  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  minute  on  the  decision  of  the 
Assembly  sustaining  the  ajjpeal  of  INIr.  Pope  Bushnell  from  a  decision  of 


OF    APPEALS.  591 

the  Synod  of  New  York,  affirming  tlie  decree  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hud- 
son, by  whicli  the  said  jNIr.  Bu:>luiell  had  been  suspended  from  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Church,  made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz.: 
That  the  appellant  having  given  due  notice  that  he  did  appeal,  appeared 
regularly  before  the  Assembly;  and  that  while  the  Presbytery  and  Synod 
have  sent  up  their  records  in  the  case,  neither  has  forwarded  to  this  As- 
sembly an  authentic  copy  of  the  testimony  taken  on  the  trial.  The  As- 
sembly did  therefore  decide  that  Mr.  Bushnell's  appeal  be  and  it  hereby 
is  sustained,  so  that  lie  is  restored  to  all  his  rights  and  privileges  as  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  Christ. — 1826,  p.  167. 

3.  In  the  Absence  of  Papers  Referred  to  in  the  Records,  and  of 

Attested  Copies  of  the  Charges,  the  Case  Postponed. 

The  Judicial  Comnnttee  reported  No.  1,  the  complaint  of  James  Kussell 
against  the  Synod  of  Georgia. 

It  appears  to  the  Committee  that  Mr.  Russell  has  conducted  his  com- 
plaint in  due  form,  but  the  Synod  has  failed  to  furnish  the  documents 
needful  to  its  prosecuti(m.  The  raiimtes  of  Synod  are  present,  and  com- 
plainant has  furnished  attested  copies  of  minutes  of  Presbytery  and  of  the 
testimony  of  witnesses  exanuned.  But  we  have  still  no  attested  copy  of 
the  charges  which  had  been  the  basis  of  the  original  trial,  nor  of  sundry 
papers  referred  to  in  the  Presbytery's  records,  and  wliich  had  been  received 
as  testimony.  The  Committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption 
of  the  following  resolutions  in  the  case: 

liesolved,  1.  That  the  Synod  of  Georgia  be  directed  to  send  up  to  the 
next  Assemblv  authenticated  copies  of  all  their  records,  and  of  the  whole 
testimony  relating  to  the  matter  of  the  complaint,  together  with  their  rea- 
sons for  not  sending  up  the  papers  to  this  Assembly,  unless  the  case  shall 
be  previously  adjusted. 

Be.-io'ved,  2.  Tliat  the  papers  received  from  complainant  be  returned  to 
his  own  custody.     Adopted. — 1852,  p.  212,  O.  S. 

4.  In  the  Absence  of  Records  of  a  Presbytery,  the  Synod  Cen- 

sured and  the  Case  Postponed. 

Dr.  Jacobus,  from  the  Judicial  Committee,  reported  judicial  case  No. 
1,  ia  reference  to  the  complaint  of  Smiley  Shepherd  against  the  Syn()d  of 
Illinois.  The  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Bloomington,  neces>arily  in- 
volved in  the  case,  being  absent,  the  Committee  recommend  that  the  Synod 
be  censured  for  neglecting  to  send  uj)  the  records,  and  that  the  case  be 
deferred  for  trial  until  the  records  appear. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1861,  p.  o04,  O.  S. 

5.  "Where  the  Absence  of  Testimony  is  the  Fault  of  the  Court 
Complained  of,  the  Case  Dismissed  and  the  Decision  of  the  Lower 
Court  Confirmed. 

Dr.  Howard,  chairman  of  the  Judicial  Committee,  reported  judicial 
case  No.  4,  being  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Monfort,  D.  D.,  in  be- 
half of  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  against  the  action  of  the  Synod  of 
Cincinnati  in  a  case  in  which  the  Rev.  E.  Slack  complained  of  the  action 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati. 

It  appearing  Vrom  the  minutes  of  Presbytery  that  its  judgment  and 
action  were  correct  upon  the  facts  stated  therein,  and  there  being  no  show- 
ing of  any  other  facts  in  ihe  minute  of  Synod  whereon  to  rest  its  action, 
and  the  absence  of  the  i)a})ers  (.if  there  are  any)  being  the  fault  of  Synod, 


592  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

your  Committee,  therefore,  recommend  that  the  proceedings  be  dismissed 
and  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  stand  affirmed. 

The  report  was  accepted  and  adopted. — 1^67,  p.  331,  O.  S. 

XVII.  An  a]>peal  shall  in  no  case  be  entered,  except  by  one  of 
the  original  parties. 

1.  Original  Parties  only  may  Appeal,  but  Others  may  Complain. 

a.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  a  paper,  signed  by  Dr.  Cathcart 
and  others,  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  purporting  to  be  an 
appeal  or  complaint  relative  to  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia. 
The  Committee  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  the  subject  could  not  be  taken 
up  on  the  ground  of  an  appeal,  because  these  persons  were  not  one  of  the 
original  parties,  but  that  it  might  be  taken  up  in  the  character  of  a  com- 
plaint.— 1828,  p.  69. 

h.  Judicial  Case  No.  4  was  then  resumed — the  complaint  and  appeal  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Passaic  against  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey.  The  usual 
charge  of  the  moderator  was  made,  and  after  the  complaint  and  appeal 
had  been  read,  it  was,  on  motion  of  Judge  Scates, 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  cannot  entertain  this  case  as  one  of  appeal, 
inasmuch  as  it  has  not  been  made  by  one  of  the  original  parties. 

The  case  was  then  continued  as  a  complaint. — 18(31,  p.  344,  O.  S. 

2.  "Who  are  Original  Parties  ? — The  Appellant  and  the  Prosecutor. 

a.  [In  the  case  of  Mr.  Barnes]  Mr.  Barnes  was  heard  in  support  of  his 
appeal.  Dr.  Junkin,  the  original  prosecutor,  was  heard  in  support  of  the 
charges  until  he  finished.  The  Synod  was  heard  by  their  Committee  in 
explanation  of  the  grounds  of  their  decision. — 1836,  p.  260,  etc. 

b.  The  appeal  of  W.  J.  Frazer  against  the  Synod  of  Illinois.  The  sen- 
tence appealed  from,  the  appellant's  reasons  for  appealing  and  the  records 
of  the  inferior  courts  were  read.  Mr.  Frazer,  the  appellant,  and  Mr. 
James  Stafford,  his  prosecutor,  who  were  the  original  parties,  were  heard. — 
1840,  p.  288,  O.  S. 

e.  Appeal  and  Complaint  of  Rohert  Finley  and  Smith  Bloomfield  against 
the  Synod  of  Nexv  Jersey. 

The  parties  in  the  case  were  then  called,  and  R.  J.  Breckinridge  was 
heard  on  behalf  of  Robert  S.  Finley. 

A  question  arose  when  he  concluded,  respecting  the  original  parties, 
whether  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabethtown  or  the  Synod  of  New  Jersey 
should  be  regarded  as  the  otlier  party,  upon  which  the  moderator  decided 
that  the  action  of  the  Assembly  in  allowing  James  Hoge  and  Nathaniel 
Hewit  to  take  the  place  of  absent  members  of  the  Committee  appointed  by 
the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  did  virtually  recognize  the  Synod  as  the  i)arty 
to  be  heard  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings. — 1858,  p.  201,  O.  S. 

3.  Members    of  the  Court  trying  a  Case  are    not  Parties  in  the 

Case,  and  may  not  Appeal. 

The  Judicial  Committee  also  reported  on  judicial  business  No.  8,  viz., 
the  appeal  of  Dr.  Joshua  L.  Wilson  and  others,  against  a  decision  of 
the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Beecher,  that  they  have  ex- 
amined the  same,  and  are  of  o})inion  that  Dr.  Wilson  and  others  were  not 
a  party  in  the  case,  and  consequently  cannot  constitutionally  appeal ;  and 


OF    COMPLAINTS.  593 

recommend  that  they  have  leave  to  Avitlidraw  their  appeal.     This  report 
was  adopted — 1834,  p.  432, 

4.   In  a  Case  originating  in  Common  Fame,  the  Appellate  Court 
does  not  become  an  Original  Party  -with  Right  to  Appeal. 

a.  Also,  Judicial  Case  No.  5 :  An  a])peal  of  the  Presbytery  of  Omaha, 
against  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Iowa,  in  the  case  of  Dr.  G.  C.  Morrill. 

This  case  originated  in  the  session  of  the  Second  Church  of  Onialia,  in 
which  common  fame  was  the  accuser  against  Dr.  Gilbert  C.  Morrill. 
After  trial  and  judgment  before  the  session,  it  was  carried,  by  appeal  of 
the  accused,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Omaha,  from  whose  judgment  it  was 
again  carried,  by  appeal  of  the  accused,  to  the  Synod  of  Iowa. 

The  Synod  remanded  the  case  to  the  session  for  a  new  trial,  of  which  de- 
cision the  Presbytery  of  Omaha  seeks  a  review  by  appeal  to  this  Assembly. 

In  the  judgment  of  the  Judicial  Committee,  the  Presbytery  of  Omaha 
is  not  one  of  the  original  parties  to  this  case,  and  is,  therefore,  not  compe- 
tent to  bring  it  before  the  Assembly  by  appeal  (Book  of  Discipline,  chap, 
vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub  1  and  17).  And  they,  therefore,  recommend  that  the 
appellants  have  leave  to  withdraw  their  papers. — 1870,  p.  27. 

h.  The  original  parties  being  called  for,  the  moderator  decided  that  the 
case  having  arisen  without  an  individual  prosecutor,  there  was  but  one 
original  party  before  the  court — the  appellant — who  was  now  to  be  heard 
by  A.  G.  Hall  and  J.  Bliss,  representing  him. — 1859,  p.  543,  O.  S. 

See  above,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  viii. 

SECTION  IV. 

OF   COMPLAINTS. 

I.  Another  method  by  which  a  cause  ^vhich  lias  been  decided  by  an 
inferior  judicatory,  may  be  carried  before  a  superior,  is  by  complaint, 

[See  under  sec.  iii.,  above.  An  Appeal  can  be  taken  only  by  an  "  Orig- 
inal party,"  sub-sees.  i.  and  xvii.  It  is  from  .a  "Decision"  of  the  judi- 
catory appealed  from ;  on  any  of  the  grounds  named  in  sub-sec.  iii.  Its 
operation  is  to  "suspend  all  further  proceedings  on  the  ground  of  the 
sentence  appealed  from"  pending  the  issue  of  the  a^ipeal,  exce])t  that  sus- 
pension, excommunication  or  deposition,  remain  in  force,  sub-sec.  xv. 

A  complaint  may  be  brought  by  others  than  the  original  parties,  not 
excluding  them.  It  may  challenge  any  of  the  proceedings  of  the  in- 
ferior judicatory,  and  any  "  decision "  on  any  subject,  wliich,  "  in  the 
opinion  of  the  com])lainants,  has  been  irregularly  or  unjustly  made,"  sub- 
sec,  ii.  A  complaint  does  not  arrest  or  suspend  the  operation  of  the  sen- 
tence as  in  the  case  of  an  appeal.  As  the  complaint  is  open  to  a  wider 
range  of  parties  than  the  appeal,  so  it  is  applicable  to  a  wider  range  of 
subjects.  It  is  resorted  to  chiefly  to  obtain  the  decision  of  the  sujierior 
courts  upon  points  of  constitutional  law,  of  morals,  or  of  doctri,ne,  supposed 
to  be  involved  in  the  decisions  of  an  inferior  judicatory,  sub-sec.  iii.  The 
right  would  seem  to  be  limited  to  those  over  whom  the  courts  of  the 
church  have  jurisdiction.     See  also  under  chap,  viii.,  sec.  iv.] 

1.  Complaint  may  be  Brought  by  Others  than  the  Original  Parties. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  a  paper,  signed  by  Dr.  Cathcart  and 
others,  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Carlisle,  purporting  to  be  an  appeal 
or  complaint  relative  to  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.     The 
75 


594  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

Committee  gave  it  as  their  opinion,  that  the  subject  could  not  be  taken 
up  on  the  ground  of  an  appeal,  because  these  persons  were  not  one  of  the 
original  parties ;  but  that  it  might  be  taken  up  in  the  character  of  a  com- 
plaint. Besolved,  That  the  consideration  of  this  complaint  be  the  order  of 
the  day  for  next  Tuesday  morning. — 1823,  p.  69. 

2.  The  Distinction  bet^ween  an  Appeal  and.  a  Complaint  must  be 

Observed. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  Utica  were,  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
Committee,  approved,  with  the  exception  that,  on  page  275,  the  Synod 
recognizes  a  reference  to  them  as  an  appeal,  which  should  have  been  con- 
sidered and  acted  on  merely  as  a  complaint  agaimt,  and  not  as  an  apjpeal 
from,  the  decision  of  Presbytery  concerning  the  settlement  of  a  pastor. — 
1843,  p.  22,  N.  S. 

3.  The  same  Matter  may  be  the  Subject  both  of  Appeal  and 

Complaint. 

The  question  was  taken  on  sustaining  the  appeal  and  complaint  (of  the 
Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia). 
A  division  being  called  for,  the  question  was  first  taken  on  the  complaint 
Sustained  by  yeas  118,  nays  57.  The  question  was  then  taken  on  the 
apjieal.     Sustained,  yeas  90,  nays  81. — 1834,  p.  431. 

II.  A  complaint  is  a  representation  made  to  a  superior,  by  any 
member  or  members  of  a  minority  of  an  inferior  judicatory,  or  by 
any  other  person  or  persons,  respecting  a  decision  by  an  inferior 
judicatory,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  complainants,  has  been  irreg- 
ularly or  unjustly  made. 

1.  By  a  Member  or  Members  of  an  Inferior  Judicatory. 
Complaints  were  Entertained  and  Issued, 
a.  Of  certain  members  of  a  Presbytery  against  the  decision  of  a  Synod. 
—1823,  p.  73,  81 ;  1832,  p.  356,  etc. 

b  Of  an  individual,  in  behalf  of  a  minoritv,  aijainst  the  decision  of  a 
superior  judicatory.— 1827,  p.  204;  1831,  p.  329;  ^833,  p.  392,  etc. 

c.  Of  a  Presbytery  against  the  decision  of  a  Synod. — 1833,  p.  392,  etc. 

d.  Of  a  minority  against  a  majority  of  the  same  court. — 1831,  p.  329  ; 
1834,  p.  436,  etc. 

e.  Of  a  deposed  minister  against  a  Presbytery  for  refusing  him  a  new 
trial.— 1812,  pp.  496,  504,  etc. 

2.  By  any  other  Person  or  Persons. 

[By  this  phrase  the  Constitution  seems  to  refer  to  those  who  are  not 
members  of  the  judicatory  complained  of] 

Complaints  were  Entertained  and  h-nied. 

a.  Of  Mr.  Joseph  Wherry  relative  to  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pitts- 
burg.— 1820,  p.  738.     See  under  iii.,  below. 

b.  Of  the  Presbytery  of  Washington,  Ohio,  against  the  Presbytery  of 
West  Lexington. — 1821,  p.  21.  [These  Presbyteries  belonged  to  different 
Synods.]     See  also  1828,  p.  237. 

"  c.  Of  the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  against  the  Presbytery  of 
Luzerne.  .  .  .  Brought  before  the  Asscml)ly,  because  of  these  Presbyter- 
ies having  had  no  common  synodical  relation. — 1870,  p.  27. 


OF   COMPLAINTS.  595 

d.  A  complaint  of  the  commissioners  of  the  Fifth  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia against  a  decision  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. — 1835, 
p.  469. 

e.  Of  certain  members  of  a  church  against  a  Presbytery. — 1864,  p.  311, 
O.  S. 

/.  In  case  of  the  neglect  or  refusal  of  a  session  to  convene  the  congre- 
gation for  the  election  of  elders,  the  party  feeling  aggrieved  has  its  rem- 
edy by  application  to  Presbytery  in  the  form  of  a  complaint. — 1822,  p.  49. 
See  also  1827,  p.  215;  1840,  p.' 305,  O.  S. 

g.  It  is  the  privilege  of  the  people  (of  a  congregation)  or  any  part  of 
them  to  complain  to  the  Presbytery,  when  they  think  that  the  session, 
after  being  suitably  requested,  neglect  or  refuse  to  convene  the  congrega- , 
tion  to  elect  a  pastor. — 1814,  p.  559.     Or  to  elect  elders. — 1822,  p.  49. 

3.  Complaints  Dismissed  ;  on  what  Grounds  ? 

a.  No  Reason  Assigned. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Cook 
against  the  Presbytery  of  Kochester,  accompanied  with  a  petition.  The 
documents  in  tlie  case  sent  up  by  ^Ir.  Cook  were  read.  After  which  it 
^vas  resolved,  that  the  complaint  and  petition  be  dismissed. — 1828,  p.  232. 

h.  For  InJormalUy  or  Defect  in  Documents. 

The  subject  of  the  complaint  of  the  session  of  Indianapolis  was  taken  up, 
and  after  considerable  discussion  and  mature  deliberation,  it  was  resolved, 
that  this  business  be  dismissed  on  account  of  informality,  and  that  the 
papers  be  returned  to  the  respective  parties. — 1829,  p.  262 ;  1829,  p.  269 , 
1832,  p.  364 ;  1865,  p.  435,  O.  S. 

c.  For  want  of  evidence  of  the  complaint  itself. — 1831,  p.  339. 

d.  Not  presented  within  the  constitutional  time. — 1834,  p.  429.  See 
above,  under  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  vii. 

e.  No  Evidence  of  Notice  to  the  Court  Complained  of. 

Kecommended  that  the  complainant  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  papers 
on  the  ground  that  the  Committee  have  no  evidence  that  notice  of  such 
complaint  was  given  to  Synod. — 1834,  p.  434. 

See  above,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  v. 

/.  In  the  Absence  of  the  Appellant. 

The  complaint  of  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Davis,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Utica,  was  taken  up,  and  dismissed  on  the  ground  that  the  complainant 
has  not  appeared  to  prosecute  his  complaint,  nor  any  other  person  in  his 
behalf.— 1834,  p.  454. 

The  com})laints  of  Rev.  G.  Duffield  and  AV.  R.  Dewitt  were  dismissed 
on  the  ground  that  neither  the  complainants  themselves,  nor  any  jiersrm 
in  their  behalf,  are  present  to  prosecute  those  complaints. — 1835,  p.  490. 

[See  under  vii.,  iii.,  xi.,  above,  the  same  rule  applying  to  both.] 

g.  In  the  Absence  of  the  Records. 

The  Assembly  took  up  the  complaint  of  the  Presbytery  of  Missouri 
against  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Charles,  laid  over  by  the  last  Assembly,  and 
the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Charles  not  being  present. 

Resolved,  That  the  complaint  be  dismissed.— 1837,  p.  429. 

See  above,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  xvi. 


596  OF  DISCIPLINE. 

h.  Complainants  have  leave  to  withdraw  their  papers.  [No  reason 
assigned.] — 1837,  p.  480. 

4.  Complaint  "will  not  Lie  against  a  Judicatory  for  Obeying  the 
Orders  of  the  Superior  Court. 

Whereas,  The  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen  prosecuted  a  complaint  before 
the  Assembly  of  1845  against  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  for  refusing 
to  restore  him  to  the  exercise  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and  did  at  the  same 
time  memorialize  that  Assembly  to  decree  his  restoration ;  and  whereas, 
that  Assembly  did  take  up  and  judicially  entertain  the  said  complaint, 
and  pronounced  judgment  in  the  case  by  authorizing  and  recommending 
the  Presbytery  to  restore  the  said  Archibald  McQueen  to  the  gospel  min- 
istry, provided  that  in  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  it  was  wise  so  to  do ; 
and  whereas  the  Presbytery,  in  the  exercise  of  the  discretion  thus  confided 
to  them,  did  restore  Mr.  jNlcQueen  ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Colin  Mclver  and  others 
against  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  for  having  sustained  the  action  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  in  restoring  the  said  Archibald  McQueen, 
iu  accordance  with  the  judicial  decision  of  the  Assembly  of  1845,  cannot 
be  entertained  by  this  house,  and  is  hereby  dismissed. 

In  making  this  disposition  of  the  above-mentioned  complaint,  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly  wishes  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  they  do  not  mean 
either  to  retract  or  modify  any  judgment  hitherto  expressed  by  any  As- 
sembly respecting  the  offence  for  which  Mr.  McQueen  was  suspended  from 
the  exercise  of  the  gospel  ministry.  They  simply  declare  that  his  case 
cannot  be  regularly  brought  before  them  by  this  complaint. — 1847,  p. 
395,  O.  S. 

6.  The  complaint  is  not  sustained,  the  Presbytery  having  acted  entirely  in 
accordance  with  the  directions  of  the  Assembly  of  1867. — 1868,  p.  641, 0.  S. 

5.  Complaint  \vill  not  Lie  against  Advice  given  on  Memorial. 

The  complaint  of  members  of  the  Park  Church,  NcAvark,  New  Jersey, 
against  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  was  dismissed,  on  the 
gi'ound  that  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  was  not  a  subject-matter  of  com- 
plaint, or  removal  of  the  case  to  a  higher  judicatory,  their  proceedings 
having  been  merely  advisory  upon  the  memorial  of  the  complainants. — 
1852,  p.  166,  N.  S. 

6.  Nor  against  a  Refusal  to  Adopt  a  Proposed  Paper. 

The  Judicial  Committee  having  had  under  consideration  No.  1,  the  ap- 
peal and  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  I).  D.,  and  others, 
against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  on  the  quorum  question  ; 
and  No.  2,  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the  Rev.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  D,  D., 
and  others,  against  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  oii  the  ques- 
tion of  the  imposition  of  hands  in  ordination,  report,  that  in  their  opinion 
the  Form  of  Government  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  do 
not  authorize  the  ap])ellants  and  complainants  to  bring  before  the  General 
Assembly  either  an  api)eal  or  complaint  in  the  cases  referred  to. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1844,  p.  366,  O.  S. 

[Against  this  decision  a  protest  was  entered.  See  Baird's  Collections, 
Rev.  Ed.,  p.  145,  and  jNIinutes,  p.  380.  In  answer,  the  Assembly  reply 
inter  alia ;] 

In  replying  to  the  protest  in  question,  little  more  is  necessary  than  to 
state  distinctly  what  was  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  com- 
plained of  by  R.  J.  Breckinridge  and  others.     Two  papers  were  offered  by 


OF   CXDMPLAIXTS.  597 

Dr.  Breckinridge  for  the  adoption  of  the  Synod  ;  the  one  rehiting  to  the 
constitution  of  a  quorum  in  Presbytery,  the  other  to  the  imposition  of 
hands  by  ruling  elders  in  the  ordination  of  ministers  of  the  gospel.  In 
relation  to  each  paper,  the  question  on  which  the  Synod  voted  was  in  the 
following  words :  "Shall  this  paper  be  adopted?"  By  a  large  majority 
the  Synod  refused  to  adopt  these  papers.  The  Assembly  know  of  no  law 
in  our  Book  of  Discipline  requiring  a  Presbytery  or  a  Synod  to  adopt  any 
paper  or  papers  submitted  to  them  by  any  individual  or  any  number  of 
individuals;  and  if  there  is  no  such  law,  there  could  be  no  transgression 
of  law  or  neglect  of  duty,  and  consequently,  no  ground  of  comphunt. 

The  papers  in  question  condemn  the  interpretation  of  certain  clauses  in 
our  Constitution,  given  by  the  last  Assembly,  propose  an  opposite  inter- 
pretation, and  overture  the  General  Assembly  to  repeal  the  overtures 
adopted  by  the  last  Assembly,  and  to  adopt  interpretations  of  an  opposite 
character.     In  regard  to  these  papers,  it  is  proper  to  remark, 

1.  There  was  no  case  before  the  Synod.  No  elder  comphiined  that  he 
had  been  deprived  of  what  he  regarded  as  a  constitutional  right.  No  Pres- 
bytery was  charged  with  having  constituted  and  proceeded  to  business 
without  a  constitutional  quorum.  The  Synod,  therefore,  was  not  called 
upon  to  administer  law,  but  to  mterpret  our  Constitution — to  decide  con- 
stitutional questions  in  thesi.  How  far  it  is  expedient  to  give  expositions 
of  our  Constitution,  or  to  decide  constitutional  questions  in  thesi,  it  may  be 
difficult  to  determine;  but  certain  it  is  that  no  church  judicatory  is  bound, 
in  any  state  of  case,  to  give  such  decisions.  But  "  where  there  is  no  law, 
there  is  no  transgression,"  and,  of  course,  there  can  be  no  ground  of  com- 
plaint. The  protestants  allege  that  the  Synod  did  act,  and  that  their 
action  was  complained  of  The  answer  is,  that  the  only  action  of  the 
Synod  in  the  case  was  a  refusal  to  adopt  certain  papers  offered  by  a  mem- 
ber of  that  bod3^  To  this  action,  if  it  be  proper  to  call  it  so,  the  Synod 
was  forced  by  the  member  who  ofiered  the  papers.  They  were  oblige«l 
either  to  adopt  them  or  to  refuse  them.  They  deemed  it  wise,  as  they  ha..l 
the  perfect  right,  to  do  the  latter. 

2.  Again:  these  papers,  if  adopted,  required  the  Synod  to  send  to  this 
Assembly  an  overture  or  request  to  give  an  interpretation  of  our  CV)nstitu- 
tion  contrary  to  that  given  by  the  last  Assembly.  But,  although  it  is  the 
right  of  sessions.  Presbyteries  or  Synods  to  overture  the  Assembly  when- 
ever they  may  deem  it  wise  to  do  so,  there  is  in  our  liook  no  law  re(i\iir- 
ing  them  or  any  one  of  them  to  do  so  in  any  case.  In  declining  to  sen. I 
up  an  overture,  therefore,  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  violated  no  law,  com- 
mitted no  transgression  against  ecclesiastical  law,  and  consequently  a  com- 
plaint against  that  body  cannot  lie.  The  very  idea  of  forcing  either  indi- 
viduals or  bodies  to  overture  or  petition  is  absurd. 

But  the  protestants  strangely  contend  that  "every  inferior  court  is  re- 
sponsible to  the  courts  above  it  for  the  proper  exercise  of  its  discre- 
tion, and  therefore  they  may  be  complained  of  as  regards  its  exercise." 
Where  there  is  re.-<po)isibUitij  there  can  be  no  discretion.  To  maintain  the 
contrary,  is  to  contend  that  an  individual  or  a  body  may  use  their  discre- 
tion, provided  they  use  it  in  a  certain  way— that  they  may  do  as  they 
please,  provided  they  are  plea-sed  to  act  in  a  pnrticular  manner.  Tiie  truth 
is,  that  where  ecclesiastical  rights  of  individuals  or  bodies  are  concerned, 
there  is  no  discretion.  All  such  rights  are  guarded  by  our  Constitution,  iiy 
which  every  church  court  is  bound'^  The  admission  of  the  protestants  that 
the  Synod  had  the  ri^ht  to  exercise  its  own  discretion  in  the  matter  com- 
plained of  is,  in  effect^  an  admission  that  the  complaint  is  not  legitimate, 
and  ought  not  to  have  been  entertained  by  this  body. 


598  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

Still  more  strangely,  if  possible,  the  protestaots  allege  that  "if  the  Synod 
be  not  obliged  to  act  except  in  cases  in  which  it  is  compelled  by  positive 
law,  then  Synods  could  not  be  complained  of  for  even  the  grossest  viola- 
tions of  duty,  such  as  refusing  to  receive  and  issue  appeals  brought  regu- 
larly before  them,  or  refusing  to  redress  what  has  been  done  by  Presbyteries 
contrary  to  order."  Do  they,  then,  maintain  that  it  is  merely  discreiionary 
with  Presbyteries  and  Synods  whether  they  will  receive  and  issue  appeals, 
etc.,  regularly  brought  before  them,  as  they  admit  it  was  with  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  whether  they  would  condemn  the  doings  of  the  last  As- 
sembly and  overture  this  Assembly  to  do  the  same?  But  they  say  "there 
is  no  positive  command  or  law  requiring  Synods  to  exercise  any  of  theix' 
specified  powers."  To  prove  that  this  statement  is  wholly  incorrect,  it  is 
necessary  only  to  refer  to  chap,  vii.,  sees,  i.,  iii.  and  iv.,  of  our  Book  of 
Discipline.  Section  i.  treats  of  the  duties  of  church  judicatories  in  relation 
to  review  and  control ;  sections  iii.  and  iv.  treat  of  the  right  to  appeal  and 
complain  in  certain  cases,  etc.  AYhere  there  are  duties,  there  can  be  no 
discretion,  and  where  there  is  a  right  to  appeal  and  complain,  there  is 
positive  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  judicatory  to  receive  and  issue  such 
appeals  and  complaints.  But  where,  in  our  Constitution,  is  it  said  to  be  the 
duty  of  any  church  judicatory  either  to  adopt  papers  that  may  be  oftered, 
to  decide  constitutional  questions  in  thesi,  or  to  overture  a  higher  court? 
Or  where  is  the  right  given  to  individuals  in  any  case  to  have  their  inter- 
pretations of  our  Constitution  adopted  ?  There  are  no  such  duties  on  the 
one  hand  or  rights  on  the  other,  and  consequently,  no  right  of  appeal  or 
complaint. 

3.  An  additional  objection  to  the  appeals  and  complaints  is  that,  were 
they  entertained,  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  would,  in  the  final  vote,  be 
excluded  from  voting.  This,  in  the  administration  of  law,  where  the  in- 
ferior court  has  decided  the  case,  and  the  appeal  or  complaint  is  against 
their  decision,  would  be  perfectly  proper.  But  in  the  mere  interpretation 
of  our  Constitution,  in  regard  to  which  all  have  a  common  interest,  and, 
therefore,  common  rights,  such  a  coui-se  would  be  unconstitutional  and 
grossly  unjust.  The  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  if  the  complaints  had  been 
entertained,  would  have  been  excluded,  as  having  decided  the  questions 
involved.  But  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  has  also  given  its  decisions  of  the 
same  questions.  Why,  then,  should  the  one  vote  and  the  other  be  ex- 
cluded? Nay,  it  is  believed,  that  a  large  majority  of  the  members  of  this 
Assembly  have,  in  one  form  or  another,  decided  upon  them.  Wliy,  then, 
permit  them  to  vote,  and  exclude  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia?  What  in- 
terest has  this  Synod  more  than  other  Synods  or  Presbyteries,  in  giving  a 
wrong  exposition  of  our  Book  ?  When  we  interpret  our  Constitution,  the 
voice  of  the  whole  Church  should  be  heard. 

But  the  protestants  say,  this  is  an  argument  against  our  Constitution. 
In  this,  however,  they  are  mistaken.  It  is  only  an  argument  against  their 
incorrect  intei-pretation  of  it.  It  gives  no  right  to  appeal  or  comi)laiu 
against  a  judicatory  for  declining  to  decide  a  constitutional  question  in 
thesi,  or  to  overture  the  higher  court. 

4.  That  the  complaint  is  illegitimate,  is  further  evident  from  the  conse- 
quences which  would  folhnv  the  adoption  of  the  principle  involved  in  it. 
If  our  Church  courts  are  bound,  in  any  case,  to  decide  constitutional  ques- 
tions in  thesi,  and  to  overture  the  higher  court,  it  follows : 

1st.  That  any  member  of  a  Sessiem,  Presbytery  or  Synod  can,  at  any 
time,  force  the  Assembly  to  discuss  and  decide,  in  thesi,  any  constitutional 
question  he  may  choose  to  raise,  or  any  number  of  them.     He  has  only  to 


OF   COMPLAINTS.  599 

ofler  his  interpretation  to  the  lower  court,  and  come  up  with  his  complaint, 
which  must  be  regularly  issued. 

2d.  The  Assembly  can  be  forced  to  discuss  and  decide  the  same  ques- 
tion repeatedly  at  the  same  session.  The  minority  of  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky might  have  complained  of  its  action  on  the  same  points;  and, 
according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  protestants,  the  Assembly  must  have 
regularly  tried  both  complaints,  regularly  hearing  the  parties  from  both 
Synods  discuss  the  same  points,  not  in  relation  to  the  admlidatmtlon  of 
law,  where  both  parties  claim  to  have  been  aggrieved,  but  in  relation  to 
the  interpretation  of  law. 

3d.  The  Assembly  could  be  forced  to  decide  great  constitutional  ques- 
tions by  only  a  part  of  the  delegates  from  the  Presbyteries,  thus  excluding 
a  large  number  of  Presbyteries  from  a  vote  on  the  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution  by  which  they  are  to  be  governed. 

4th.  The  Assembly,  by  the  exclusion  of  different  Synods,  in  deciding 
the  different  complaints,  might  be  placed  in  the  humiliating  attitude  of 
giving  contradictory  expositions  of  the  Constitution  at  the  same  sessions. 

Who  will  pretend  that  our  Constitution  is  so  defective,  so  strangely  in- 
consistent, as  to  expose  our  Church  courts  to  difficulties  and  absurdities 
such  as  those  just  mentioned? 

In  answer  to  the  third  reason  assigned  by  the  protestants  it  is  sufficient 
to  state,  that  it  has  not  been,  and  we  believe  it  cannot  be  proved,  that  any 
General  Assembly  of  our  Church  ever  entertained  a  complaint  such  as 
the  one  in  question — a  complaint  against  a  Church  judicatory  for  refusing 
to  decide  a  constitutional  question  in.  thcsi,  or  to  overture  a  higher  judica- 
tory. The  complaint  under  consideration  is,  so  far  as  this  Assembly  is 
informed,  strictly  sui  generis. 

Finally,  our  Constitution  prescribes  the  mode  in  which  constitutional 
questions  may  be  brought  before  the  General  Assembly.  The  projjcr 
course  was  pursued  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati  in  regard  to  the  nuit- 
ters  embraced  in  Dr.  Breckinridge's  papers ;  and  they  were  brought  be- 
fore this  body  untrammeled  by  judicial  proceedings,  and  the  voice  of  the 
representatives  of  the  Church  decided  on  the  true  meaning  of  the  clauses 
in  our  Constitution  concerning  which  there  has  been  a  difference  of 
opinion. 

In  reply  to  the  complaint  of  the  protestants,  that  the  Assembly  refused 
EO  hear  the  complainants  on  the  right  of  jurisdiction,  it  is  sufficient  to  say: 
1st.  That  it  cannot  be  shown  that  our  Book  gives  such  rights.  2d.  The 
adoption  of  the  principle  involved  in  such  a  claim  would  be  followed  by 
most  of  the  difficulties  already  enumerated  as  consequent  upon  entertaining 
the  complaint.  The  Assembly  must  from  year  to  year,  agree  to  hear  every 
member  of  a  Session,  Presbytery  or  Synod,  who  may  choose  to  try  to 
convince  them  that  they  have  jurisdiction  over  all  kinds  of  subjects.  3d. 
There  was  properly  no  question  as  to  right  of  jurisdiction.  The  matter 
of  complaint  against  the  Synod,  belongs  not  to  the  department  of  disci- 
pline. 

In  reply  to  the  complaint  of  the  protestants  that  the  Assembly  did  not 
sit  as  a  court,  and  that  the  members  were  not  charged  by  the  moderator ; 
it  is  sufficient  to  state,  that  as  the  Assembly  could  not  sit  in  a  judicial 
capacity,  until  the  complaint  was  decided  to  be  orderly  and  legitimate, 
the  objection  is  wholly  without  force. 

The  protestants  think  the  course  pursued  by  the  Assembly  calculated 
to  foster  all  kinds  of  diversity  in  practice  and  opinion.  They  seem  not  to 
see,  that  the  course  pursued  by  the  complainants  and  by  themselves,  iu 
relation  to  the  decisions  of  the  highest  court  of  our  Church,  to  which  it 


600  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

properly  belongs  to  expound  the  Constitution  and  settle  all  controversies, 
is  directly  calculated  to  jjroduce  the  very  result  they  seem  to  deprecate. — 
1844,  p.  383,  O.  S. 

[See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  v.,  iv.,  1827,  p.  204,  where  a 
complaint  against  a  refusal  to  adopt  a  resolution  was  entertained.] 

7.  Nor  against  an  Opinion  Expressed  by  the  Superior  Covirt. 

Judicial  Case  No.  1,  being  a  complaint  of  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairs- 
ville  against  the  Synod  of  Wheeling,  for  taking  exception  to  their  min- 
utes on  the  ground  "  that  their  entire  action  in  the  case  of  the  church  of 
Kirkwood  was  unwise  and  inexpedient." 

The  Committee  recommend  that  this  complaint  be  dismissed,  on  the* 
ground  that  in  the  action  complained  of  the  Synod  passed  no  judgment  in 
the  case,  but  only  expressed  an  opinion,  and  that  there  is  therefore  no 
constitutional  ground  for  complaint.     [See  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii., 
sec.  iv.,  sub-sec.  ii.]     The  report  was  adopted. — 1864,  p.  312,  O.  S. 

8.  Nor  against  a  Judicatory  for  its  Discretion  in  Dismissing  a 

Complaint. 

Case  No.  4,  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  W.  P.  Carson  against  Synod  of 
Iowa,  for  dismissing  his  complaint  against  the  Presbytery  of  Dubuque. 
The  Presbytery,  upon  application  both  of  the  pastor  and  the  congregation, 
dissolved  the  pastoral  relation,  and  Mr.  Carson  complained  to  Synod,  on 
the  ground  that  the  session  and  trustees  united  in  calling  the  meeting  of  the 
congregation,  without  the  presence  or  co-operation  of  the  pastor,  at  which 
action  was  taken  asking  for  the  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation.  The 
Committee  recommend  that  the  complaint  be  dismissed,  there  being  uo 
sufficient  ground  of  complaint. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1868,  p.  612,  0.  S. 

9.  Nor  in  a  Case  already  Adjudicated  by  the  Superior  Court. 

Dr.  Lacy,  from  the  Judicial  Committee,  reported  Case  No.  1,  the  com- 
plaint of  James  Russell  against  the  Presbytery  of  Flint  River  and  the 
Synod  of  Georgia. 

'  The  Committee  rei)ort,  that  the  case  has  already  been  adjudicated  by 
the  General  Assembly,  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  sessions  of  1853,  and  can- 
not properly  come  again  before  this  body ;  and  therefore  recommend 
that  the  case  be  dismissed,  and  the  papers  be  returned  to  Mr.  Russell. 
Adopted.— 1855,  p.  271,  O.  S. 

10.  Nor  from  the  Decision  of  a  Commission  not  yet  Confirmed. 

The  Judicial  Committee,  through  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  reported, 

Case  No.  1,  the  api)eal  of  the  church  of  ]Mifflinburg  against  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia,  for  its  action  in  the  matter  of  the  appeal  and  complaint 
of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Grier. 

The  Conuiiittee  reports  that  this  complaint  must  be  dismissed,  because 
no  complaint  will  lie  from  the  decision  of  a  conunission  of  Synod  until 
that  decision  has  ))een  reported  to  Synod  and  approved  tiiereby.  The 
Committee,  therefore,  recommends  that  the  Assembly  direct  the  commis- 
sion in  this  case  to  report  its  decision  to  the  Synod  fur  its  action.  The 
report  was  adopted. — 1809,  p.  1)02,  O.  S. 

[See  also  1862,  p.  608,  0.  S.] 


OF  COMPLAINTS.  601 

11.  Noi'  against  a  Decision  of  a  Moderator  Unappealed  from  at 

the  Time. 

Case  No.  7,  complaint  of  the  session  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
St.  Charles,  Mo. 

Case  No.  8,  being  a  complaint  of  Rev.  Robert  P.  Farris,  against  the 
Synod  of  Missouri. 

These  two  cases  are  substantially  identical,  and  may  be  regarded  as  one. 
The  Committee  find  that  in  the  matter  complained  of  there  ^vas  no  action 
of  the  Synod  as  such,  but  only  a  decision  of  the  moderator  affecting  the 
complainants,  from  which  they  made  no  appeal  to  the  body  of  the  Synod, 
and  consequently  they  have  no  just  ground  of  complaint.  They,  there- 
fore, recommend  that  it  be  dismissed,  and  that  the  complainants  have 
leave  to  withdi-avv  their  papers.  The  report  was  adopted. — 18G5,  p.  543, 
O.  S. 

12.  Complainant  has  Leave  to  Withdraw  for  Reasons  Stated. 

a.  Judicial  Case  No.  5,  being  the  complaint  of  Alexander  Guy,  M.  D., 

against  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati. 

The  corajjlainant.  Dr.  Guy,  having  reason  to  believe  that  the  language 
employed  by  the  Synod,  in  determining  the  case,  was  inadvertently  used, 
is  on  this  account  willing  to  witlidraw  his  complaint.  The  Committee 
recommend  that  leave  be  granted,  and  that  Dr.  Guy  be  allowed  to  with- 
draw his  papers. 

The  report  was  accepted  and  adopted. — 1867,  p.  331,  O.  S. 

b.  Judicial  Case  No.  6,  being  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  S.  J,  Niccolls 
and  others,  against  the  action  of  the  Sy..od  of  Missouri,  passed  at  its  ses- 
sions in  October,  18(35,  whereby  it  declared  the  previous  meeting  of  its 
own  body,  "  not  a  free  court  of  Christ,  and  its  entire  acts  null,  void  and 
of  no  binding  force." 

This  complaint  was  found  in  order,  and  referred  from  the  last  General 
Assembly  to  this ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  Synod  has  reconsidered  and  re- 
versed the  action  complained  of,  and  rei)orted  the  same  to  this  General 
Assembly,  in  accordance  with  the  requirement  of  the  last  Assembly, 
passed  with  reference  to  the  Synod  of  Missouri,  the  complainants  request 
leave  to  withdraw  their  complaint. 

Your  Committee  recommend  that  their  request  be  granted,  and  the  case 
dismissed. 

The  report  was  accepted  and  adopted. — 1867,  p.  331,  0.  S. 

c.  Judicial  Case  No.  1,  being  the  ap))eal  and  ci)nii)laint  of  D.  W.  Irvine 
and  others  against  tlie  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle.  The  Com- 
mittee having  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  ground  of  the  appeal  and 
complaint  in  this  case  has  been  removed  by  the  subsequent  action  of  the 
Presbytery  complained  of,  recommend  that  the  ai)peal  and  coinphunt  be 
dismissed  without  prejudice.     The  report  was  a(h)pted. — 18(57,  p.  327,  O.  S. 

d.  Judicial  Case  No.  1.  A  complaint  of  certain  members  of  the  ses- 
sion of  the  church  of  Eaton,  Ohio,  against  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati. 

The  Committee  recommend,  that  the  complainants  have  leave  to  with- 
draw their  complaints  without  prejudice,  and  that  they  be  advised  to  pre- 
sent the  same  to  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati. — 1871,  p.  547. 

13.  Complaint  Dismissed  -when  Laid  against  the  Refusal  to  Read 
the  Printed  Minutes. 

Fourth.  Case  of  Rev.  J.  W.  Martin  vs.  the  Synod  of  Cleveland. 
Mr.  Martin  complains  of  a  suggestion  of  the  moderator,  sustained  by 
76 


602  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

vote  of  the  Synod,  that  the  minutes  of  the  previous  session  need  not  be 
read,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sessions  in  October,  1872,  because  they  had 
been  printed  and  were  in  the  hands  of  the  members ;  also  that  the  mode- 
rator refused  to  hear  him  speak  against  this  action,  and  requests  the  As- 
sembly to  express  a  judgment  respecting  the  authority  of  moderators  and 
church  courts,  under  our  Book.  The  Committee  find  that  the  minutes  of 
the  ])revious  session  had  been  read  and  ap])r()ved  by  the  Synod  at  the  close 
of  that  session,  and  therefore  would  have  been  read  only  for  information, 
which  was  already  in  possession  of  the  members  in  the  i)riuted  copies;  that 
they  have  no  proof  that  the  complainant  was  unjustly  treated  by  the 
moderator,  beyond  what  often  occurs  in  such  cases ;  and  that  our  Book 
of  Discipline  very  definitely  states  the  authority  and  province  of  mode- 
rators. Therefore,  we  do  not  deem  the  case  of  sufficient  importance  to 
require  the  action  of  the  Assembly.     Adopted. — 1873,  ]).  509. 

III.  The  cases,  in  which  complaint  is  proper  and  advisable,  are 
such  as  the  following,  viz.:  The  judgment  of  an  inferior  judicatory 
may  be  favorable  to  the  only  party  who  has  been  placed  at  their  bar; 
or  the  judgment  in  question  may  do  no  wrong  to  any  individual ;  or 
the  party  who  is  aggrieved  by  it  may  decline  the  trouble  of  conducting 
an  appeal.  In  any  of  these  cases  no  appeal  is  to  be  expected.  And 
yet  the  judgment  may  ajipear  to  some  of  the  members  of  the  judica- 
tory, to  be  contrary  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  injurious  to 
the  interests  of  religion,  and  calculated  to  degrade  the  character  of 
those  who  have  pronounced  it.  In  this  case,  the  minority  have  not 
only  a  right  to  record,  in  the  minutes  of  the  judicatory,  their  dissent 
from  this  judgment,  or  their  protest  against  it,  but  they  have  also  a 
right  to  complain  to  the  superior  judicatory. 

1.  Subject  Matter  of  Complaints  Entertained. 

a.  Relative  to  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  reversing  a  decision 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  which  had  restored  Mr.  "Wherry  to  church 
privileges.— 1820,  p.  738. 

The  complaint  was  sustained. 

b.  In  the  case  of  the  complaint  of  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Car- 
lisle against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  it  was — 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  complaint  ought  to  be  considered  by  the  Assem- 
bly, only  so  far  as  it  regards  the  reguhirHij  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Synod 
in  reversing  the  judgment  of  Presbytery  in  the  case. — 1823,  p.  74. 

c.  Complaint  of  the  Presbytery  of  Washington,  Ohio,  against  the  Pres- 
bytery of  West  Lexington,  for  licensing  and  ordaining  the  Rev.  William 
L.  M'Calla,  contrary,  in  the  opinion  of  the  complainants,  to  Presbytcrial 
order.  Mr.  M'Calla  having  been  suspended  from  church  privileges  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Washington,  in  consctpience  of  a  reference  on  the  subject 
from  the  session  of  the  church  of  Chillicothe. — 1821,  p.  21. 

[See  for  decision,  Form  of  Government,  xiv.,  i.,  ii.] 

d.  Complaint  of  Ashbel  Green  and  others,  by  which  complaint  the  fol- 
lowing question  is  presented  for  the  decision  of  the  Assend)ly,  viz.: 

Is  it  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  this  Church  for  the  same  indi- 
vidual to  hold  the  office  of  ruling  elder  in  two  different  churches  at  the 
same  time? 


OF    COMPLAIXTS.  603 

The  complainants  were  hoard  in  support  of  their  complaint ;  the  Synod 
was  heard  in  defence  of  their  decision;  and  tlie  complainants  concluded 
with  a  reply: 

When  it  Avas  resolved  by  the  Assembly,  that  the  decision  of  the  Synod 
be  aflirraed,  and  the  complaint  dismissed' — 1827,  j).  204. 

e.  The  Judicial  Committee  also  reported  a  complaint  by  Mr.  David 
M'Clure,  against  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  in  relation  to  the  mode 
in  which  certain  ruling  elders  had  lately  been  elected  in  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Philadelphia. — -1827,  p.  211. 

Decision  of  Presbytery  atiirmed,  p.  215. 

/.  Complaints  from  the  Presbyteries  of  Fi'cnch  Broad  and  Union  against 
the  Board  of  Missions,  for  declining  to  appoint  two  missionaries. — 1835, 
p.  289. 

[For  decision,  see  under  Form  of  Government,  x.,  viii.] 

g.  Complaint  of  the  minority  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  against 
a  reference  by  said  Presbyterv  of  the  case  of  Rev.  Albert  Barnes. — 1831, 
p.  319. 

The  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  relative  to  the  installa- 
tion of  Mr.  Duffield,  see  vii.,  iii.,  x. — 1835,  p.  490. 

h.  The  complaint  of  Mr.  Gilbert  and  ^Ir.  Pickands  in  behalf  of  them- 
selves and  other  members  of  the  late  Presbytery  of  "Wilmington  against 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  for  dissolving  them. — 1836,  p.  279. 

Sustained. 

i.  Complaint  of  Re\\  Thompson  Bird  against  the  Synod  of  Iowa  for 
reversing  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Des  Moines,  deposing  a  minis- 
ter for  adultery  in  marrying  a  divorced  woman. — 1858,  p.  599.  Is.  S. 

[See  Directory.] 

j.  No.  1,  reported  by  the  Judicial  Committee,  viz.:  "A  complaint  of 
certain  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  against  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  for  refusing  to  divide  said  Presbytery,"  was  taken  up. — 1832, 
p.  356. 

The  complaint  was  sustained  "without  casting  censure  on  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia.— 1832,  p.  360. 

[See  also  1833,  p.  396.] 

h.  Judicial  Case  Xo.  1 — the  complaint  of  John  Turbitt  against  the 
Synod  of  Illinois,  for  refusing  to  take  up  and  consider,  at  their  meeting  in 
October,  1859,  his  appeal  from,  and  complaint  against,  the  Presbytery  of 
Peoria ;  and  would  recommend  to  the  Assembly  to  dispose  of  the  case  by 
adopting  the  following  minute: 

It  is  earnestly  recommended  by  this  Assembly  to  the  Synod  of  Illinois, 
to  reconsider  their  judgment  in  the  case  of  Mr.  John  Turbitt,  declared  at 
their  late  meeting,  October,  1859;  and  without  regarding  the  circumstance 
of  his  having  originally  passed  over  the  Synod  and  appealed  directly  to 
the  Assembly,  nor  the  circumstance  of  so  much  time  having  elapsed  since 
the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  against  him,  to  take  up  his  case,  and  either 
try  it  as  an  appeal  against  the  Presbytery  upon  the  old  evidence,  or  else 
remand  it  to  the  Presl)ytery  for  their  hearing  of  the  new  testimony. — 1800, 
p.  46,  O.  S. 

I.  Judicial  Case  Ko.  1  was  taken  from  the  docket,  and  the  report  of  the 
Judicial  Committee  was  read  as  follows: 

The  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Alex.  M.  Cowan,  against  the  action  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Sydney,  for  refusing  to  enrol  his  name,  on  the  ground  that 
he  acknowledged  himself  to  be  a  signer  of  the  "  Declaration  and  Testi- 
mony," and  refused  to  sign  the  declaration  prescribed  by  the  Assembly  of 
1867  in  such  cases. 


604  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

The  Committee  finds  the  case  to  be  in  order,  and  recommends  that  it  be 
tri'ed  according  to  the  order  prescribed  in  the  Book  of  Discipline. — 1868, 
p.  639,  O.  S. 

[The  tbUowing  minute  in  the  case  was  adopted :] 

The  General  Assembly  having  heard  the  complaint  of  !Mr.  Cowan,  it  is 
resolved  that  it  be  not  sustained,  the  Presbytery  having  acted  entirely  in 
accordance  with  the  directions  of  the  Assembly  of  1867. 

But  inasmuch  as  the  emergency  that  called  for  the  action  of  that  and  of 
the  previous  Assembly  has  passed;  and  inasmuch  as  many  throughout  the 
Church,  and  entirely  loyal  to  it,  have  scruples  in  respect  to  the  constitu- 
tionality and  expediency  of  the  orders  of  1866 ;  and  inasmuch  as  Mr.  Cowan 
declares,  that  in  signing  the  Declaration  and  Testimony  he  had  no  inten- 
tion to  rebel  against,  or  to  show  any  disrespect  to,  the  Church,  but  merely 
to  protest  against  what  he  regarded  as  an  unconstitutional  act ;  and  inas- 
much as  he  desires  to  adhere  to  the  General  Assembly  and  to  be  subject 
to  its  authority  ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  his  case  be  referred  to  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  be- 
longed, with  instructions  to  deal  tenderly  with  his  scruples,  and  if  in  the 
judgment  of  said  Presbytery  he  can  be  restored  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  the  action  of  1867,  that  Presbytery  have  authority  to  restore  him 
without  further  acknowledgment  than  that  stated  above  in  the  hearing  of 
this  body.— 1869,  p.  641,  6.  S. 

For  other  causes  of  complaint  see  below. 

2.  Complainants  Satisfied  by  Conference  and  Leave  to  Withdraw. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  the  complaint  of  the  Second  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  and  abo  the  com- 
plaint of  Messrs.  Robert  Cathcart,  George  Duflield  and  E.  W.  Gilbert 
against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  as  in  order,  and  reported  also  an  order 
to  be  pursued  in  prosecuting  these  comjjlaints. 

Resolved,  That  these  complaints  be  referred  to  a  select  Committee,  to 
endeavor  to  efiect  a  compromise,  if  practicable,  between  the  parties  con- 
cerned. 

Dr.  Spring,  Dr.  Hoge,  Mr.  Ludlow,  Mr.  Jessup  and  Mr.  Wilkinson  were 
appointed  this  Committee. 

The  Assembly  united  in  prayer  for  the  divine  direction  and  blessing 
upon  this  Committee  and  the  parties  concerned  in  these  complaints. 

The  Judicial  Conniiittee  re])orted  on  the  petition  and  remonstrance  of 
the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  against  the  last  General  Assembly's  proceed- 
ings in  relation  to  the  Second  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia.  This  paper 
was  referred  to  the  same  Committee  of  compromise. 

The  Judicial  Committee  further  reported  the  complaint  and  petition  of 
E.  W.  Gilbert  in  behalf  of  himself  and  the  Hanover  Street  Church  of 
"Wilmington,  Delaware,  against  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  as  in  order, 
and  reported  an  order  of  proceeding  to  be  followed  in  case  the  comjilaint 
is  taken  up.  This  complaint  also  was  referred  to  the  same  Committee  of 
compromise. 

The  Judicial  Committee  further  reported  on  a  paper  purporting  to  be  a 
complaint  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  remonstrating  against  the  division 
of  Presbyteries  on  the  princij)le  of  elective  afiinity.  This  paper  was  also 
coniniitted  to  the  same  Committee  of  compromise. — 1833,  p.  396. 

The  Committee  subsequently  reported  that  after  an  interview  with  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbytery  and  of  the  Synod,  as  a  result  of  a  free  conference 
with  both  parties,  they  were  enabled  to  recommend  to  tlie  Assembly  the 
following : 


OF    COMPLAINTS.  605 

Resolved,  That  the  complainants  in  all  these  cases  have  leave  to  with- 
draw their  complaints,  and  that  the  consideration  of  all  the  other  papers 
relating  to  the  Second  Presbytery  of  rhiladel|)hia  be  indefinitely  post- 
poned.—1833,  p.  399. 

IV.  Notice  of  a  complaint  shall  always  be  given  before  the  rising 
of  the  judicatory,  or  within  ten  days  thereafter,  as  in  case  of  an 
appeal. 

1.  Reasons  as  well  as  Notice  must  be  Given. 

Overture  No.  3,  from  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati,  as  follows :  "  Docs  the 
language  of  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iv.,  imply  that  when 
notice  of  complaint  is  given  to  a  judicatory  of  the  Church,  reasons  for  such 
complaint  must  be  given,  os  in  the  case  of  appeal  ?" 

A  majority  of  the  Committee  recommend  tliat  the  question  propounded 
in  the  overture  be  answered  in  the  aftirmative.  The  minority  are  of  the 
opinion  that  it  should  be  answered  in  the  negative. 

It  was  moved  that  the  Assend)ly  sustain  the  answer  of  the  majority  in 
the  affirmative.     Adopted. — 1855,  p.  271,  0.  S. 

2.  Evidence  must  be  Furnished  that  Notice  was  given. 

a.  Dismissed  for  want  of  evidence  that  notice  of  the  complaint  was 
given  to  the  superior  judicatory. — 1834,  p.  434;  1863,  p.  23,  O.  S. ;  1865, 
p.  16,  N.  S. 

b.  Leave  given  to  show  that  notice  has  been  given  as  required  (1834,  p. 
454)  and  the  complaint  entertained. — 1836,  p.  274. 

[Where  a  mistake  had  been  made,  see  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  v.] 

3.  Right  to  Complain  waived  by  Failure  to  Observe  the  Rules. 

a.  The  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee  No.  3,  viz.,  the  complaint  of 
Messrs.  Tate,  JMcIver  and  others,  against  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville, 
in  the  case  aforesaid,  was  taken  up  and  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

A  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Ilobert  Tate,  Colin  Mclver  and  others,  was  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  Committee,  in  which  they  complain  of  a  decision  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  by  whicli  they  refused  to  reconsider  certain 
decisions  made  at  a  former  meeting  of  the  Presl)ytery  touching  the  case 
of  the  llev.  Archibald  iSIcQueen.  The  Committee  are  unanimously  of 
the  opinion  that  the  General  Assembly  cannot  entertain  this  com])laint, 
inasmuch  as  the  complainants  did  not  avail  themselves  of  their  right  to 
complain  of  the  aforesaid  decisions  within  the  time  and  in  the  manner 
specified  in  our  Book  of  Discipline.  The  Committee  believe  that  it  was 
never  intended  that  those  who  thus  waived  their  right  should  have  the 
right,  at  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  judicatory,  on  a  mere  motion  to  re- 
consider, to  bring  the  whole  previous  action  by  complaint  before  the  hiirher 
judicatory.— 1846,  p.  202,  O.  S. 

'b.  On  motion  of  George  Howe,  the  unfinished  business  on  judicial  case 
No.  1  was  resumed,  and  the  report  of  the  Judicial  Committee  was  adopted, 
and  is  as  follows  : 

Judicial  Case  No.  1.  The  complaint  of  the  Rev.  James  P.  Fisher  against 
the  action  of  the  Synod  of  Albany,  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  George  H. 
Thatcher.  It  appears  that  the  Presbytery  of  Albany  allowed  Mr.  Thatcher 
to  demit  the  office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  of  which  action  complaint  was 
made  by  Mr.  Fisher  to  the  Synod  in  185i3.  This  complaint  was  sustained, 
but  no  copy  of  it  appears  on  record,  nor  are  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery, 
out  of  which  the  complaint  grew,  before  us.     The  Synod,  in  sustaining  the 


606  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

complaint,  did  not  make  any  order  to  the  Presbytery  as  to  Avliat  disposi- 
tion they  should  make  of  Mr.  Thatcher;  but  no  protest  \Yas  entered  against 
this  action,  nor  was  any  complaint  taken  to  this  body  at  that  time.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Synod  in  1857,  a  memorial  was  presented  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Albany,  asking  Synod  to  define  their  action  in  the  case, 
Avhich  memorial  was  laid  on  the  table.  The  complaint  now  before  us  pur- 
ports to  lie  against  this  latter  action,  but  it  is  entitled  a  complaint  "of 
the  action  of  tlie  Synod  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  George  H.  Thatcher,"  and 
undoubtedly  all  the  reasons  of  complaint  are  aimed  against  that  action. 
The  Judicial  Committee  recommend  that  the  case  be  dismissed  for  the 
following  reasons,  viz.: 

1.  The  complainant  having  failed  at  the  proper  time  to  make  his  com-, 
plaint  of  the  action  of  the  Synod  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Thatcher,  has  therel)y 
forfeited  his  right  to  complain. 

2.  Were  the  Assembly  to  allow  a  judicial  case,  wdien  once  adjudicated, 
to  be  revived  on  a  simple  memorial,  it  would  give  rise  to  endless  litigation, 
insomuch  that  no  judicial  case  could  ever  be  known  to  be  finally  settled. 

3.  Even  if  the  Assembly  were  disposed  to  entertain  the  complaint,  no 
intelligent  or  just  decision  could  be  had  in  the  case,  in  the  absence  of  the 
complaint  which  the  Synod  sustained,  and  of  the  records  of  the  Presbytery 
in  the  original  case. — 1858,  p.  297,  O.  S. 

V.  This  complaint  brings  the  whole  proceedings  in  the  case  under 
the  review  of  the  superior  judicatory;  and,  if  the  complaint  appears 
to  be  well  founded,  it  may  have  the  effect,  not  only  of  drawing  down 
censure  upon  those  who  concurred  in  the  judgment  complained  of; 
but  also  of  reversing  that  judgment,  and  placing  matters  in  the  same 
situation  in  which  they  were  before  the  judgment  was  pronounced. 

1.  The  Judicatory  Issuing  a  Complaint  may  not  Decline  to  Adju- 
dicate the  Merits  of  the  Case,  and  must  Observe  the  Alterna- 
tives of  the  Book. — It  may  not  Assume  Original  Jurisdiction. 

On  the  complaint  of  Mr.  William  H.  Beecher  and  others  against  the 
Synod  of  Genesee,  in  the  case  of  the  aj)peal  of  Dr.  Frank  from  the  decis- 
ion of  the  Presbytery  of  Genesee,  the  General  Assembly  sustain  the  com- 
plaint and  reverse  the  judgment  of  the  Synod  on  the  following  grounds, 
viz. : 

1.  That  the  merits  of  the  case  seem  to  be  expressly  declined  by  the 
Synod  as  the  subject-matter  of  adjudication. 

2.  That  the  Synod  appear  not  to  have  adhered  to  the  alternatives  ])re- 
scribcd  by  the  Constitution.  (See  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii., 
sub-sec.  X.) 

3.  That  the  Synod  seem  to  have  forgotten  the  nature  and  the  limits  of 
their  a])pellate,  as  distinguished  from  the  original  jurisdiction  in  the  case; 
in  that  they  censure  at  their  bar  the  appellant  in  a  way  com]ietent,  in  any 
circumstances,  only  to  the  session  of  the  church  to  which  the  appellant 
was  ])rimarily  amenable. 

4.  That  they  seem  to  have  forgotten  also,  in  restoring  the  a])pellaiit, 
that  some  expression  of  repentance  ought  to  have  been  exacted,  especially 
if  their  reprimand  could,  from  any  tribunal,  have  been  deserved. 

The  Asseml)ly,  therefore,  rule  that  the  Synod  of  Genesee  should  review 
their  proceedings  in  this  case;  and,  regarding  alike  the  rules  of  the  Con- 


OF   DISSENTS   AND    PROTESTS.  607 

stitution  and  the  merits  of  the  case,  that  they  proceed  to  issue  the  same 
■with  equity  and  wisdom. 

In  the  matter  of  defining  in  what  calumny  consists,  as  connected  with 
the  case,  the  Assembly  feel  it  not  necessary  to  express  any  opinion  farther 
than  to  recommend  the  principles  of  our  constitutional  discipline. — 1840, 
p.  11.  K  S. 

2.  Reversal  places  Matters  in  Statu  Quo. 

[In  the  complaint  of  T.  B.  Clark  and  others,  against  the  decision  of  the 
Synod  of  Cincinnati — ] 

The  parties  having  been  heard,  the  Synod  withdrew,  and  the  roll  was 
called  for  the  opinimis  of  the  members.  The  question  was  tlien  put,  "Is 
the  complaint  well  founded?"  and  it  was  answered  in  the  afiirmaiive. 

And  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  complaint  be  sustained,  and  the  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Cincinnati  be  reversed,  and  matters  placed  in  the  same  situation  in 
which  thev  were,  before  the  Synod  entered  up  its  judgment  in  the  case. — 
1841,  p.  450,  O.  S. 

See  also  under  vii.,  iii.,  x.  Discipline,  chap,  i.,  iii.,  12,  a  and  c. — 1864, 
p.  328,  O.  S.  Complaint  of  N.  West  vs.  Synod  of  New  York,  Discipline, 
chap,  v.,  sec.  vii.  2.  Complaint  of  J.  i\I.  Davidson  et  al.  vs.  Synod  of  ]3alti- 
raore — 1860,  p.  31,  O.  S.,  and  3.  Complaint  of  John  Mack  etal.  vs.  Synod 
of  Illinois — 1867,  p.  355,  O.  S. ;  also  Form  of  Government,  chaj).  x.,  sec. 
viii.,  47  6.— 1864,  p.  311,  0.  S. 

VI.  In  cases  of  conipUiint,  liowever,  as  in  those  of  appeal,  the 
reversal  of  a  judgment  of  an  inferior  judicatory  is  not  necessarily 
connected  with  censure  on  that  judicatory. 

VII.  None  of  the  members  of  the  judicatory  whose  act  is  com- 
plained of  can  vote  in  the  superior  judicatory,  on  any  question  con- 
nected with  the  complaint. 

See  above,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  xii. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
OF  DISSENTS  AND  PROTESTS. 

I.  A  DISSENT  is  a  declaration  on  the  part  of  one  or  more  members 
of  a  minority,  in  a  judicatory,  expressing  a  different  o])inion  from 
that  of  the  majoritv  in  a  iiarticular  case.  A  dissent  accom[)anie(l  with 
reasons  is  alwavs  entered  on  tlie  records  of  the  judicatory. 

In  the  Assembly  of  1846.  O.  S.,  leave  to  have  a  dissent  with  reasons 
entered  upon  the  record,  was  refused. — Baird,  Rev.  Ed.,  p.  117. 

a.  Dissent  with  Reasons  a  virtual  Protest. 

Had  the  dissent  been  offered  without  reasons,  and  simply  as  a  record 
of  the  vote  of  the  dissenters,  it  would  have  been  entirely  proper  to  enter 
it  on  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly  without  reply.     It  would  then  have 


608  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

been  in  the  nature  only  of  a  record,  in  part,  of  ayes  and  nays.     But  as  it 
is  accompanied  with  reasons,  it  is  virtually  a  protest. — 1872,  p.  85. 

II.  A  protest  is  a  more  solemn  and  formal  declaration,  made  by 
members  of  a  minority  as  before  mentioned,  bearing  their  testimony 
against  what  they  deem  a  mischievous,  or  erroneous,  judgment ;  and 
is  generally  accompanied  with  a  detail  of  the  reasons  on  which  it  is 
founded. 

1.  The  Right  to  Protest  for  the  Relief  of  Conscience. 

a.  That  any  member  or  members,  for  the  exoneration  of  his  or  their 
conscience  before  God,  have  a  right  to  protest  against  any  act  or  proced- 
ure of  our  highestjudicature,  because  there  is  no  further  appeal  to  another 
for  redress ;  and  to  require  that  such  protestation  be  recorded  in  their 
minutes.  And  as  such  a  protest  is  a  solemn  appeal  from  the  bar  of  said 
judicature,  no  member  is  liable  to  prosecution  on  account  of  his  protest- 
ing. Provided  always,  that  it  shall  be  deemed  irregular  and  unlawful,  to 
enter  a  protestation  against  any  member  or  members,  or  to  protest  facts 
or  accusations  instead  of  proving  them,  unless  a  fair  trial  be  refused, 
even  by  the  highest  judicature.  And  it  is  agreed,  that  protestations  are 
only  to  be  entered  against  the  public  acts,  judgments  or  determinations  of 
the  judicature  with  which  the  protestor's  conscience  is  offended. — 1758, 
p.  286. 

b.   The  Dissent  or  Protest  must  be  E)itered  before  the  Bising  of  the 

Assembly. 

Any  member  who  may  think  himself  aggrieved  by  a  decision  of  the 
General  Assembly,  shall  have  his  dissent,  or  protest,  with  his  reasons,  en- 
tered on  the  records  of  the  Assembly,  or  filed  among  their  papers,  if 
given  in  before  the  rising  of  the  Assembly. — 1822.  p.  44. 

c.  A  protest  offered  by  Dr.  Peters  against  the  adoption  of  the  "  circular 
letter"  was  read  and  received  and  laid  on  the  table. — 1836,  p.  496. 

2.    A  Protest  Arguing-  the  Case  is  Refused. 

a.  Dr.  iMartin  presented  and  read  a  protest  against  the  decision  made 
in  his  judicial  case,  when,  on  motion  of  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Waller,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  Dr.  Martin's  protest  is  only  such  in  name,  while  it  is  in 
reality  an  argument  of  the  case  which  the  Assembly  has  refused  to  hear, 
as  not  regularly  before  it,  and  that  he  therefore  have  leave  to  withdraw 
the  same.— 18(35,  p.  592,  O.  S. 

b.   The  Protest  must  Confine  Itself  to  Peasons. 

The  appropriate  business  of  the  protestants  was  simply  to  give  the 
reasons  on  which  their  protest  was  founded,  not  to  answer  the  arguments 
of  individuals  in  debate,  for  which  the  Assembly  is  not  responsible. — 
1844,  p.  378,  0.  S. 

III.  If  a  protest,  or  dissent,  be  couched  in  decent  and  respectful 
language,  and  contain  no  offensive  reflections,  or  insinuations,  against 
the  majority  of  the  judicatory,  those  who  offer  it  have  a  right  to 
have  it  recorded  on  the  minutes. 

See  under  ii.,  above. 


OF    DISSENTS    AND   PROTESTS.  609 

1.  Protest  Admitted  to  Record  without  Answer. 

Dr.  Stuart  Robinson  read  a  protest,  signed  by  himself  and  others, 
against  the  adoption  of  the  paper  of  Dr.  K.  J.  Breckinridge  on  the  state 
of  the  Church, 

This  protest  was,  on  motion,  admitted  to  record  without  answer. 

Another  protest,  signed  by  Kev.  A.  P.  Forman  and  others,  was  like- 
wise admitted  to  record  without  answer. — 1862,  p.  636,  O.  S. 

2.  Protest  refused  Record  as  being  Disrespectful. 

A  protest  was  received  from  Dr.  Board  man  and  others  against  the 
action  of  the  Assembly  in  the  matter  of  the  Louisville  Presbytery.  Af- 
ter discussion,  on  motion,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  it  be  the  sense  of  this  General  Assembly  that  the  protest 
of  Dr.  Boardman  and  others  is  not  respectful  in  language,  and  that  it  be 
returned  to  the  author. — 1866,  p.  104,  O.  S. 

3.  A  Protest  should  not  be  Recorded  unless  by  Order  of  the 

Court. 

Exception  to  Records  of  Synod  of  Albany.  A  protest  on  pp.  323, 
324,  which  was  handed  to  the  stated  clerk,  and  by  him  recorded,  when  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  was  directed  by  Synod  to  make  such  insertion. — 
1828,  p.  242. 

IV.  A  dissent,  or  protest,  may  be  accompanied  with  a  complaint 
to  a  superior  judicatory,  or  not,  at  the  pleasure  of  those  who  offer  it. 
If  not  thus  accompanied,  it  is  simply  left  to  speak  for  itself,  when 
the  records  containing  it  come  to  be  reviewed  by  the  superior  judica- 
tory. 

1.  A  Protest  without  Complaint  can  come  before  the  Superior 
Court  only  on  Review  of  Records. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  Judicial  Case  No.  1  :  A  protest  of 
W.  C.  Matthews,  against  the  action  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  the  matter  be  dismissed,  because,  as 
being  a  mere  protest,  the  papers  belong  to  the  lower  court,  and  the  pro- 
testant  has  his  sufficient  redress  in  the  review  of  the  syuodical  records  by 
the  Assembly.     See  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  viii.,  sec.  iv. — 1870,  p.  27. 

[It  has  been  supposed  that  the  complaint  arising  under  this  section  dif- 
fers in  some  way  from  that  provided  fir  in  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iv.,  Pub-sec.  iii., 
that  the  one  is  judicial  and  the  other  not.  I  have  been  able,  after  very 
careful  research,  to  find  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  no  case  in 
which  such  distinction  is  drawn.  The  reason  for  referring  again  to  the 
right  to  complain  in  chap,  viii.,  sec.  iv.,  seems  to  be,  that  the  right  to 
complain  here  is  restricted  to  those  who  have  the  right  to  vote.  See  sec. 
viii.,  which  is  not  the  case  in  vii.,  iv.,  sub-sec.  ii.  ("  by  any  other  per- 
son, or  persons").  So  far  as  the  minority  of  the  inferior  judicatory  is 
concerned,  sec.  iv.  above  is  but  a  repetition  of  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iv.,  sub-sec. 
iii.  In  this  case,  the  minority  have  not  only  a  right  to  record  in  the  min- 
utes of  the  judicatory,  their" dissent  from  this  judgment,  or  their  protest 
against  it,  but  they  have  also  a  right  to  complain  to  the  sujierior  judica- 
tory. I  have  found  no  case  in  Avhich  the  xVsscmbly  has  made  any  dLs- 
77 


610  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

tinction  between  complaints.     They  have  uniformly,  when  entertained  at 
all,  been  treated  as  judicial  cases.     See,  at  large,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iv.     M.j 

V.  It  may  sometimes  happen  that  a  protest,  though  not  infringing 
the  rules  of  decorum,  either  in  its  language  or  matter,  may  impute 
to  the  judicatory,  whose  judgment  it  opposes,  some  principles  or  rea- 
sonings which  it  never  adopted.  In  this  case  the  majority  of  the 
judicatory  may  with  propriety  appoint  a  committee  to  draw  u[)  an 
answer  to  the  protest,  which,  after  being  adopted  as  the  act  of  the 
judicatory,  ought  to  be  inserted  on  the  records. 

1.  No  Answer  deemed  Necessary  when  tlie  Assumptions  have 

been  Refuted. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  answer  the  protest  against  the  proceedings 
of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  "  memorial  complaining  of  sundry 
grievances  abroad  in  the  Church,"  made  the  following  report,  which  was 
adopted,  viz. : 

That  after  a  due  consideration  of  the  whole  subject,  and  believing  the 
protest  to  be  founded  on  assumptions  which  were  fuliy  refuted  and  proved 
untenable  in  the  course  of  a  long  and  thorough  discussion  of  the  several 
resolutions  adopted,  they  deem  it  inexpedient  for  the  Assembly  to  assign 
any  further  reasons  for  the  course  pursued  in  relation  to  the  above  memo- 
rial.—1834,  p.  450. 

2.  The  Answer  Denies  the  Imputations  of  the  Protest. 

The  Assembly  deems  the  following  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  protest 
against  the  action  of  the  Assembly  upon  matters  connected  with  the 
"  Declaration  and  Testimony." 

1.  It  is  apparent  upon  the  face  of  the  protest,  that  its  signers  deeply 
sympathize  in  principle,  spirit  and  action,  with  the  signers  of  the  said 
"  Declaration  and  Testimony,"  in  opposition  to  the  General  Assembly. 

2.  The  paper  imputes  to  the  Assembly,  in  several  ])articulars,  tliat 
which  does  not  appear  from  anything  contained  in  its  action  in  the  case  ; 
but  the  Assembly  is  disposed  to  pass  over  this  infirmity,  and  the  disre- 
spectful language  employed  in  the  protest,  attributing  these  to  an  appa- 
rent inability,  on  the  part  of  these  brethren,  to  divest  themselves  wholly 
of  prejudices  which  have  grown  out  of  the  unhappy  contest  in  which  the 
country  and  the  Church  have  been  engaged  during  the  last  several  veais. 
—1867,  p.  365,  O.  S. 

[See  Minutes,  jpasmn,  and  above,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  ii.,  sub-sec.  i.,  a,b ;  also 
chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  iii.,  7 ;  also  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iv.,  sub-sec.  ii.,  6 ; 
also  below,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  v.  In  many  cases  the  Assembly's  answer  to  a 
protest  contains  the  fullest  explication  of  its  sentiments.  See  above, 
Form  of  Government,  chap,  i.,  sees,  i.-viii.,  26,  b.} 

VI.  When,  in  such  a  case,  the  answer  of  the  majority  is  brought 
in,  those  who  enteit'd  their  protest  may  be  of  the  opinion  that  fidel- 
ity to  their  cause  calls  upon  them  to  make  a  reply  to  the  answer. 
This,  however,  ought  by  no  means  to  be  admitted  ;  as  the  majority 
might,  of  course,  rejoin,  and  litigation  might  be  perpetuated,  to  the 
great  inconvenience  and  disgrace  of  the  judicatory. 


NEW  TESTIMONY.  611 

VII.  When,  however,  those  who  have  protested,  consider  tlie  an- 
swer of  the  majority  as  imputing  to  them  opinions  or  conduct  which 
they  disavow' ;  the  proper  course  is  to  ask  leave  to  take  back  their 
protest,  and  modify  it  in  such  manner  as  to  render  it  more  agreeable 
to  their  views.  This  alteration  may  lead  to  a  corresponding  altera- 
tion in  the  answer  of  the  majority;  with  w^hich  the  whole  affair  ought 
to  terminate. 

VIII.  None  can  join  in  a  protest  against  a  decision  of  any  judica- 
tory, excepting  those  who  had  a  right  to  vote  in  said  decision. 

1.  Protest  -will  not  be  Received  from  those  not  Members  of  the 

Body. 

A  paper  of  the  nature  of  a  protest  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  W.  G. 
Craig  from  persons  not  members  of  the  Assembly,  which  was  read,  and  on 
motion,  returned  to  Mr.  Craig. — 18(37,  p.  359,  O.  S. 

2.  A  Protest  can  be  Brought  only  by  the  Minority  of  a  Judica- 
tory Itself. 

The  Committee  on  Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Sandusky  report  that  they 
have  examined  these  records,  and  find  them  correct,  and  recommend  their 
approval,  except  that  the  Synod  has  entered  upon  its  minutes,  on  page  75, 
a  "formal  protest"  against  the  action  of  the  last  General  Assembly. 

Your  Committee  judge  that  remonstrance  or  complaint,  for  the  reopen- 
ing of  a  question,  may  be  made  by  an  inferior  judicatory  to  a  superior: 
but  that  protest  against  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly  can  be  made 
only  by  a  minority  of  the  body  itself — 1864,  p.  307,  O.  S. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

NEW  TESTIMONY. 


I.  If,  after  a  trial  before  any  judicatory,  new  testimony  be  discov- 
ered, which  is  supposed  to  be  highly  important  to  the  exculpation  of 
the  accused,  if  is  proper  for  him  to  ask,  and  for  the  judicatory  to 
grant,  a  new  trial. 
1.  New  Trial  may  be  had  on  the  Allegation  of  New  Testimony. 

a.  That  as  new  evidence,  apparently  of  an  important  kind,  has  been 
alle2;ed  in  this  case  since  the  decision  of  the  Synod,  it  is  proper  that  a  new 
trial  be  instituted  thereon. — 1793,  p.  68. 

b.  Resolved,  That  as  only  one  of  the  parties  in  this  case  is  present,  this 
General  Assembly  do  not  consider  themselves  as  placed  in  circumstances 
which  admit  of  their  reconsidering  the  decision  of  last  Assembly  on  Mr. 
Hindman's  appeal  from  the  Synod  of  PhiUidelphia,  oven  if  the  existence 
of  new  evidence  were  ever  so  unquestionable. 

Resolved,  also,  That  it  is  the  well-known  privilege  of  ^Ir.  Hmdmau,  if 


612  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

he  consider  himself  as  having  new  evidence  to  offer  in  this  case,  to  apply 
to  the  Presbytery  for  a  new  trial  upon  that  new  evidence. — 1811,  p.  479. 

c.  The  Judicial  Committee  reported  on  the  aj^peal  of  John  Ward  from 
a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Genesee,  that  on  the  ground  of  new  testimony 
the  appellant  be  directed  to  apply  to  the  church  of  Bergen  for  a  new  trial. 
The  report  was  adopted.— 1829,  p.  266;  also  1841,  p.  307,  O.  S. 

2.  Ne-w  Trial  after  a  Lapse  of  Years. 

1.  Our  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  i.,  provides  that  if  after  a  trial 
before  any  judicatory,  new  testimony  be  discovered  which  is  supposed  to 
be  highly  important  to  the  exculpation  of  the  accused,  it  is  proper  for  him 
to  ask,  and  for  the  judicatory  to  grant,  a  new  trial. 

2.  It  is  very  conceivable  that  after  a  lapse  of  five  or  six  years,  the 
sentence  of  an  ecclesiastical  court  which  was  originally  considered  as 
just  and  wise,  although  no  new  testimony  strictly  speaking  has  appeared, 
may  in  the  view  of  the  Church  appear  under  an  aspect  equivalent  to  new 
testimony,  and  calling  for  reconsideration,  yet 

3.  Inasmuch  as  the  frequent  reconsideration  of  cases  adjudged  by  the 
inferior  judicatories,  without  the  appearance  of  new  testimony,  admits  of 
great  and  mischievous  abuse,  and  might  lead  to  an  endless  recurrence  of 
reviews  and  reversals  of  former  decisions,  in  the  absence  of  a  majority  of 
the  court  pronouncing  the  same ;  it  is  evidently  more  regular,  safe  and  for 
edification,  when  a  review  of  a  decision,  without  the  disclosure  of  new 
testimony,  is  thought  desirable,  to  refer  the  case  to  the  next  higher  judi- 
catory.—1833,  p.  405. 

3.  If  the  Court  Refuse  to  Grant  a  Ne-w  Trial  upon  the  Allegation 
of  New  Testimony,  a  Complaint  may  Lie. 

a.  A  complaint  from  Mr.  Francis  Hindman  against  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Castle,  for  not  granting  him  a  new  trial  in  his  case,  agreeably  to  the 
resolution  of  last  Assembly,  having  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  mode- 
rator, was  read,  together  with  several  papers  accompanying  it  [and  referred 
to  a  Committee],  who  were  authorized  to  call  for  other  papers  and  to  cite 
witnesses  if  they  deem  it  necessary,  and  were  directed  to  report  to  the 
Assembly  the  result  of  their  attention  to  the  subject. — 1812,  p.  496. 

b.  The  Committee  to  which  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Hindman  against  tiie 
Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  had  been  referred,  reported,  and  the  report 
being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

That  having  carefully  examined  the  papers  committed  to  them,  and 
having  heard  jVIr.  Hindman  in  his  own  case,  as  also  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Castle  in  explanation  of  their  conduct,  they  find  no 
cause  of  comj)laint  against  said  Presbytery  in  their  treatment  of  Mr. 
Hindman.— 1812,  p.  504. 

4.  Appeal  remitted  for  New  Trial  on  New  Testimony. 

The  business  left  unfinished  yesterday,  viz.,  the  consideration  of  the 
appeal  of  Mr.  Todd,  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  affirm- 
ing a  decision  of  the  Pres1)ytery  of  Transylvania,  by  which  decision  ]Mr. 
Todd  was  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry,  was  taken  up,  and  after  con- 
siderable discussion  of  the  subject  of  the  aj)peal,  the  following  resolution 
was  adopted,  viz. : 

The  Assembly  having  heard  the  documents  in  this  case,  were  of  opin- 
ion, that  the  way  is  not  clear,  at  present,  for  the  reversal  of  the  sentence 


NEW  TESTIMONY.  613 

of  suspension ;  but  as  it  appears  to  the  Assembly,  that  Mr.  Todd's  opin- 
ions have  not  been  perfectly  understood ;  and  whereas  there  appears  to 
have  been  some  irregularity,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  testimony  admitted 
on  the  trial  before  the  Presbytery ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania  be  directed  to  reconsider 
the  case  ot^  Mr.  Todd ;  to  afford  him  another  opportunity  of  explaining 
himself;  and,  if  they  should  be  satisfied,  to  restore  him  to  his  former 
standing.— 1817,  p.  m%. 

II.  It  sometimes  happens,  in  the  prosecution  of  appeals,  tliat  testi- 
mony, which  had  not  been  exhibited  before  the  inferior  judicatory,  is 
represented  to  exist,  and  to  be  of  considerable  importance  in  the  case. 

III.  Representations  of  this  kind  ought  not  to  be  lightly,  or  of 
course,  sustained.  But  the  superior  judicatory  ought  to  be  well  sa  is- 
fied,  that  the  alleged  testimony  is  of  real  importance,  before  they  de- 
termine to  put  the  inferior  judicatory  to  the  trouble  of  a  new  trial. 

The  Judicial  Committee  reported  on  the  appeal  of  John  Ward,  from  a 
decision  of  the  Synod  of  Genesee ;  that  having  duly  considered  the  case, 
they  recommend,  that  on  the  ground  of  new  testimony,  the  appellant  be 
directed  to  apply  to  the  church  of  Bergen  for  a  new  trial.  The  above  re- 
port was  adopted. — 1829,  p.  266. 

IV.  AYhen  such  testimony,  therefore,  is  alleged  to  exist,  either  by 
the  appellant,  or  the  judicatory  appealed  from,  it  will  be  proper  for 
the  superior  judicatory  to  inquire  into  the  nature  and  import  of  the 
testimony;  what  is  intended  to  be  proved  by  it;  and,  whether  there 
is  any  probability  that  it  will  really  establish  the  point  intended  to  be 
established. 

V.  If  it  appear  that  the  fact  proposed  to  be  established  by  the  new 
testimony  is  important ;  that  is,  if  it  appear  to  be  such  a  fact  as,  if 
proved,  would  materially  alter  the  aspect  of  the  cause ;  and  if  there 
be  any  probability  that  the  testimony  in  question  will  be  sufficient  to 
establish  the  alleged  fact,  then  the  superior  judicatory  ought  to  send 
the  cause  back  to  the  inferior  for  a  new  trial. 

a.  In  the  case  of  Rev.  Geo.  Sheldon  (see  Directory  for  Worship,  chap, 
xi.,  sec.  iii.),  the  Assembly  sustained  the  inferior  courts,  and  in  answer  to 
a  protest,  reply — 

1.  The  action  of  the  Presbytery  in  the  case  was  irregular,  only  techni- 
cally, and  not  in  such  a  sense  as  to  vitiate  the  substantial  justice  of  the 
result.  The  case  had  been  on  trial  during  a  period  of  some  three  years, 
and  ample  opportunity  liad  been  given  in  this  period  for  the  accused  to 
defend  himself 

2.  Although  it  is  asserted,  that  only  extracts  from  Mr.  Sheldon  s  lettei-s 
were  admitted  in  evidence,  vet  it  appeai-s  that  one  letter,  and  the  most 
important  one,  is  given  in  full;  that  the  extracts  from  the  other  letters 
are  undisputed,  and  that  these  fairly  and  clearly  present  the  truth  in  the 


case 


3.*  As  to  the  alleged  new  evidence,  it  appears  that  it  was  before  the 


614  OF  DISCIPLINE. 

Judicial  Committee  of  the  Presbytery,  and  read  in  full  before  the  Synod, 
and  was  unanimously  decided  by  these  judicatories  to  be  no  ground  for 
reopening  the  case ;  and  it  also  appears,  that  this  testimony  is  wholly  ir- 
reconcilable with  statements  made  by  Mr.  Sheldon  in  the  letters  above 
referred  to. 

4.  Inasmuch  as  the  Assembly,  after  a  full  hearing  of  the  case,  by  a 
vote  of  more  than  two-thirds,  decided  that  there  have  been  no  material 
deviations  from  the  rules  of  the  Book  of  Discipline  for  conducting  ju- 
dicial cases,  it  is  deemed  unnecessary,  at  this  late  hour  of  their  sessions, 
to  reply  further  to  the  allegations  of  the  protestants. — 1858,  p.  609,  N.  S. 

h.  The  Committee  to  which  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Hindman,  against  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  had  been  referred  (see  chap,  ix.,  i.),  reported, 
and  the  report  being  read,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  having  carefully  examined  the  papers  committed  to  them,  and 
having  heard  Mr.  Hindman  in  his  own  case,  as  also  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  in  explanation  of  their  conduct,  they  find  no 
cause  of  complaint  against  said  Presbvtery  in  their  treatment  of  Mr. 
Hindman.— 1812,  p.  504. 

c.  Rev.  L.  R.  Lockwood  asks  that  the  Assembly  direct  the  Presbytery 
of  Dubuque  to  grant  him  a  new  trial,  on  the  ground  of  new  testimony. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  this  application  be  referred  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Dubuque,  to  the  end  that  if  the  new  testimony  be  found  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  justify,  that  Presbytery  may  afford  Mr.  Lockwood 
the  relief  he  asks.  But  if,  in  their  judgment,  a  new  trial  ought  not  to  be 
granted,  that  then  the  appeal  shall  stand  for  trial  on  the  record  as  now 
existing,  before  the  next  General  Assembly. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1866,  p.  72,  O.  S. 

[See  under  chap,  vii.,  sec.  iii.,  sub-sec.  v.] 

d.   On  Exavxinmg  the  New  Testimony,  the  Decision  Affirmed. 

The  consideration  of  Mr.  Gwinn's  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Pittsburg  was  resumed ;  and  after  considerable  discussion  the  following 
decision  in  the  case  was  adopted. 

The  Assembly,  having  carefully  heard  and  considered  the  ap]ieal  of  Mr. 
Andrew  Gwinu  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  affirming  the 
judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  adopted  the  following  resolution, 
viz.:  That  whereas,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  it  does  not  appear 
that  the  new  testimony  offered  by  INIr.  Gwinn  has  in  any  important  point 
changed  the  aspect  of  his  case:  therefore  resolved,  that  the  decision  of  the 
Synod  in  his  case  be  affirmed. — 1823,  p.  90. 

VI.  Cases  may  arise,  however,  in  which  the  judicatory  appealed 
from,  and  the  appellant,  may  concur  in  requesting  the  superior  judi- 
catory to  take  up  and  issue  the  appeal,  with  the  additional  light  which 
the  new  evidence  may  aiford.  In  this  case,  and  especially  if  very 
serious  injury  is  likely  to  happen,  either  to  the  appellant,  or  to  the 
church,  by  the  delay  Avhich  a  new  trial  would  occasion,  the  superior  ju- 
dicatory may  proceed  to  hear  the  new  testimony,  and  to  issue  the  appeal, 
with  the  aid  of  the  additional  light  which  that  testimony  may  afford. 

The  Judicial  Committee  in  the  case  of  the  complaint  of  Rev.  James 
Smylie,  from  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana,  in  the  case  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Scott,  recommended  the  following,  which  was  adopted: 


NEW   TESTIMONY.  615 

There  are  three  ways  iu  which  this  complaint  might  be  disjosed  of: 

1.  The  Assembly  might  take  it  up,  wade  througli  the  testimony,  receive 
the  new  testimony,  that,  it  is  understood,  tlie  complainant  wishes  to  offer, 
to  decide  the  case.  But  against  this  course,  besides  other  difficulties,  it 
may  be  mentioned  as  a  very  serious  one,  that  the  bare  reading  of  the  rec- 
ords of  the  Presbytery  would  consume  four  or  five  days. 

2.  Another  mode  might  be  adopted,  by  referring  the  case  for  reconsid- 
eration to  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana,  who  miglit  be  directed  to  take  any 
new  testimony  that  should  be  properly  ofi'ered. 

3.  Or  the  General  Assembly  might  remand  the  case  to  the  Synod  of 
Mississippi,  to  hear  the  complaint,  and  dispose  of  it  iu  a  regular  and  con- 
stitutional manner.     This,  it  is  deemed,  would  be  the  wisest  course. 

But,  were  either  of  these  modes  adopted,  it  would  require  a  great  con- 
sumption of  time,  and  subject  the  judicature  that  might  adjudicate  on  the 
case  to  great  inconvenience,  and  no  inconsiderable  expense ;  and  instead 
of  resulting  in  practical  good,  might  produce  great  excitement  and  conse- 
quences injurious  to  the  peace  and  edification  of  an  important  section  of 
pur  Church,  The  testimony  is  so  voluminous,  that  to  form  a  correct  judg- 
ment on  it,  would  require  a  retentive  memory,  patient  attention,  diligent 
comparison  of  its  several  parts,  as  well  as  a  discriminating  mind.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  the  Presbytery  sanctioned  by  their  authority  the  publi- 
cation of  the  speeches  on  both  sides  of  the  question. 

The  Committee  after  carefully  deliberating  on  the  subject  were  unani- 
mously of  the  opinion,  that  if  the  case  could  be  disposed  of,  consistently 
with  the  rights  of  Mr.  Smylie,  without  remanding  it  to  either  of  the  in- 
ferior courts,  and  without  the  Assembly's  adjudicating  on  it,  all  the  ends 
of  justice  would  be  gained,  and  the  peace  of  the  church  would  be  pro- 
moted. They  therefore  invited  Mr.  Smylie  to  a  friendly  interview,  in 
■which  they  expressed  their  opinion,  and  he  stated  his  views.  He  did  not 
concur  with  the  Committee  in  regard  to  the  probable  consequences  of  the 
case  being  remanded  to  the  Synod  or  the  Presbytery ;  and  stated  that  iu 
prosecuting  his  complaint  he  was  influenced  by  no  personal  feelings  against 
Dr.  Scott,  but  by  a  desire  that  truth  might  be  sustained,  justice  done  to 
all  concerned,  and  the  Constitution  of  our  Church  upheld  ;  but  if  the 
Committee  would,  without  his  concurrence,  assume  the  responsibility  of 
recommending  to  the  General  Assembly  to  terminate  the  case  without 
any  further  trial,  and  the  Assembly  should  determine  to  adopt  this  as 
the  wisest  way  of  terminating  it,  he  would  submit,  and  feel  that  he  had 
discharged  a  duty,  which,  while  it  was  troublesome  and  painful,  had  j)ut 
him  to  no  inconsiderable  expense. 

It  is  due  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smylie  to  say,  that  the  Committee  believe,  that 
in  prosecuting  his  complaint,  he  has  been  prompted  by  a  sense  of  duty  and 
a  regard  to  the  Constitution  of  our  Church,  and  governed  by  what  he 
deemed  its  purity  and  best  interests  required. 

The  Committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  follow- 
ing resolution : 

^Besolved,  That  iu  view  of  the  representation  of  the  case  given  in  the 
above  statement  by  the  Judicial  Committee,  of  the  voluminous  nature  of 
the  testimony,  and' of  the  difficulties  attending  the  case,  and  believing  that 
the  interestsof  the  Church  will  be  best  promoted  by  adopting  the  course 
recommended  by  the  Connuittee,  and  being  willing  to  assume  the  respon- 
gibility  of  acting  accordingly,  this  General  Assembly  do  hereby  termi- 
nate this  unhai)py  case  without  any  further  judicial  trial. — lS-47,  p.  of>o, 
0.6. 


616  OF    DISCIPLIXE. 

VII.  AVhcn,  however^  the  judgment  of  the  inferior  judicatory  is 
reversed ;  and  it  is  apparent  that  the  new  testimony  had  considerable 
influence  in  procuring^the  reversal;  it  ought  to  be  so  stated  in  the  de- 
cision of  the  superior  judicatory;  inasmuch  as  it  would  be  injustice  to 
the  inferior  judicatory  to  reverse  their  decision,  upon  grounds  which 
were  never  before  them,  without  explaining  the  fact. 


CHAPTER  X. 

JURISDICTION. 


I.  When  a  member  shall  be  dismissed  from  one  church,  with  a 
view  to  his  joining  another,  if  he  commit  an  offence  previous  to  his 
joining  the  latter,  he  shall  be  considered  as  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  church  which  dismissed  him,  and  amenable  to  it,  up  to  the  time 
W'hen  he  actually  becomes  connected  with  that  to  which  he  was  dis- 
missed and  recommended. 

[For  the  jurisdiction  of  the  session  over  members  non-resident,  see  under 
Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  xi.,  sec.  iii.,  a,  h,  c.  Over  licentiates,  see  Form 
of  Government,  chap,  xiv.,  sec.  xi.] 

1.  A  Suspended  Member  may  not  be  Received  by  another  Church. 
If  Received  -without  Knowledge  of  the  Facts,  his  name  to  be 
Stricken  from  the  Roll. 

Overture  from  certain  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Madison : 

We  desire  to  make  the  following  statement  ami  inquiries: 

A  person  is  (we  will  supp(jse)  under  suspension  in  one  of  our  own 
churches.  He  removes,  and  unites,  on  examination,  with  another  of  our 
churches,  the  session  of  the  latter  one  being  wholly  ignorant  of  his  former 
moml)orsl)ip,  and,  of  course,  of  his  suspension.  The  facts  are,  however, 
afterward  discovered. 

Would  this  discovery,  of  itself,  vitiate  his  second  membership,  and  leave 
him  simply  a  suspended  mend)er  of  the  former  church? 

VVoukl  unworthiness  for  church  membership,  clearly  manifested,  while 
in  the  hitter  church,  and  before  said  discovery,  rightfully  add  any  ethcacy 
toward  producing  this  result? 

To  the  first  of  the  above  questions  the  Committee  recommend  an  answer 
in  the  affirmative;  to  the  second,  if  the  question  mean  whether  tiie  session 
of  the  second  church  has  jurisdiction  in  the  case  of  unworthiness  mani- 
fested in  the  second  relation,  the  Committee  reconnnend  an  answer  in  the 
negative;  but  if  the  (juestion  mean  whether  the  un worthinesses  numifested 
in  the  second  relation  be  proper  ground  of  separate  process  by  the  session 
of  the  first  church,  the  Connnittee  recommend  an  answer  in  the  ailinmx- 
tive.  In  respect  to  the  whole  case,  the  Committee  agree  in  the  statement 
following : 

The  person,  uniting  with  the  second  church  on  exauiiimtion,  unites  de- 


JURISDICTION.  617 

ceptively.  So  soon  as  the  facts  in  the  case  are  ascertained  by  the  session 
of  this  second  church,  the  proper  order  of  procedure  is,  for  this  session, 
after  conference  with  the  accused  person,  to  strike  his  name  from  their 
roll  of  church  members  as  not  under  their  jurisdiction,  to  communicate 
their  action  to  the  session  suspending  him,  with  the  reasons  for  it,  and  to 
request  the  said  session  to  proceed  against  him,  on  separate  process,  for 
duplicity  and  disorder. 

The  reply  of  the  Committee  was  adopted. — 1866,  p.  269,  N.  S. 

2.  A  Letter  of  Dismission  takes  Effect  as  soon  as  Granted,  so  far 
as  Rights  and  Privileges  are  Concerned. 

a.  A  letter  of  dismission,  whether  issued  to  a  ruling  elder  or  private 
member,  terminates  the  relations  of  the  person  dismissed  with  the  church 
giving  the  letter,  except  so  far  as  said  church  is  responsible  for  its  watch 
and  care  over  him  during  the  period  of  transition. 

h.  These  rights  and  privileges  can  be  regained  in  that  church  by  return- 
ing the  letters  of  dismission  to  the  authority  which  gave  them. 

c.  These  rights  and  privileges  can  be  secured  in  any  other  church  within 
.the  jurisdiction  of  this  General  Assembly,  by  virtue  of  such  certificates, 
provided  they  are  presented  to  the  session  thereof  within  one  year  from 
their  date ;  and,  until  they  are  presented,  such  persons  are  amenable  to 
the  church  from  which  the  certificates  were  received. — 1867,  p.  512,  N.  S. 

3.  Members  of  an  Extinct  Church  Amenable  to  Presby-tery. 

A  church  has  been  dissolved  by  the  Presbytery,  letters  having  been 
given  the  members  to  unite  with  any  Evangelical  Church  where  God  may, 
in  his  providence,  cast  their  lot. 

One  of  these  members  holds  such  a  letter  more  than  eighteen  months 
old,  not  having  used  said  letter.  Is  such  a  member  amenable  to  the  Pres- 
bytery, and  is  the  Presbytery  under  obligation  to  receive,  entertain,  and 
pass  upon  a  complaint  entered  against  such  party,  holding  said  letter? 

The  Committee  recommend  that  this  overture  be  answered  in  the  afiirm- 
iuive,  on  the  following  grounds: 

1.  That  every  church  member  is  amenable  to  some  appropriate  tribunal, 
and  that,  in  the  case  specified  in  the  overture,  this  tribunal  must  be  the 
Presbytery. 

2.  That  every  member  of  a  church  continues  to  be  amenable  to  that 
church,  until  he  becomes  regularly  connected  with  another. — 1809,  p.  266, 
N.  S. 

II.  The  same  principle  applies  to  a  minister,  who  is  always  to  be 
considered  as  remaining  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Presbytery 
which  dismissed  him,  until  he  actually  becomes  a  member  of 
another. 

1.  Jurisdiction  over  a  deposed  Minister  is  in  the  Presbytery  which 

Deposed  him. 

a.  The  Presbytery  of  Des  Moines  deposed  Eev.  James  H.  Shields  from 
the  ministry.  Subsequently,  Mr.  Shields  applied  for  restoration,  to  the 
Presbytery  of  Keokuk,  within  whose  bounds  he  resided  at  the  time  of  his 
application. 

The  Committee  on  Polity  also  reported  Paper  No.  2.  An  overture  from 
78 


618  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

the  Presbytery  of  Keokuk,  asktug  if  they  have  jurisdiction  over  the  case 
of  James  H.  Shields,  deposed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Des  Moines. 

The  Committee  recommended  to  the  Assembly,  that  the  question  submit- 
ted by  the  Presbytery  of  Keokuk  be  answered  in  the  negative  ;  and  the 
recommendation  was  adopted. — 1859,  p.  18,  N.  S. 

b.  In  the  case  of  Rev.  Michael  Hummer,  deposed  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Iowa,  and  restored  by  the  Presbytery  of  Highland,  the  Assembly  declare 
it  irregular  and  unconstitutional  for  any  Presbytery  to  receive  and  restore 
a  member  of  another  Presbytery  who  has  been  de^iosed. — 1862,  p.  608, 
O.  S. 

See  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii. 

2.  Where  a  Minister  is  Deposed,  the  Name  should  not  be  form- 
ally stricken  from  the  Roll  until  the  Proceedings  are  finally 
Issued. 

The  other  paper  is  an  inquiry,  proposed  to  the  Assembly  by  Fisk  Har- 
mon, of  Swede  Point,  Iowa,  respecting  a  case  of  discipline  which  has  oc- 
curred in  what  he  calls  the  Presbytery  of  D .     A  minister  is  said  to 

have  been  deposed,  and  the  sentence  of  deposition  to  have  been  pi*o- 
nounced,  but  his  name  was  not  ordered  to  be  stricken  from  the  roll.  The 
clerk,  however,  assumed  the  responsibility  of  erasing  his  name  ;  and  Avhen 
the  case  was  appealed  to  the  Synod,  and  remanded  by  it  to  the  Presbytery 
that  new  evidence  might  be  presented  by  the  appellant,  and  the  deposed 
minister  demanded  that  his  name  might  be  replaced  on  the  roll  before  the 
Presbytery  proceeded  to  the  reception  of  the  evidence,  he  was  informed 
by  the  moderator  that  his  name  did  not  belong  there.  The  inquiry  is  : 
"  Can  this  new  sentence  of  striking  the  name  of  the  deposed  minister  from 
the  roll  be  constitutionally  inflicted  without  a  new  and  regular  trial  ?" 

The  Committee  recommend  the  following  reply: 

As  the  name  of  every  minister  under  trial  must  be  properly  on  the  roll  of 
some  Presbytery,  it  should  not  be  finally  erased  until  the  completion  of  all 
the  ecclesiastical  proceedings  connected  with  the  case.  In  the  present  in- 
stance, the  Assembly  decide  that  the  name  of  the  minister  referred  to 
should  be  restored  to  the  roll  of  the  Presbytery,  and  retained  until  the 
case  has  been  finally  disposed  of. — 1869,  p.  270,  N.  S. 

3.  A  suspended  Minister  is  under  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Presby- 
tery -which  suspended  him. — "When  Sentence  has  been  Reversed 
for  Informality,  if  Process  is  not  commenced  in  Six  Months,  a 
Dismission  in  G-ood   Standing  may  be  claimed. 

Mr.  Bell  had  been  suspended,  and  took  an  appeal  to  the  Assembly, 
which  was  sustained. 

The  Committee  apjiointed  to  prepare  a  minute  expressive  of  the  sense 
of  the  Assembly  concerning  the  appeal  of  Joseph  E.  Bell,  reported  the 
following  resolutions,  which  were  adopted,  viz. : 

1.  Besolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly,  Mr.  Bell  was,  and 
still  continues  to  be,  fully  amenable  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord. 

2.  That  while  the  Assembly  do  not  wish  to  protect  the  guilty,  they  do 
judge  that  great  caution,  deliberation,  and  as  far  as  may  be,  the  rules  of 
discipline,  where  ministerial  character  is  impeached,  ought  to  be  strictly 
observed,  and  that  in  this  case  the  informality  was  exceptionable. 

3.  That  if  it  be  deemed  necessary  for  the  good  of  religion,  and  the 
honor  of  the  ministerial  character,  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  are  en- 
tirely competent  to  commence  a  new  trial.  Or  if  Mr.  Bell  shall  desire 
for  his  own  sake  a  new  trial,  the  door  is  still  open. 


JURISDICTION.  619 

4.  That  iu  the  mean  time  Mr.  Bell's  ministerial  character  shall  be 
considered  regular ;  and  if  no  process  shall  be  commenced  by  either 
party  within  the  space  of  six  months,  from  the  1st  of  June  next,  then 
Mr.  Bell  may  claim  from  the  Presbtery  of  Concord,  a  dismission  declar- 
ing him  to  be  in  regular  standing. — 1828,  pp.  240,  241. 

4.  A  Minister  holding  a  Letter  of  Dismission  is  a  Member  of  the 
Presbytery  Dismissing  him  until  received  by  another  Body. 

[Overture  to  the  Synod  of  Ohio.  When  a  member  of  Presbytery  has 
taken  a  letter  to  join  another  Presbytery  or  association,  what  relation  does 
he  sustain  to,  and  what  rights  and  privileges  has  he  in,  the  Presbytery 
from  which  he  received  the  letter,  during  the  time  that  intervenes  be- 
tween receiving  the  letter  and  uniting  with  that  other  Presbytery  or  con- 
sociation ? 

Answer  by  the  Synod  of  Ohio.  It  is  often  a  fact  that  dismissions  are 
granted  during  the  sessions  of  a  Presbytery,  to  take  effect  at  its  close. 
This  fact  decides  that  in  all  ordinary  cases  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
an  individual  in  a  Presbytery,  cease  the  moment  his  request  for  a  dismis- 
sion is  granted.  He  may,  however,  at  any  time  before  he  has  used  it,  re- 
turn his  letter,  and  then  claim  all  his  former  rights  and  privileges  ;  but 
until  he  has  used  his  letter,  he  is  amenable  to  the  Presbyter3^  See  Form 
of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sees.  1,  2. — Minutes,  Synod  of  Ohio,  p.  225.] 

The  Committee  on  the  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Ohio,  recommend  their 
adoption,  except 

That  the  answer  to  the  question  above  should  be,  "  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbytery  until  received  by  another  body."  Adopted. — 1860,  p. 
239,  N.  S. 

5.  The  Privileges  of  Membership  cease  with  the  Granting  of  the 

Letter. 

The  established  rule  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  relation  to  the  dis- 
mission of  a  minister  from  his  Presbytery,  is,  "  that,  in  all  ordinary  cases, 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  an  individual  in  a  Presbytery  cease  when, 
at  his  request,  his  dismission  is  granted." 

He  may,  however,  within  any  reasonable  time  before  he  has  used  his 
letter  of  dismission,  return  it  to  the  Presbytery,  and  then  claim  all  his 
former  rights  and  privileges  ;  but,  until  he  has  used  his  letter,  he  is  amen- 
able to  the  Presbytery  which  has  dismissed  him.  See  Digest,  chap,  v., 
sec.ii.,  sub-sec.  viii. — 1867,  p.  512,  N.  S. 

6.  "While  a  Minister  is  in  transitu  he  is  a  Member  of  the  Presby- 
tery -which  gave  him  his  Letter. 

Overture  No.  5,  from  the  Presbytery  of  IMarion,  as  follows: 

A  minister  receives  a  dismission  to  unite  with  a  distant  Presbytery, 
and  travels  in  the  region  indicated,  but  does  not  remove  his  family.  Af- 
ter an  absence  of  months,  perhaps  of  more  than  a  year,  he  returns  to  the 
residence  of  his  family.  During  his  absence,  however,  the  Synod  sets  off 
"  all  the  ministers  "  of  his  Presbytery  "  residing  north  of  the  south  line  " 
of  his  county  to  form  jiart  of  a  new  Presbytery.  Plolding  the  original 
certificate,  to  which  Presljytery  does  he  belong,  and  in  case  of  the  neces- 
sity of  process  for  unmiiiisterial  conduct,  which  Presbytery  is  bound  to 
proceed  in  his  case? — 1864,  p.  314,  O.  S. 

It  was 

Resolved,  That  the  minister  in  question  be  held  to  belong  to  the  Pres- 
bytery which  granted  him  the  certificate. — 1864,  p.  314,  0.  S. 


620  OF   DISCIPLINE. 


7.  Ministers  withdra-wing  from  Presbytery  Irregularly  to  be 
Stricken  from  the  Roll. 

a.  Overture  No.  5,  viz, :  A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cheuango, 
asking  advice  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Andrews,  a  member  of  their 
body,  who  has  recently  withdrawn  and  received  Episcopal  ordination, 
was  taken  up  and  committed  to  Mr.  Crothers,  Mr.  Weed,  and  Mr.  Far- 
rand.— 1828,  p.  239. 

The  Committee  on  the  reference  from  the  Chenango  Presbytery,  in  the 
case  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Andrews,  made  the  following  report,  which  was 
adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  as  the  sense  of  this  Assembly,  that  though  the  conduct  of 
Mr.  Andrews  was  disorderly,  it  be  recommended  to  the  Presbytery  to  do 
nothing  further  in  the  case  than  simply  to  strike  his  name  from  the  list 
of  their  members.— 1828,  p.  240. 

h.  The  Committee  on  Overture  No.  2,  viz.,  a  reference  for  advice  from 
the  Presbytery  of  St.  Lawrence,  reported  the  following  resolution  as  a 
suitable  answer  to  be  given  in  the  case,  which  was  adopted,  viz.  : 

Resolved,  That  when  a  minister  otherwise  in  good  standing  gives 
notice,  in  form,  to  the  Presbytery  to  which  he  belongs,  that  he  renounces 
the  fellowship  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  or  by  neglecting  to  attend  the' 
meetings  of  its  judicatories,  after  being  dealt  with  for  such  neglect,  gives 
evidence  that  he  has  done  so  in  fact,  his  name  ought  to  be  struck  from  the 
roll  of  membership,  a  notice  of  this  procedure  communicated  to  the  dis- 
owned member,  and,  if  necessary,  published  to  the  Church.  The  congre- 
gation under  the  care  of  such  minister  ought  to  be  held  as  still  under  the 
care  of  Presbytery,  unless  they  give  evidence  that  they  also  have  with- 
drawn, in  which  case  their  name  ought  also  to  be  struck  from  the  list  of 
congregations  belonging  to  the  Presbytery. — 1830,  p.  305. 

c.  Overture  No.  5,  from  the  Second  Presbytery  of  New  York,  asking 
the  direction  of  the  Assembly  as  to  the  action  to  be  taken  by  Presbytery 
in  the  case  of  a  member,  who,  without  pi'evious  conference  with  his  co- 
presbyters,  or  without  receiving  a  certificate  of  dismission,  leaves  the 
Presbytery,  and  abandons  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
Committee  recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution  as  an  answer  to  the  request  of  the  Presbytery  : 

Resolved,  That  in  such  cases  as  that  presented  in  the  overture,  the 
Presbytery  ought  simply  to  erase  the  name  of  the  minister  from  the  roll, 
provided  he  leaves  the  Church  without  being  chargeable  with  funda- 
mental error  in  doctrine,  or  immorality  of  life.  Adopted. — 1854,  p.  17, 
O.S. 

8.  Such  must  Return  to  the  Body  from  v^hich  they  ■withdre'W 

to  be  Restored. 

See  case  of  David  Austin,  under  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec. 
viii.,  35. 

III.  If,  however,  either  a  minister,  or  a  private  member,  shall  be 
charged  with  a  crime  which  aj^pears  to  have  been  committed  during 
the  interval  between  the  date  of  his  dismission,  and  his  actually  join- 
ing the  new'  body,  but  which  did  not  come  to  light  until  after  he  had 
joined  the  new  body,  that  body  shall  be  empowered  and  bound  to 
conduct  the  process  against  him. 


JURISDICTION.  621 

1.  If  the  Presb3rtery  Dismissing  have  become  Extinct,  the  Presby- 
tery to  which  One  Charged,  as  Above,  Comes  may  Refuse  to 
Receive  Him ;  in  that  Case,  the  Jurisdiction  is  in  the  Synod. 

See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.  17. 

2.  Reception  of  a  Member  on  a  QuaHfied  Letter  is  Void. 
See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii.  21. 

3.  Jurisdiction  over  One  Charged  -with  Crime  is  in  that  Presby- 
tery of  which  he  was  a  Member  when  the  Alleged  Offence  was 
Committed. 

Overture  No.  25,  from  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  asking  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  to  determine,  whether  that  Presbytery,  or  the  Presbytery 
of  Cleveland,  has  jurisdiction  of  Rev.  J.  F.  Severance.  The  facts  in  the 
case,  appearing  in  the  overture,  are  as  follows :  INlr.  Severance  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbytery  of  Wilmington  (which  was  succeeded  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle),  but  left  the  bounds  of  that  Presbytery  in  1868. 
In  1870,  he  was  withiu  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland ;  and, 
after  the  reconstruction,  twice  sat  in  the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland  as  a  cor- 
responding member  from  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle.  In  September, 
1871,  he  was  received  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland,  under 
the  operation  of  Principle  5,  adopted  by  the  Assembly  for  the  purpose  of 
reconstruction. 

Before  the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland  adjourned  the  sessions  at  which 
Mr.  Severance  was  received,  that  Presbytery  obtained  information,  that 
rumors  afiecting  the  Christian  character  of  Mr.  Severance  had  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle,  and  said  Presbytery  had 
appointed  a  Committee,  to  inquire  into  the  facts,  and  correspond  with  Mr. 
Severance  in  regard  to  them  ;  and  this  Committee  had  not  been  discharged, 
when  Mr.  Severance  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland.  After 
the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland  had  received  this  information  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Castle,  they  reconsidered  their  action  receiving  ISIr.  Sever- 
ance, and  declared  said  action  null  and  void.  The  question  is,  To  which 
Presbytery  does  Mr.  Severance  belong  ?  The  Committee  recommend  the 
following  answer :  .  .  . 

The  decision  of  the  Assembly,  made  in  1816,  settles  the  principle  that 
membership  in  any  church  judicatory  is  an  entirety,  and  is  not  divisible. 
The  judicatory  is  the  judge  of  the  fitness  of  an  applicant  for  membership 
in  it.  The  vote  of  the  judicatory  invests  the  applicant  with  all  the  rights 
of  membership,  of  which  he  cannot  be  divested  except  by  due  course  of 
discipline  according  to  the  Book.  Hence,  Mr.  Severance  is  a  member  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland,  and  that  Presbytery  has  jurisdiction  in  his 
case. — 1872,  p.  72. 

4.  The  Presbytery  within  whose  Bounds  an  Offence  is  Committed 
fulfills  its  Duty  in  Notifying  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  Of- 
fender Belongs. 

When  it  is  alleged  that  a  minister  has  committed  an  offence  in  the 
bounds  of  a  Presbytery  of  which  he  is  not  a  member,  the  Presbytery  in 
the  bounds  of  which  it  is  alleged  the  offence  was  committed,  has  performetl 
its  entire  duty  in  the  premises  when  it  notifies  the  Presbytery  to  which  he 
belongs,  of  the  allegation  and  the  grounds  on  which  the  allegation  is  based. 

The  report  was  adopted.— 1869,  p.  922,  0.  S. 


622  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

IV.  Xo  Pre.sbytery  shall  dismiss  a  minister,  or  licentiate,  or  can- 
didate for  licensure,  without  specifying  the  particular  Presbytery,  or 
other  ecclesiastical  body,  with  which  he  is  to  be  connected. 

1.  Presbytery  must  Specify  the  Body  to  which  a  Member  is  Dis- 
missed. 

Resolved,  That,  whereas  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  govern- 
ment and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  every  minister  of 
the  gospel  belonging  to  it  be  subject,  at  all  times,  to  his  brethren  in  the 
Lord,  and  accountable  to  them  for  the  orthodoxy  of  his  principles,  and 
for  his  moral,  religious,  and  orderly  deportment ;  it  is  therefore. 

Ordered,  That  every  Presbytery  under  the  care  of  this  Assembly,  when- 
ever they  dismiss  a  member,  be  careful  particularly  to  specify  with  what 
Presbytery,  association,  or  classis,  or  other  religious  body,  he  is  to  be  asso- 
ciated after  his  dismission  (to  which  some  of  the  Presbyteries  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  sufficiently  attentive) ;  and  that  every  member  so  dis- 
missed be,  in  all  cases,  considered  as  amenable  to  the  Presbytery  which 
has  dismissed  him  till  he  shall  become  connected  with  the  ecclesiastical 
body  which  he  shall  have  been  directed  to  join. — 1806,  p.  351. 

2.  The  Dismission  may  not  be  by  a  Standing  Committee. 
See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  x.,  sec.  viii,  23. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

LIMITATION  OF  TIME. 

I.  When  any  member  shall  remove  from  one  congregation  to 
another,  he  shall  produce  satisfactory  testimonials  of  his  church 
membership  and  dismission,  before  he  be  admitted  as  a  regular  mem- 
ber of  that  church ;  unless  the  church  to  which  he  removes  has  other 
satisfactory  means  of  information. 

1.  A  Certificate  of  Dismission  should  be  Required. 

Nor  can  the  Assembly  forbear  to  regret  that  the  session  of  the  church 
of  Chillicothe  had  not  acted  in  a  more  formal  manner  in  receiving  Mr. 
McCalla,  and  had  not  required  a  regular  certificate  of  dismission  from  the 
church  to  which  Mr.  McCalla  belonged  before  they  received  him. — 1821, 
p.  21. 

2.  To  Receive  Members  of  Churches  of  our  o"wn  Connection  vrith- 
out  a  Certificate  is  Irregular. 

The  same  Committee  reported  an  overture,  asking  if  it  be  in  accord- 
ance with  ecclesiastical  law,  and  order  in  the  Church,  to  receive  members 
of  another  church  who  have  not  been  regularly  dismissed,  with  a  view  to 
such  change  of  relation. 

The  Committee  recommended  that,  so  far  as  churches  in  our  own  con- 


LIMITATION   OF   TIME.  623 

nection  are  concerned,  tbe  question  be  answered  in  the  negative,  and  refer 
to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  xi.,  sec.  i. 
The  report  was  adopted. — 1868,  p.  58,  N.  S. 

3.  Dismission  to  Join  another  Denomination. 

a.  Resolved,  That  in  all  cases  where  members  of  any  of  our  churches 
apply  for  dismission  to  unite  with  a  Church  of  another  denomination,  the 
proper  course  is  to  give  a  certificate  of  Christian  character  only. — 1839, 
p.  177,  O.  S. 

h.  The  Presbytery  of  Hudson  requesting  that  this  rule  be  rescinded, 
the  Assembly  replied : 

The  Presbytery  of  Hudson  has  misapprehended  the  spirit  and  scope  of 
the  resolution  in  question.  It  is  neither  a  censure  on  the  individuals,  nor 
the  churches  to  which  they  seek  to  be  dismissed,  but  sets  forth  the  only 
fact  which  it  is  important  that  those  churches  should  know. — 1848,  p.  22, 
O.  S. 

4.  The  Form  of  Dismission  to  other  Denominations  left  to  the 
Discretion  of  the  Session. 

Shall  members  of  our  churches,  who  may  wish  to  join  churches  not  in 
correspondence  with  tlie  General  Assembly,  receive  certificates  in  the  same 
form  as  if  they  wished  to  join  another  church,  in  our  communion,  or  in 
correspondence  with  the  Assembly;  or  has  the  church  session  done  all 
that  it  ought  to  do,  when  in  such  cases  the  good  and  regular  standing  of 
the  persons  so  applying  is  duly  certified? 

On  motion,  the  answer  recommended  by  the  Committee  was  laid  on  the 
table,  and  the  following,  after  amendment,  was  adopted,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  this  whole  subject  is  one  that  ought  to  be  left  to  the 
sound  discretion  of  the  various  church  sessions,  according  to  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Presbyterian  Church. — 1851,  p.  28,  O.  S. 

[See  Discipline,  chap!  i.,  sec.  iii.,  12,  a.] 

5.  The  Dismission  may  be  Indefinite. 

Is  it  regular  in  any  case  for  a  church  session  to  dismiss  a  member  with- 
out specifying  the  particular  church  with  which  he  is  to  be  connected  ? 

At  the  reconnnendation  of  the  Committee,  the  question  was  answered 
in  the  affirmative.— 1853,  p.  444,  O.  S. 

6.  Dismission  of  a  Suspended.  Member. 

Is  it  orderly  in  any  case  to  dismiss  to  another  church  a  suspended  mem- 
ber, stating  the  case,  and  submitting  it  to  the  session  to  which  he  has 
.  removed  ? 

It  may  be  orderly  in  circumstances  of  necessity  arising  from  removal  to 
an  inconvenient  distance,  provided  that  in  no  instance  the  session  to  which  he 
be  dismissed  be  allowed  to  review  or  rejudge  the  case. — 1849,  p.  239,  O.  S. 

7.  A  Suspended  Person  being  Restored  by  the  Superior  Courts 
may  Claim  Dismission  in  Good  Standing. 

a.  In  regard  to  the  complaint  of  Mr.  Dobbins,  against  the  session  of  the 
church  of  Augusta,  for  receiving  members  suspended  by  the  session  of  the 
church  of  Smyrna,  the  Assembly  are  of  opinion  that  both  sessions  acted 
unconstitutionally :  the  session  of  Smyrna  in  suspending  said  members, 
and  the  session  of  Augusta  in  i-eceiving  them  when  suspended.     Therefore, 


624  OF   DISCIPLINE. 

Resolved,  That  the  appeal,  on  this  complaint,  be  and  it  is  hereby  sus- 
tained ;  and  the  members  in  question  are  hereby  declared  to  be  still  mem- 
bers in  good  standing  in  the  church  of  Smyrna ;  and  the  session  of  the 
church  of  Smyrna  are  hereby  directed  to  dismiss  said  members  if  they  still 
desire  it,  that  they  may  regularly  connect  themselves  with  the  church  of 
Augusta.— 1824,  p.  124. 

b.  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  of  Nashville  having  fully  exonerated 
the  appellant  from  all  blame  in  the  matters  respecting  which  he  was 
charged  before  the  session  of  the  church  at  Clarksville,  his  character  is 
unimpeached,  and  that  he  is  now,  and  ever  has  been  since  the  action  of 
the  Presbytery  in  his  case,  entitled  to  a  dismission  from  the  church  at 
Clarksville,  whenever  applied  for,  in  order  to  connect  himself  with  any 
church  in  the  vicinity  of  his  present  residence. — 1849,  p.  237,  0.  S. 

8.  A  Dismission  may  be  Irregular,  yet  Valid. 

» 

A  memorial  from  individuals  in  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  formerly 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  INIr.  Davies,  asking  the  Assembly  to 
determine  whether  they  are  to  be  considered  members  of  the  Prospect 
church,  or  whether  their  dismission  from  the  church  of  Centre  is  to  be 
considered  null  and  void.  The  Committee  recommended  that  the  Assem- 
bly, while  not  approving  of  the  haste  and  confusion  with  which  their  dis- 
mission was  given,  declare  their  actual  connection  with  the  church  of 
Prospect  now  to  be  valid  and  I'egular.  The  recommendation  was  adopted. 
—1849,  p.  266,  O.  S. 

9.  Members  Removing'  should  be  Furnished  -with  Testimonials  of 
Standing,  and  should  be  Counseled  to  Transfer  their  Relations. 

Overture  No.  36,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Iowa,  asking  the  Assembly  to 
make  it  the  duty  of  every  church  to  give  a  letter  of  dismission  to  every 
member  when  removing  to  another  locality  where  there  is  a  Presbyterian 
church,  etc.     The  following  answer  was  adopted  : 

The  Committee  recommends  that  it  be  enjoined  upon  the  sessions  of  our 
churches,  on  the  removal  of  any  members  beyond  the  boundaries  of  their 
own  organizations,  to  furnish  such  members,  whether  in  full  communion 
or  members  by  baptism  only,  with  testimonials  of  their  standing ;  which 
testimonials  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  persons  at  once  to  present  to  some 
church  of  our  connection,  and  the  sessions  shall  earnestly  counsel  these 
members  to  transfer  their  relation  immediately,  if  practicable,  or  at  the 
earliest  opportunity. 

Also,  that  in  case  but  a  single  organization  of  our  order  is  within  reach 
of  the  parties  so  removed,  the  sessions  having  care  of  them  shall  transmit 
to  that  church  session  a  copy  of  the  testimonials  foregoing ;  if  there  be 
more  than  one  such  organization,  then  the  parties  transferred  may  elect  to 
which  organization  these  testimonials  shall  be  sent. — 1869,  p.  923,  O.  S. 

10.  Churches  Receiving  Members  by  Letter  should  Notify  the 
Church  from  which  they  come. 

Overture  No.  1,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Neosho,  on  the  dismission  of 
church  members. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  following  action  : 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  urge  upon  the  sessions  of  churches 
the  importance  of  giving  to  members  who  remove  from  them  either  letters 
of  dismission  and  recommendation  to  a  particular  church,  or,  in  case  of 


LIMITATION    OF   TIME.  625 

uncertain  destination,  letters  of  credence,  and  that,  on  the  reception  of 
members  from  other  churches,  they  notify  immediately  the  church  from 
•which  the  member  has  been  dismissed.  And  they  also  urge  upon  all  our 
churches  the  use  of  the  printed  blanks  for  the  dismission  and  reception  of 
members  furnished  by  our  Board  of  Publication. — 1871,  p.  587. 
\ 

II.  No  certificate  of  church-membership  shall  be  considered  as 
valid  testimony  of  the  good  standing  of  the  bearer,  if  it  be  more  than 
one  year  old,  except  where  there  has  been  no  opportunity  of  present- 
ing it  to  a  church. 

[It  is  not  meant  by  this  that  a  member  may  not  be  received  on  a  cer- 
tificate as  above,  but  that  it  leaves  the  matter  to  the  discretion  of  the  ses- 
sion, and  makes  inquiry  into  the  circumstances  a  duty.  A  certificate  is 
prima  facia  evidence  of  church  membership.  Its  age  may  call  in  ques- 
tion the  fidelity  of  the  member.  If  satisfied,  the  session  may  receive  him 
upon  it.] 

III.  When  persons  remove  to  a  distance,  and  neglect,  for  a  consid- 
erable time,  to  apply  for  testimonials  of  dismission  and  good  standing, 
the  testimonials  given  them  shall  testify  to  their  character  only  up  to 
the  time  of  their  removal,  unless  the  judicatory  have  good  informa- 
tion of  a  more  recent  date. 

1.  The  Standing  of  Members  Absent  and  Unknown.— Such  Absence 
■without  Certificate  itself  Censurable.— If  Willful,  they  should  be 
Suspended. 

a.  The  Committee  appointed  on  the  overture  from  the  Synod  of  New 
Jersey,  inquiring  what  a  church  session  ought  to  do  with  members  in  com- 
munion who  have  been  absent  for  years  without  having  taken  a  certificate 
of  dismission,  and  whose  place  of  residence  is  unknown,  made  a  report, 
which,  being  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

That  although  this  particular  case  is  not  provided  for  by  a  specific  reg- 
ulation in  our  Book  of  Discipline,  yet  it  is  embraced  by  certain  general 
principles,  which  are  recognized  in  that  book,  and  interwoven  with  many 
of  its  provisions.  These  principles,  together  with  the  result  bearing  on 
the  case  in  question,  the  Committee  beg  leave  most  respectfully  to  state : 

1.  Every  church  member  is  amenable  to  some  appropriate  tribunal,  by 
the  wisdom  and  fidelity  of  wliich,  in  case  of  his  falling  into  any  error, 
immorality  or  negligence,  he  niav  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  vrord  of 
God. 

2.  No  member  of  a  church  can  properly  ever  cease  to  be  such  but 
by  death,  exclusion,  a  regular  dismission,  or  an  orderly  withdrawing 
to  join  some  other  Christian  denomination;  and  must  of  necessity  con- 
tinue to  be  amenable  to  that  church  until  he  becomes  regularly  connected 
with  another. 

3.  For  a  church  member  to  withdraw  from  a  use  of  his  privileges  as  a 
member,  either  by  irregularly  connecting  himself  with  another  denomina- 
tion, or  by  going  to  a  distant  part  of  the  world  to  reside  for  a  number  of 
years,  without  making  known  his  removal  to  the  church  session,  and  ask- 
ing a  certificate  either  of  good  standing,  for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  occa- 
sional communion  elsewhere,  or  of  dismission,  to  join  some  other  church, 

79 


626  OF    DISCIPLINE. 

is  itself  a  censurable  violation  of  the  principles  of  church  fellowship,  and 
may  infer  suspension  from  its  privileges. 

4.  Church  members,  therefore,  who  have  been  absent  for  a  number  of 
years  in  unknown  places,  are  by  no  means  to  have  their  names  erased  from 
the  churches  to  which  they  respectively  belong,  but  are  to  be  held  respon- 
sible to  their  respective  churches ;  and  if  they  should  ever  return,  or  be 
heard  from,  are  to  be  regularly  dealt  with  according  to  the  word  of  God  and 
the  principles  of  our  Church;  and  although  great  caution  and  tenderness 
ought  to  be  exercised  toward  those  whose  withdrawing  from  Christian 
privileges  may  be  occasioned  by  the  unavoidable  dispensations  of  Provi- 
dence, without  any  material  fault  of  their  own,  yet  in  all  cases  in  which  a 
church  session  has  good  reason  to  believe  that  any  of  the  church  under 
their  care  have  absented  themselves  with  design,  either  from  a  disregard 
of  Christian  privilege  or  from  a  wish  to  escape  from  the  inspection  and 
discipline  of  the  Church,  they  ought,  without  unnecessary  delay,  to  declare 
such  persons  suspended  from  the  privileges  of  the  church  until  they  give 
evidence  of  repentance  and  reformation,  and  of  course,  in  making  their 
statistical  reports,  ought  to  enumei'ate  such  among  the  members  under 
suspension. — 1825,  pp.  138,  139. 

h.  A  Session  Sustained  for  Suspending  Members  for  Absenting  Themselves 
for  Years  xoithout  Certificate. 

The  records  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  were  approved, 
with  the  exception  of  the  action  of  the  Synod  (p.  381)  in  relation  to  the 
course  of  the  Presbytery  of  North  River  in  the  case  of  delinquent  church 
members.— 1853,  p.  323,  N.  S. 

[The  record  referred  to  is  as  follows,  viz.:  "The  Committee  on  the  Rec- 
ords of  the  Presbytery  of  Nortli  River  reported,  recommending  that  they 
be  approved  as  far  as  written,  with  the  following  exception,  viz.:  On  page 
18  the  Presbytery  refused  to  sustain  the  following  exception  to  the  records 
of  the  session  of  Freedom  Plains,  viz. : 

That  several  members  of  the  church  have  been  suspended  by  the  session 
simply  for  having  absented  themselves  for  years,  and  having  gone  beyond 
the  knowledge  of  the  session  without  applying  for  certificates.  The  report 
was  adopted. — Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Neiv  Jersey.'\ 

In  answer  to  a  protest  against  the  above,  the  Assembly  reply : 

It  is  fully  conceded  and  firmly  maintained  by  the  General  Assembly 
that,  in  all  cases  where  an  offender  can  be  reached  by  citation  and  brought 
to  trial,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  judicatory  to  which  he  is  directly  amenable, 
to  proceed  against  him  according  to  tlie  process  prescribed  by  the  Book 
of  Discipline. 

But  the  action  complained  of  by  the  dissentients  relates  to  a  very  dif- 
ferent class  of  cases.  The  individuals  in  question  have  absented  them- 
selves from  the  church  with  which  they  are  connected,  and  after  diligent 
inquiry  cannot  be  found.  They  are,  therefore,  beyond  the  reach  of  cita- 
tion. They  cannot  possibly  be  brought  to  trial.  Shall  the  Cliurch,  in 
such  cases,  be  responsible  for  them  ?  As  they  have  placed  themselves 
bevond  the  oversight  of  the  Church,  it  is  but  reasonable  that  the  Church 
should  be  })ermitted  to  secure  itself  against  any  reproach  which  might 
come  upon  it  from  the  conduct  of  such  absentees. 

In  accordance  with  these  principles,  the  Constitution  of  our  Church 
makes  provision  (Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  xi.)  for  the  case  of  absent 
church  members.  It  relieves  the  Church  from  the  responsibility  of  sus- 
taining a  certificate  of  good  standing  when  it  has  run  on  for  more  than 


LIMITATION   OF   TIME.  627 

one  year.  It  implies  that  a  church  member  may  not  absent  himself  a 
longer  time  from  the  ordinances,  without  a  forfeiture  of  his  good  stand- 
ing. In  those  cases,  therefore,  where  individuals  have  absented  them- 
selves for  years  together,  and  after  the  most  diligent  inquiry  cannot  be 
found,  it  is  but  right  that  the  session  of  the  church  to  which  they  are 
amenable  should  make  entry  of  the  fact  on  their  records,  and  declare 
such  persons  to  have  forfeited  their  good  standing,  until  they  return  and 
account  for  their  absence.  Such  was  the  judgment  of  the  Assembly  of 
1825,  with  which  this  Assembly  perfectly  accords. — 1853,  p.  327,  N.  S. 

2.  Such  Members  to  be  Entered  on  a  Reserved  Roll  and  not  Re- 

ported in  the  Statistics. 

Overture  No.  9,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Cedar,  asking  the  General  As- 
sembly to  authorize  our  church  sessions  to  keep  a  reserved  roll,  upon 
which  shall  be  entered  the  names  of  church  members  who  have  removed 
beyond  their  bounds  without  letters,  and  whose  residence  is  unknown,  and 
who  shall  not  be  reported  in  our  statistical  reports. 

The  Committee  recommend  that  this  i-equest  be  granted. 

The  report  was  adopted ;  and  it  was  accordingly  ordered,  that  sessions 
be  so  authorized. — 1856,  p.  521,  O.  S. 

3.  After  Two  Years  of  such  Absence  he  is  not  to  be  Reported. — 

Returning,  he  is  to  be  Called  to  Account. 

Also  a  report  on  Overture  No.  20,  which  asks  directions  how  church 
sessions  ought  to  proceed  with  regard  to  members  who  have  been  absent 
several  years  without  taking  a  dismission.  They  recommend  that  the 
overture  be  answered  by  saying : 

1.  That  members  of  the  CTiurch  do  not  cease  to  be  such  except  by 
death,  dismission,  excommunication,  or  by  connecting  themselves  with 
some  other  Christian  Church.  And  hence  that  a  member  does  not  lose 
his  membership  by  absence.  See  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  for 
1825,  p.  255;  Digest,  p.  34. 

2.  That  when  a  member  is  absent  two  years  and  his  place  of  residence 
and  Christian  life  are  unknown  to  the  session,  they  shall  mark  him  on  the 
roll  of  the  church  as  absent ;  after  which  time  such  member  shall  not  be 
counted  in  the  statistical  report  of  the  church  to  the  Presbytery,  nor  in 
any  action  of  the  church  or  congregation  which  requires  the  concurrence 
of  a  majority  of  the  church  in  order  to  give  it  validity.  And  on  the 
return  of  such  member  the  session  shall  call  him  before  them  and  inquire 
concerning  his  deportment  during  his  absence,  and  sKall  restore  his  name 
to  the  roll  of  actual  members,  or  px'oceed  to  administer  discipline  accord- 
ing as  the  case  may  require. 

The  report  was  adopted. — 1865,  p.  590,  O.  S. 

IV.  If  a  church  member  have  been  more  than  two  years  absent 
from  the  place  of  his  ordinary  residence  and  ecclesiastical  connexions, 
if  he  apply  for  a  certificate  of  membership,  his  absence,  and  the  igno- 
rance of  the  church  respecting  his  demeanor  for  that  time,  shall  be 
distinctly  stated  in  the  certificate. 

See  complaint  of  Rev.  N.  "West  against  the  Synod  of  New  York,  under 
Discipline,  chap,  i.,  sec.  iii.,  12,  «. — 186-4,  p.  328,  O.  S. 


628  OF  DISCIPLINE. 


1.  Names  of  those  Absent  more  than  Two  Years  not  to  be  Re- 
tiirned.  in  Statistical  Reports.— Absent  Members  Urged  to  Write 
■where  they  Reside. 

Overture  ISTo,  34,  from  the  Px-esbytery  of  Newark,  requesting  the  As- 
sembly to  proj)ose  an  amendment  to  the  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  xi.,  sec. 
iv.,  providing  for  the  cases  of  members  who  have  been  more  than  two 
years  absent  from  their  ecclesiastical  connection  ;  also,  No.  35,  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Cedar  Kapids ;  No,  36,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Lackawanna ; 
and  No.  37,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Maumee ;  all  on  the  same  general 
subject. 

The  Committee  recommend  the  following :  That,  while  the  Constitution 
of  the  Church  provides  for  no  demission  of  her  members,  or  the  striking 
off  of  names  from  her  roll,  save  as  the  result  of  death  or  of  excommu- 
nication, it  may  nevertheless  be  well  for  each  church  to  record,  on  a  sepa- 
rate list,  the  names  of  those  who  have  been  absent  for  more  than  two 
years  from  their  church  relations,  and  whose  residence  is  unknown  ;  and 
names  thus  recorded  may  be  omitted  in  the  statistical  returns  of  the 
church. 

It  is  further  the  sense  of  this  Assembly,  that  great  pains  be  taken  by 
the  sessions  of  the  churches  to  ascertain  the  places  of  residence  of  absent 
members,  and  encourage  them  to  enter  into  church  relations,  if  opportu- 
nity occurs,  whex'e  they  reside.     Adopted. — 1872,  p.  89. 

V.  Process,  in  case  of  scandal,  shall  commence  within  the  space  of 
one  year  after  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed ;  unless  it  shall 
have  recently  become  flagrant.  It  may  happen,  however,  that  a 
church  member,  after  removing  to  a  place  far  distant  from  his  former 
residence,  and  where  his  connexion  with  the  church  is  unknown,  may 
(iommit  a  crime,  on  account  of  which  process  cannot  be  instituted 
within  the  time  above  specified.  In  all  such  cases,  the  recent  discov- 
ery of  the  church  membership  of  the  individual,  shall  be  considered 
as  equivalent  to  the  crime  itself  having  recently  become  flagrant. 
The  same  principle  also  applies  to  ministers  if  similar  circumstances 
should  occur. 


1.  Limitation  not  to  be  Plead  against  the  Order  of  a  Superior 

Court. 

[In  a  case  carried  by  complaint  to  the  Synod  of  Mississippi,  the  Synod 
referred  the  whole  matter  back  to  the  Presbytery.  The  Presbytery  en- 
tered upon  the  case ;  but,  finding  that  two  years  had  elapsed  since  the  act 
was  committed,  declined  to  proceed  further,  on  the  ground  of  the  limita- 
tion above.]     The  Assembly  declared  : 

That  the  Presbytery  of  Louisiana  erred  in  pleading  the  limitation  of 
time  for  their  noncompliance  vvith  the  resolution  of  Synod,  referring  this 
whole  case  to  them  for  a  full  investigation, — 1850,  p.  481,  O.  S. 


LIMITATION  OF  TIME.  629 

2.  The  Plea  is  Good  -where  the  Oflfence  -was  Known  to  Members  of 
the  Judicatory  more  than  a  Year  before  Process  -was  Begun. 

Overture  No,  19  was  then  taken  up  from  the  docket,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

When  a  church  session  has  tabled  charges  against  a  church  member  for 
falsehood,  and  summoned  the  accused  with  the  witnesses,  is  it  competent 
for  the  session  to  dismiss  the  charges  on  the  plea  of  the  accused  that  a 
prosecution  is  barred  by  the  limitation  of  time  in  chap,  xi.,  sec.  xv.,  of 
the  Discipline  ("  Process  in  case  of  scandal,  etc."),  the  alleged  crime  hav- 
ing been  committed  and  "  become  flagrant,"  and  known  to  members  of 
session  more  than  twelve  months  before  process  was  instituted? 

The  Committee  recommended  that  this  inquiry  be  answered  in  the  aflBrm- 
ative.    Adopted.— 1857,  p.  42,  0.  S. 


BOOK  III. 

THE  DIRECTORY  FOR  WORSHIP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF  THE  SANCTIFICATION  OF  THE  LORD'S  DAY. 

1.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  person  to  remember  the  Lord's  day;  and 
to  prepare  for  it,  before  its  approach.  All  worldly  business  should  be 
so  ordered,  and  seasonably  laid  aside,  as  that  we  may  not  be  hindered 
thereby  from  sanctifying  the  Sabbath,  as  the  Holy  Scriptures  require. 

1.  The  Assembly  Petition  Congress  against  Carrying  and  Distrib- 
uting the  Mails  upon  the  Sabbath. 

a.  The  petition  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  to  the  honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled : 

Humbly  Sheweth — That  your  petitioners  view  with  deep  regret  the  in- 
fractions of  the  Lord's  day,  occasioned  by  the  opening  of  the  mail  on  that 
day,  and  the  circumstances  accompanying  such  opening. 

A  variety  of  considerations,  temporal  and  spiritual,  combine,  in  the 
judgment  of  your  petitioners,  to  produce  this  regret.  The  institution  of 
the  Sabbath  by  tlie  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  world,  whilst  it  clearly 
proves  his  benevolent  regard  for  men,  imposes  upon  them  the  reasonable 
obligation  of  devoting  this  day  to  his  service.  He  makes  it  their  dutv  to 
rest  from  the  toils  and  labors  of  six  days,  and  requires  from  them  that 
they  should  statedly  assemble  together  for  his  worship  on  the  seventh. 
Both  these  objects  contemplated  by  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  the 
opening  of  the  mail  on  that  day  and  the  circumstances  accompanyino-  it, 
do  contravene  and  oppose.  They  who  carry  the  mail  and  they  who  open 
it,  together  with  those  to  whom  letters  or  papers  are  delivered,  under  the 
sanction  of  civil  law,  neglect  the  public  worship  of  God  in  part  or  whole. 
Besides  this,  the  noise  and  confusion  attending  the  carrying  and  ojieniu"- 
of  the  mail  in  post  towns,  too  frequently  in  a  most  painful  manner  disturb 
the  devotion  of  those  who  prefer  their  spiritual  to  their  temporal  interests. 
Moreover,  the  carrying  of  the  mail  encourages  persons  to  hire  out  their 
carriages  on  the  Lord's  day  to  those  who  have  no  fear  of  God  before  their 
eyes,  thus  adding  to  the  open  violation  of  the  day;  and  to  say  no  more, 
the  brute  creatures  are  made  to  work  on  this  day  over  and  above  the  six 
days,  and  thus  are  deprived  of  the  rest  to  which  they  are  entitled  by  the 
autliority  of  God,  whilst  they  are  forced  to  administer  to  the  cupidity  of 
those  who  forget  the  truth,  that  "  the  righteous  man  is  merciful  to  his 
beast." 

631 


632  THE   DIEECTORY   FOR  WORSHIP. 

Your  petitioners  are  the  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
observing  the  Sabbath,  on  account  of  the  influence  which  such  observance 
has  in  promoting  true  morality  and  social  happiness. 

On  this  day  all  classes  of  men  assemble  together  in  the  presence  of  God 
on  terms  of  perfect  equality,  for  in  his  presence  the  ruler  is  not  more  im- 
portant than  the  ruled,  since  both  meet  as  sinners  needing  the  exercise  of 
sovereign  and  free  mercy. 

On  this  day  they  are  taught  from  the  Scriptures,  the  only  source  of 
truth,  their  duty,  their  interest  and  their  happiness. 

On  this  day  they  unite  according  to  the  direction  of  God,  in  prayer  for 
all  men — for  magistrates  as  well  as  subjects — for  the  nation  as  well  as  in- 
dividuals— for  every  description  of  persons.  ^ 

On  this  day  they  manifest  the  gratitude  which  they  owe  to  God  for  ben- 
efits received,  thanking  him  for  his  mercies,  and  supplicating  his  grace. 

The  effects  arising  from  the  duties  in  which  they  engage,  the  instruc- 
tion which  they  receive,  and  their  assembling  together  before  God,  are  all 
calculated  to  produce  such  a  state  of  heart  and  such  a  line  of  conduct,  as 
directly  promote  individual  and  social  happiness. 

Your  petitioners  are  aware  of  the  plea  which  is  used  to  justify  the  in- 
fractions of  the  Sabbath,  of  which  we  complain.  Works  of  necessity,  such 
as  arise  out  of  extraordinary  circumstances,  or  such  as  are  unavoidable  for 
the  support  and  comfort  of  life,  together  with  works  of  charity,  are  ad- 
mitted to  be  lawful,  for  God  delighteth  in  mercy  rather  than  sacrifice. 
But  your  petitioners  cannot  conceive  that  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life, 
in  ordinary  times,  or  the  exercise  of  charity,  require  such  infractions  of 
the  Sabbath  as  are  occasioned  by  the  carrying  or  opening  of  the  mail  on 
that  day.  For  the  cases  of  sickness,  to  take  one  of  the  strongest  and  most 
plausible  facts  included  in  the  plea  of  necessity,  which  are  communicated 
by  the  mail,  are  too  few,  and  happen  at  intervals  too  long,  to  justify  the 
habitual  breach  of  the  Sabbath.  As  to  the  ordinary  business  of  life,  any 
prospect  of  gain,  or  fear  of  loss,  cannot  be  admitted  as  legitimate  causes 
for  disobeying  the  command  of  God  to  keep  the  Sabbath  holy.  No  one 
ever  yet  has  suffered,  or  will  suffer,  in  obeying  God,  rather  than  his  cupid- 
ity, his  ambition,  or  his  lusts. 

Your  petitioners,  moreover,  feel  themselves  constrained  in  their  office 
as  rulers  in  the  Church,  to  exercise  the  discij^line  of  that  Church  against 
those  of  their  members  who  break  the  Sabbath  in  the  carrying  or  opening 
of  the  mail  on  that  day.  In  doing  this  they  are  not  conscious  of  any  dis- 
respect to  the  civil  authority  of  the  land.  They  wish  to  render  unto 
Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's,  but  must,  at  every  hazard,  render 
unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's.  In  thus  honoring  God  more  than 
men,  they  trust  their  motives  will  be  respected,  and  their  conduct  ap- 
proved. 

Your  petitioners  are  the  more  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
a  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  necessity  of  an  alteration  in 
the  existing  regulations  of  the  i)ost-ofHce,  as  far  as  they  relate  to  the  Sab- 
bath, from  the  prospect  of  a  war.  As  they  firmly  believe  in  the  special 
l)rovi<.lence  of  God,  and  that  this  providence  is  exercised  according  to 
those  principles  of  truth  and  equity  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  they  fear, 
and  have  just  reason  to  fear,  that  the  infractions  of  tlie  Sabbatii  allowed 
by  civil  law,  will  draw  down  upon  our  nation  the  divine  displeasure.  God 
honors  those  who  honor  him,  and  casts  down  those  who  forget  him.  Obe- 
dience to  his  will  adds  dignity  to  rulers,  and  enforces  subjection  in  thosa 
who  are  ruled. 

From  all  these  considerations  which  have  been  given  in  detail,  your 


OF   THE  SANCTIFICATION   OF   THE   LORD's   DAY.  633 

petitioners  pray  for  such  an  alteration  in  the  law  relative  to  the  mails,  as 
will  prevent  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  which  now  takes  place  in 
conveying  and  opening  the  mail.  And  your  petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound, 
Avill  ever  pray,  etc. 

Ordered,  That  this  petition  be  signed  by  the  moderator,  and  attested  by 
the  clerk,  and  be  committed  to  the  moderator  to  forward  to  Congress, — 

1812,  p.  513. 

b.  Dr.  Flinn,  to  whom  was  committed  the  petition  of  the  last  Assembly 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  on  the  subject  of  carrying  and  open- 
ing the  mail  on  the  Sabbath,  reported  that  he  put  the  petition  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Cheves,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  who 
afterward  informed  him  that  the  prayer  of  the  petition  was  not  granted. 

1813,  p.  519. 

c.  In  1814  a  petition  on  the  same  subject  w^as  prepared,  and  the  Pres- 
byteries directed  to  take  order  for  circulating  the  same,  and  forwarding  it 
to  Congress. — 1814,  p.  566.     For  like  action  see  1815,  pp.  597,  601. 

II.  The  whole  day  is  to  be  kept  holy  to  the  Lord;  and  to  be 
employed  in  the  public  and  private  exercises  of  religion.  Therefore, 
it  is  requisite,  that  there  be  a  holy  resting,  all  the  day,  from  unneces- 
sary labors;  and  an  abstaining  from  those  recreations  which  may  be 
lawful  on  other  days ;  and  also,  as  much  as  possible,  from  worldly 
thoughts  and  conversation. 

Deliverance  on  the  Profanation  of  the  Sabbath. 

a.  The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  overture  respecting  the 
profanation  of  the  Lord's  day,  presented  the  following  resolutions,  which 
were  adopted,  viz. : 

1st.  Remlved,  That  this  Assembly  regard  with  pain  and  deep  regret 
the  profanation  of  the  Lord's  day,  which  exists  in  our  country  in  various 
forms,  and  which  is  calculated  in  an  alarming  degree  to  create  a  neglect 
(if  public  worship,  a  contempt  of  the  authority  of  Almighty  God,  a  cor- 
iLiption  of  morals,  and  eventually  to  bring  down  the  judgment  of  God  on 
our  land. 

2d.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  repeat  the  warnings  which  have  here- 
tofore been  frequently  given  on  this  subject,  and  do  solemnly  and  earn- 
estly exhort  the  churches  and  individuals  in  their  connection  to  avoid  a 
participation  in  the  guilt  of  profaning  this  holy  day. 

3d.  Remlved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  the  ministers  of  the 
Presbyterian  churches  who  have  pastoral  charges,  frequently  and  solemnly 
to  address  their  people  on  the  subject  of  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's 
day,  and  to  urge  its  vital  importance  to  our  moral,  social  and  civil,  as 
well  as  religious  welfare. 

4th.  Remlved,  That  it  be  solemnly  enjoined  on  all  the  Presbyteries  and 
church  sessions  in  our  connection  to  exercise  discipline  on  their  respective 
members  whenever  guilty  of  violating  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath  ;  and 
that  an  inquiry  should  be  annually  instituted  in  each  Presbytery  relative 
to  this  subject;  and  that  each  pastor  should  at  the  earliest  opportunity 
practicable  present  this  subject  in  all  its  solemn  imi)ortance  to  the  session 
of  the  church  under  his  pastoral  charge,  and  invite  the  co-operation  of  its 
members  in  all  proper  and  prudent  measures  for  the  suppression  of  Sab- 
bath-breaking:— and  further,  that  it  be  recommended  to  all  our  ministers 
and  church  members  when  traveling,  to  give  preference  to  such  livery  es- 

80 


334  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

tablishments,  steamboats,  caual  boats  and  other  public  vehicles,  as  do  not 
violate  the  law  of  God  aud  of  the  land  in  relation  to  the  Sabbath. — 1826, 
p.  182. 

b.  Discipline  to  be  Enforced  for  Violation  of  the  Sabbath. 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  renewedly  enjoin  upon  their  Presbyteries 
and  churches  the  duty  of  enforcing  the  discipline  of  the  Church  in  every 
case  of  a  violation  of  the  Sabbath. — 1828,  p.  242. 

c.  The  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  is  certainly  increasing  with  fearful 
rapidity  in  almost  every  part  of  our  beloved  country.  A  solemn  aud 
alarming  crisis  has  already  come.  Unless  the  slumbering  energies  of  the 
Church  are  speedily  aroused  to  arrest  the  progress  of  this  growing  evil, 
the  entire  obliteration  of  the  Sabbath  will  at  no  distant  period  be  the  result. 
It  is  necessary  only  to  look  into  our  large  cities  and  villages  on  the  Sab- 
bath, or  to  glance  the  eye  along  our  navigable  rivers  and  over  our  beauti- 
ful lakes,  or  to  trace  the  extended  lines  of  our  canals  and  railroads,  or 
listen  to  the  perpetual  rumbling  of  loaded  vehicles  on  all  our  traveled 
routes,  in  order  to  be  convinced  that  Sabbath-breaking  has  already  be- 
come a  sin  of  giant  growth  in  our  land.  It  is,  indeed,  a  wide-spread, 
deep-seated,  unblushing  evil.  It  enters  boldly  into  almost  every  com- 
mercial interest  in  the  country,  and  embraces,  directly  or  indirectly,  in 
its  broad  sweep  of  mischief,  a  vast  multitude  of  individuals;  and  what  is 
still  worse,  an  alarming  projDortion  of  these  offenders  belong  to  the  Church 
of  the  living  God.  Here  is  the  root  of  the  evil.  The  Church  has  become 
a  deliberate  partaker  in  this  great  sin.  In  this  way  has  her  warning 
voice  been  wellnigh  silenced,  her  redeeming  power  over  the  community 
paralyzed,  and  the  salutary  restraints  of  a  consistent  example  effectually 
vacated.  Keformation,  then,  must  begin  at  the  house  of  God.  If  the 
Church  alone  can  save  the  Sabbath  from  being  abolished,  she  must  first 
reform  her  own  conduct.  In  entering  upon  the  work,  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  in  its  failure  or  success  are  involved  the  best  interests  of  the 
Church,  of  our  country  and  the  world.  The  rest  of  the  Sabbath  is  the 
only  wise  and  adequate  provision  for  the  wants  of  the  animal  system.  The 
influence  of  the  Sabbath  can  alone  be  relied  on  to  sustain  our  free  institu- 
tions, to  extend  the  empire  of  law,  to  preserve  domestic  order  and  happi- 
ness, and  to  continue  the  bare  existence  of  morality  and  religion  in  the 
world.  The  abandonment  of  the  Sabbath  is,  therefore,  nothing  less  than 
resigning  all  that  is  sacred  and  dear  to  a  Christian  people  for  time  and 
for  eternity.  It  is  certain  that  whatever  is  done  to  rebuke  and  arrest  the 
profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  must  be  done  immediately.  The  work  of 
reform  cannot  be  delayed  without  hazarding  the  irretrievable  loss  of  all 
the  blessings  which  flow  from  the  observance  of  that  day.  The  task  has 
already  become  formidable  and  difficult.  It  is  not,  however,  altogether 
hopeless.  The  Sabbath  may  yet  be  restored,  and  its  blessings  perpetuated. 
The  Church  and  the  ministry  can,  under  God,  do  all  that  the  exigency  de- 
mands. Let  this  Assembly  do  their  whole  duty ;  let  them  lift  up  a  voice 
of  strength ;  let  them  send  out  a  loud  note  of  alarm  ;  let  them  determine, 
in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  to  carry  out,  in  their  practical  relation  to  the 
Sabbath,  the  true  principles  of  Christian  discipline,  and  the  whole  Church 
may  be  cleansed,  the  Sabbath  reinstated,  and  this  great  and  guilty  nation 
saved.  Till  this  is  done,  the  power  of  every  other  Christian  enterprise 
•will  be  circumscribed  and  fluctuating.  Nothing  that  is  pure  and  holy 
can  flourish  without  the  Sabbath.  The  Sabbath  reform  is  the  fundamen- 
tal enterprise.     It  is  utterly  vain  to  think  of  substituting  any  other  con- 


or   THE  SANCTIFICATION   OF   THE   LORD's   DAY.  635 

servative  power.  The  question  of  rescuing  the  Sabbath  from  general 
profanation  is,  absolutely,  a  question  of  life  and  death  to  every  Christian 
denomination  in  the  world.  Such  is  the  momentous  nature  of  the  subject 
under  consideration.  Your  Committee  rejoice  that  in  this  work  all  hearts 
may  unite  and  every  minor  difference  be  forgotten.  Here  is  common 
ground.  The  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  is  the  inheritance  of  all  true  Chris- 
tians, and  there  is  work  enough  for  all.  The  Church  must  revive  her 
wholesome  discipline.  The  ministry  must  cry  aloud  and  spare  not.  The 
press  must  be  enlisted — the  whole  community  aroused.  The  entire  instru- 
mentality which  God  has  prepared  for  preserving  his  own  institutions 
must  be  called  forth,  and  kept  in  untiring  requisition.  For  the  purpose 
of  enabling  the  General  Assembly  more  effectually  to  speak  their  senti- 
ments to  the  churches  and  the  nation,  your  Committee  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolutions : 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  indispensable  to  the 
preservation  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  furnishes  tlie  only  security 
for  eminent  and  abiding  prosperity,  either  to  the  Church  or  the  world. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  growing  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  in  our  country 
must  be  speedily  arrested,  and  the  habits  of  the  community  essentially 
reformed,  or  the  blessings  of  the  Sabbath,  civil,  social  and  religious,  will 
soon  be  irrecoverably  lost. 

3.  Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  the  work  of  a  general  reformation  be- 
longs, under  God,  to  the  Christian  Church,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to 
apply  the  corrections  of  a  firm  and  efficient  discipline  to  all  known  viola- 
tions of  the  Sabbath  on  the  part  of  her  members. 

4.  Resolved,  That  inasmuch  as  ministers  of  the  gospel  must  act  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  every  successful  effort  to  do  away  the  sin  of  Sabbath- 
breaking,  it  is  their  dutj'  to  observe,  both  in  their  preaching  and  their 
practice,  the  rule  of  entire  abstinence  from  all  profanation  of  the  Lord's 
day,  studiously  avoiding  even  the  appearance  of  evil. 

5.  Resolved,  That  in  the  judgment  of  this  General  Assembly,  the  own- 
ers of  stock  in  steamboats,  canals,  railroads,  etc.,  which  are  in  the  habit  of 
violating  the  Sabbath,  are  lending  their  property  and  their  influence  to  one 
of  the  most  widespread,  alarming  and  deplorable  systems  of  Sabbath  des- 
ecration which  now  grieves  the  hearts  of  the  pious,  and  disgraces  the  Church 
of  God. 

That  it  be  respectfully  recommended  to  the  friends  of  the  Lord's  day, 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  establish  such  means  of  public  conveyance  as  shall 
relieve  the  friends  of  the  Sabbath  from  the  necessity  under  which  they  now 
labor,  of  traveling  at  any  time  in  vehicles  which  habitually  violate  that 
holy  day,  and  thus  prevent  them  from  being  in  any  way  partakers  in  other 
men's  sins  in  this  respect. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  power  of  the  pulpit  and  the  press  must  be  imme- 
diately put  in  requisition  on  behalf  of  a  dishonored  Sabbath,  that  the  mag- 
nitude and  remedy  of  the  evils  which  its  violation  involves  may  be  fully 
understood  by  the  whole  community. 

7.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  solemnly  enjoin  it  upon  the  churches 
under  their  care  to  adopt,  without  delay,  all  proper  measures  for  accom- 
plishing a  general  and  permanent  reformation  from  the  sin  of  Sabbath- 
breaking  and  all  its  attendant  evils. 

8.  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  one  from  each  Synod  under  the  care 
of  this  Assembly  be  now  appointed  to  hold  correspondence  with  ministers 
and  churches,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  and  applying  the  leading 
principles  of  the  foregoing  report  and  resolutions. 

9.  Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  report  and  resolutions  be  published  in 


636  THE   DIRECTORY  FOR   WORSHIP. 

such  newspapers,  secular  and  religious,  as  are  friendly  to  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath. 

10.  Resolved,  That  all  the  ministers  in  the  bounds  of  the  General  As- 
sembly be  requested  to  read  the  document  on  the  Sabbath  from  their  sev- 
eral pulpits,  and  preach  on  the  whole  subject  which  it  embraces  on  or  be- 
fore the  third  Sabbath  of  September  next. — 1836,  p.  281. 

2.  For  the  better  Observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  5,  to  wit,  A  memo- 
rial from  the  Presbytery  of  Cleveland  on  the  subject  of  Sabbath  mails, 
having  been  instructed  to  report  on  the  general  subject  of  Sabbath  dese- 
cration, submit  the  following : 

In  the  deliberate  judgment  of  your  Committee,  it  is  an  unquestionable 
fact  that,  in  despite  of  all  which  has  been  said  and  done  to  check  it,  the 
profanation  of  the  Lord's  day  is,  on  the  whole,  increasing.  There  are,  in- 
deed, some  local  and  cheering  exceptions  to  this  remark,  which  we  are 
happy  to  acknowledge.  As  a  national  sin,  however,  it  steadily  gathers 
strength,  and  puts  on  a  more  unblushing  face  every  year.  We  hear 
much  of  the  moral  machinery  \yhich  has  been  set  in  motion  for  the  salva- 
tion of  our  country  and  of  the  world — of  the  blessed  light  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  and  the  glory  of  our  free  institutions.  Too  often  do  we 
seem  to  forget  that  the  very  institution  which  is  the  chief  support  of  lib- 
erty, learning  and  religion,  is  itself  standing  in  fearful  jeopardy.  All 
those  whose  lot  is  cast  in  any  of  the  great  centres  of  business,  or  on  any 
of  the  principal  avenues  of  intercommunication,  know  that  what  your 
Committee  assert  is  true.  Their  own  eyes  have  seen  it,  their  own  ears 
have  heard  it,  and  their  hearts  have  bled  over  it  a  thousand  times.  It  is, 
in  fact,  universally  conceded,  that  the  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  has  be- 
come a  giant  evil,  calling  loudly  for  the  most  efficient  measures  of  reform. 
Your  Committee  desire  not  unnecessarily  to  publish  the  faults  of  the 
Christian  Church.  But  they  are  compelled  to  confess,  that  in  many 
parts  of  the  country  the  frequent  violations  of  the  Sabbath  by  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  and  by  other  professors  of  religion,  is  a  serious  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  all  attempts  at  radical  and  permanent  reformation.  Till  the 
ministry  and  the  Church  have  purified  themselves,  all  else  will  be,  as  it 
has  been,  "beating  the  air."  Traveling  on  the  Sabbath,  a  practice  to 
which  the  convocation  of  the  highest  judicatory  of  our  Church  lends  its 
guilty  sanction ;  voluntaiy  participation  in  enterprises  and  improvements 
which  are  prosecuted  at  the  expense  of  the  Sabbath  ;  the  legalized  pro- 
fanation of  this  holy  day  by  the  transmission  of  the  mail  on  all  the  prin- 
cipal routes ;  and  the  frequent  neglect  of  Church  discipline,  are  among 
the  many  causes  of  the  rajnd  spread  of  this  enormous  evil.  The  bare 
enumeration  of  these  causes  suggests  the  proper  remedy.  Resolutions, 
addresses,  conventions,  and  all  the  stirring  appeals  which  the  subject  has 
called  forth,  are,  by  themselves,  utterly  ineffectual.  The  leviathan  with 
which  we  are  now  contending  is  not  to  be  so  tamed.  A  more  potent  cor- 
rective must  be  applied,  or  we  shall  become  more  and  more  a  nation  of 
Sabbath-breakers.  The  Church  undoubtedly  possesses  the  power  to 
cleanse  her  own  garments,  and  till  she  has  done  this,  she  has  no  strength 
to  put  on  for  the  reformation  of  others.  Having  done  this,  the  next  step 
will  be  to  lift  up  a  united  voice  against  all  that  immoral  legislation  be- 
hind which  the  sin  of  Sabbath-breaking  now  stands  entrenched.  What 
has  been  found  true  in  the  "  Temperance  Reform,"  will  be  found  true  in 
the  "  Sabbath  Reform."     The  sanction  of  law  must  be  removed  from 


OF   THE   SANCTIFICATION   OF    THE   LOED's   DAY.  637 

every  evil  which  you  would  frown  upon  and  exterminate.  To  do  this, 
the  public  mind  must  be  waked  up,  and  held  awake  till  the  combined  en- 
ergy of  patriotism  and  piety  is  enlisted  and  pledged  for  the  protection  of 
the  Sabbath  against  every  tangible  form  of  profanation  and  abuse.  Your 
Committee  accordingly  recommend  for  your  adoption  the  following  res- 
olutions, viz. : 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  regard  the  prosecution  of  a  journey  on 
any  part  of  the  Sabbath,  whether  by  ministers,  elders  or  church  mem- 
bers, for  the  sake  of  convenience  or  of  avoiding  expense,  as  deserving  of 
special  notice  and  unqualified  disapprobation. 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  aft'ectionately  urge  upon  all  the  judi- 
catories of  the  Church  to  take  suitable  measures  for  enforcing  the  wise 
discipline  of  the  Church  against  all  violations  of  the  Sabbath  within  their 
own  cognizance  and  jurisdiction. 

Resolved,  T\\?ii  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Christian  ministry  to  unite  in  more 
concentrated  and  persevering  efibrt  to  assert  the  claims  of  the  Christian 
Sabbath  upon  the  habitual  regard  of  the  whole  community. 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  will  give  its  most  cordial  approbation  to 
any  and  every  wise  plan  for  uniting  the  sympathies  and  strength  of  all 
evangelical  denominations  in  defence  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  nine  be  appointed  to  correspond  w'ith 
other  evangelical  denominations  on  the  subject  of  measures  for  promoting 
a  better  observance  of  the  Lord's  day. 

Resolved,  That  the  clerks  of  this  Assembly  be  requested  to  cause  these 
resolutions  to  be  officially  published  and  circulated  as  widely  as  possible, 
through  the  religious  press,  and- that  all  ministers  within  our  bounds  be 
requested  to  present  them  before  their  respective  congregations. — 1838, 
pp.  058,  659,  N.  S. 

[See  also  Minutes,  1840,  p.  14  ;  1843,  p.  13  ;  1846,  p.  15,  K  S. ;  1859, 
p.  534  ;  1861,  p.  316,  O.  S.,  for  substantially  the  same  action. 

3.  Church  Sessions  enjoined  to  greater  Fidehty. 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  made  a  report  on  the  subject 
of  the  Sabbath,  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows  : 

The  Assembly  are  at  a  loss  what  to  say  more  than  what  they  have  repeat- 
edly said,  by  way  of  urging  on  all  our  churches  and  congregations,  and  the 
community  generally,  a  better  observance  of  the  holy  Sabbath.  Of  its 
divine  original  and  authority  we  have  no  doubt.  Nor  can  we  doubt  its 
indisputable  necessity  in  keeping  up  the  institutions  of  religion,  and  pro- 
moting the  cause  of  salvation  and  pure  morality.  What  could  we  do 
without  the  Sabbath  ?  And  where,  in  half  a  century,  will  be  our  glorious 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  if  the  terrible  process  of  Sabbath  desecration 
be  permitted  to  go  on  as  it  has  done  for  the  past  ten  years?  Let  the  his- 
tory of  other  nations  answer.  Let  the  fearful  declarations  of  God's  word 
admonish  us  to  anticipate  the  result.  "  For  the  nation  and  kingdom  that 
will  not  serve  thee  shall  perish." 

While,  therefore,  we  earnestly  entreat  our  fellow-citizens  of  every  class 
"  to  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy,"  the  Assembly  do  hereby, 
in  a  special  manner,  enjoin  it  upon  the  church  sessions  to  w'atch  over  their 
brethren  with  tenderness  and  great  fidelity  in  respect  to  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  ;  and  to  exercise  wholesome  discipline  on  those  who,  by 
traveling  or  other  ways,  presume  to  trample  upon  this  sacred  institution. 
And  we  further  enjoin  it  upon  the  Presbyteries  annually  to  institute  in- 
quiries of  the  eldership  as  to  the  manner  in  which  this  injunction  has  been 
attended  to  in  their  respective  churches. — 1853,  p.  323,  N.  S. 


638  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 


4.  Resolutions  on  the  Sanctification  of  the  Sabbath. 

Resolved,  1.  That,  inasmuch  as  "the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,"  by 
the  omniscient  God,  and  is  indispensable  to  our  highest  social,  civil  and 
religious  welfare,  this  General  Assembly  regards  it  as  not  only  the  duty, 
but  the  right  and  privilege  of  all  men  to  "  remember  the  Sabbath  day  to 
keep  it  holy." 

2.  That,  as  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  is  divinely  given,  without  limitation 
of  time,  and  unrepealed,  its  claims  for  our  obedience  are  supreme  and 
perpetual. 

3.  That,  in  order  to  give  full  power  to  the  gospel  in  the  salvation  of 
souls,  professors  of  religion,  and  ministers  of  the  gospel  especially,  should 
carefully  sanctify  the  Lord's  day,  and  give  no  countenance,  directly  or 
indirectly,  to  its  desecration. 

4.  That  the  physical  and  mental,  as  well  as  moral  interests  of  man 
demand  the  day  of  holy  rest;  and  that  the  entire  community  should 
manifest  a  grateful  appreciation  of  this  gift  of  heaven,  by  an  unperverted 
sacred  observance  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

5.  That,  at  this  time  of  public  strife,  of  fearful  anxiety  and  suffering, 
while  we  are  heartily  loyal  to  our  Government,  we  should  most  sincerely 
deprecate  and  deplore  any  unnecessary  labor,  review  or  battle  on  the 
Lord's  day ;  lest,  by  disloyalty  to  God,  we  dishonor  him,  incur  his  fierce 
indignation,  and,  as  a  sad  result,  meet  with  signal  defeat  to  our  arms,  and 
terrible  calamities  to  our  nation^  from  Him  who  is  the  God  of  battles  and 
of  nations,  and  who  honors  them  that  honor  him. 

6.  That  it  be  earnestly  requested  of  all  the  pastors  of  our  churches, 
fully  to  instruct  their  people  as  to  the  duty  and  importance  of  carefully 
sanctifying  the  entire  Sabbath,  individually,  in  the  family,  and  in  the 
community ;  in  order  that  its  healthful  instructions,  and  its  holy,  saving 
influence,  may  everywhere  permeate  the  State,  the  nation  and  the  world. 

7.  That  each  jDastor  and  stated  supply  of  our  churches  be  requested,  at 
some  time  during  the  present  year,  to  preach  especially  upon  the  Sanctifi- 
cation of  the  Christian  Sabbath. — 1863,  pp.  245,  246,  N.  S. 

These  Deliverances  Reaffirmed. —  Opening  of  Sabbath  Art  Galleries  Dis- 
approved of. 

In  answer  to  overture,  the  Committee  recommend  that  in  view  of  former 
frequent  and  full  deliverances  of  the  Assembly  on  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  there  is  no  necessity  for  further  action  at  the  present  time,  except 
to  reaffirm  these  deliverances,  and  to  adopt  the  following: 

Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  express  their  disapproval  of  the 
opening  on  the  Sabbath  of  art  galleries,  places  of  recreation  and  amuse- 
ment, and  all  such  libraries  and  reading  rooms  as  by  offering  secular  read- 
ing invite  men  to  violate  the  command  of  God,  that  men  "  Remember  the 
Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy."     Adopted.— 1872,  p.  71. 

[See  also  Form  of  Government,  chap,  xii.,  sec.  v. ;  Pastoral  Letters  8 
and  16.] 

This  Assembly  noAv  reaffirms  the  deliverances  of  previous  Assemblies, 
regarding  the  sacredncss  of  the  Sabbath. — 1873,  p.  564. 

5.  Traveling  on  the  Sabbath  Condemned. 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  view  with  unfeigned  sorrow  and  regret 
the  practice  of  traveling,,  by  professors  of  religion  and  others,  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  and  that  it  considers  all  such  traveling,  which  is  not  strictly 


OF   THE  SA^CTIFICATIOX   OF   THE   LOED's   DAY.  639 

included  in  works  of  necessity  and  mercy,  as  a  direct  violation  of  the  law 
of  God.— 1850,  p.  482,  O.  S. 

6.  Decoration  of  Soldiers'  Graves  upon  the  Sabbath  Disapproved. 

a.  Resolved,  That  while  this  Assembly  sympathize  most  heartily  with  the 
noble  and  touching  tribute  to  be  paid  to  the  memory  of  our  buried  sol- 
diers whose  lives  were  sacrificed  in  the  cause  of  the  Union,  as,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  their  graves  are  to  be  deco- 
rated with  floral  offerings,  yet  we  enter  our  most  earnest  protest  against 
the  proposed  unnecessary  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  for  this  purpose  ;  and 
urgently  request  the  proper  authorities  to  appoint  the  next  Saturday  as 
the  time  for  this  interesting  ceremony. 

A  Committee,  consisting  of  the  Rev.  Zephaniah  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  the 
Rev.  Benjamin  W.  Chidlaw,  and  Mr.  Frederick  Starr,  was  appointed  to 
report  this  action  of  the  Assembly  to  the  officers  of  the  Grand  Army,  and 
to  make  such  further  publication  as  may  seem  to  be  called  for.— 1869, 
p.  259,  N.  S. 

h.  The  Committee  on  communicating  with  "the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,"  reported  a  paper  which  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  takes  great  pleas- 
ure in  acknowledging  the  invitation  of  the  Kings  County  Department 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  to  attend  an(l  take  part  in  the  cere- 
mony of  decorating  the  graves  of  our  dead  soldiers  on  Monday  next. 

It  gives  us  great  pleasure  to  observe  that  this  ceremony  is  not  to  take 
place  on  the  Sabbath  ;  and  we  recommend  that  as  many  of  the  members 
of  the  Assembly,  as  can  be  spared  from  their  other  duties,  shall  engage 
in  offering  this  beautiful  and  appropriate  tribute  of  patriotic  memory  and 
love.— 1869,  p.  282,  N.  S. 

c.  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the  proper 
authorities  connected  with  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Rej)ublic,  and  urgently 
to  request  that  the  day  be  changed  from  Sabbath  (8()th)  to  .Saturday,  29th. 

Ministers  W.  C.  Anderson,  D.  D.,  A.  L.  Blackford,  and  Smith  F.  Grier, 
with  Riding  Elders  Van  Cleve  and  Morris  Patterson,  were  appointed  as 
said  Committee.— 1869,  p.  900,  O.  S. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted,  viz.  : 

The  Committee  appointed  to  confer  with  the  authorities  with  reference 
to  a  change  in  the  day  designated  for  decorating  the  graves  of  our  fallen 
soldiers,  re])orts  that  it  waited  on  the  Committee  having  this  matter  in 
charge  in  this  city,  and  laid  before  it  the  action  of  this  Assembly,  but  was 
informed  by  the  secretary  that  arrangements  had  been  already  completed 
for  performing  the  ceremony  on  the  Sabbath,  and  that  no  change  could  be 
made.  Yet  your  Committee  rejoices  that  a  change  has  been  made  in 
several  of  the  surrounding  cities,  and  that  a  general  order  has  been  sent 
forth  requiring  a  change  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  our  country  ;  also, 
that  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  ordered  such  a  change  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.— 1869,  p.  920,  O.  S. 

III.  Let  the  provisions,  for  the  support  of  the  family  on  that  day, 
be  so  ordered,  that  servants,  or  others,  be  not  improperly  detained 
from  the  public  worship  of  God ;  nor  hindered  from  sanctifying  the 
Sabbath. 

IV.  Let  every  person,  and  family,  in  the  morning,  by  secret  and 
private  prayer,  for  themselves  and  others,  especially  for  the  assist- 


640  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR   WORSHIP. 

auce  of  God  to  their  minister,  and  for  a  blessing  upon  his  ministry, 
by  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  by  holy  meditation,  prepare  for  com- 
munion with  God  in  his  public  ordinances. 

V.  Let  the  peoj)le  be  careful  to  assemble  at  the  appointed  time; 
that,  being  all  present  at  the  beginning,  they  may  unite,  with  one 
heart,  in  all  the  parts  of  public  worship;  and  let  none  unnecessarily 
depart,  till  after  the  blessing  be  pronounced. 

VI.  Let  the  time,  after  the  solemn  services  of  the  congregation  in 
public  are  over,  be  spent  in  reading ;  meditation ;  repeating  of  ser- 
mons; catechising;  religious  conversation ;  prayer  for  a  blessing  upon 
the  public  ordinances ;  the  singing  of  psalms,  hymns,  or  spiritual 
songs ;  visiting  the  sick  ;  relieving  the  poor,  and  in  performing  such 
like  duties  of  piety,  charity,  and  mercy. 

1.  Instruction  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Resolved,  1.  That  it  be  recommended,  and  it  is  hereby  recommended, 
earnestly  to  the  ministers  and  sessions  which  are  in  connection  with  the 
General  Assembly,  to  pay  especial  attention  to  this  subject,  and  provide 
without  delay  for  the  stated  instruction  of  the  children  and  youth  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures  within  their  respective  congregations. 

Resolved,  2.  That  although  the  particular  manner  of  instruction  and 
recitation  in  the  congi-egations  ought  to  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  their 
ministers  and  sessions  respectively;  yet  as  some  degree  of  uniformity  is 
desirable  in  a  business  of  so  much  magnitude,  it  is  recommended  as  the 
most  effectual  means  of  promoting  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
that  in  all  our  churches,  classes  be  formed  of  the  youth  to  recite  the 
Scriptures  in  regular  order;  that  the  recitations,  if  convenient,  be  as  often 
as  once  a  week,  and  from  two  to  five  chapters  appointed  for  each  recita- 
tion ;  that  the  youth  be  examined  on, 

1.  The  history  of  the  world,  but  more  especially  of  the  Church  of  God, 
and  of  the  heathen  nations  who  were  God's  agents  in  accomplishing  his 
purposes  toward  his  Church. 

2.  Persons  noted  for  their  piety  or  ungodliness,  and  the  effects  of  their 
example  in  promoting  or  injuring  the  best  interests  of  mankind. 

3.  Doctrines  and  precepts,  or  "  what  man  is  to  believe  concerning  God, 
and  what  duty  God  requires  of  man." 

4.  Positive  ordinances,  or  the  directions  which  God  has  given  as  to  the 
way  in  which  he  is  to  be  worshiped  acceptably. 

5.  The  particular  features  of  character  of  which  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
given  notice,  both  in  wicked  and  good  persons ;  in  the  last  particularly 
regarding  those  who  were  types  of  Christ,  and  in  what  the  typical  resem- 
blance consisted. 

6.  The  gradual  increase  from  time  to  time  of  information  concerning 
the  doctrines  contained  in  the  Scriptures;  noting  the  admirable  adapta- 
tion of  every  new  revelation  of  doctrine  to  the  increased  maturity  of  the 
Church.  The  nature  of  God's  law,  its  immutal)ility,  as  constituting  an 
everlasting  rule  of  right  and  wrong,  the  full  and  perfect  illustration  of  its 
precepts  given  by  Christ. 

7.  The  change  which  God  has  made  from  time  to  time  in  the  positive 
ordinances,  together  with  the  reasons  of  that  change.  The  diftereuce 
between  the  moral  law,  and  those  laws  which  are  positive. 


OF   THE   SAXCTIFICATION   OF    THE    LORd's    DAY.  641 

8.  The  illustrations  of  the  divine  perfections  in  the  history,  biography, 
doctrines  and  precepts,  together  \vith  the  positive  ordinances  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

9.  The  practical  lessons  to  regulate  our  conduct  in  the  various  relations 
of  life. 

On  all  these  particulars  the  meaning  of  the  words  used  in  Scripture 
must  be  ascertained,  and  thus  we  may  understand  what  we  read. 

_  Resolved,  3.  That  the  Presbyteries  under  the  cure  of  the  Assembly  be 
directed  to  take  order  on  this  subject,  and  they  are  hereby  informed  that 
this  is  not  to  come  in  the  place  of  learning  the  Catechism  of  our  Church, 
but  to  be  added  to  it,  as  an  important  branch  of  religious  education  — 
1816,  p.  627. 

2.  On  Sabbath  Schools  and  Instruction  of  the  Young-. 

«.  In  all  parts  of  the  Church,  Sunday-schools  are  established,  and  there 
is  but  one  sentiment  respecting  them.  The  Assembly  consider  them  as 
among  the  most  useful  and  blessed  institutions  of  the  present  day.  They 
have  a  most  extensive  reforming  influence.  They  apply  a  powerful  cor- 
rective to  the  most  inaccessible  portions  of  the  community.  They  bcfin 
moral  education  at  the  right  time,  in  the  best  manner,  and  under  the  most 
promising  circumstances.  They  act  indirectly,  but  most  powerfully,  ujwn 
teachers  and  parents,  and  frequently  become  the  means  of  bringing  them 
to  the  church,  and  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  the  truth.  Sunday- 
schools  are  highly  useful  evenjwhere;  but  they  are  peculiarly  adapted  to 
new  and  destitute  regions  of  the  Church.  The  plan  is  simple,  and  easily 
accomplished.  It  requires  comparatively  little  knowledge  and  experience 
to  conduct  them  with  ability.  Very  much  good  has  been  accomplished 
by  the  instrumentality  of  young  ladies  and  gentlemen.  The  j)leasing 
scene  is  often  witnessed  in  some  of  our  new  settlements,  of  large  meetings 
of  children  on  the  Lord's  day,  in  schoolhouses,  or  beneath  the  shade  of  the 
original  forest.  The  voice  of  praise  and  prayer  is  heard,  and  the  wonl  of 
the  living  God  is  proclaimed,  amid  the  most  beautiful  works  of  his  hand. 
—1824,  p.  129. 

b.  liesolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  do  cordially  a])prove  of  the 
design  and  operations  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union  ;  and  they 
do  earnestly  recommend  to  all  ministers  and  churches  under  their  care  ta 
employ  their  vigorous  and  continued  exertions  in  the  establishment  and 
support  of  Sabbath-schools. — 1826,  p.  181. 

c.  Resolved,  1.  That  the  Assembly  regard  the  religious  education  of 
youth  as  a  subject  of  vital  importance,  identified  with  the  most  precious 
interests  and  hopes  of  the  Christian  Church. 

2.  That  the  present  indications  of  divine  Providence  are  such  as  im- 
periously to  demand  of  the  Christian  community  unusual  effort  to  train, 
up  the  rising  generation  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

3.  That  the  Board  of  Missions  be  and  hereby  are  instructed  to  enjoin 
it  on  their  missionaries  sedulously  to  attend  to  the  religious  education  of 
the  young;  and  particularly  that  they  use  all  practical  efforts  to  establish 
Sahbaili-xchools;  and  to  extend  and  perpetuate  the  blessings  of  Sabbath- 
school  instruction. 

4.  That  the  system  of  Sabbath-school  instruction,  now  in  prevalent  and 
cheering  operation,  be  and  hereby  is  most  earnestly  recommended  to  the 
attention  of  the  pastors  and  sessions  of  all  our  churches. 

5.  That  the  Presbyteries  be  and  hereby  are  enjoined  to  make  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Sabbath-school  cause  within  their  bounds  the  subject  of  special 

81 


642  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR    WORSHIP. 

inquiry,  and  aunually  to  transmit  the  results  of  such  inquiry  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly, 

6.  That  inasmuch  as  the  advantages  of  the  Sabbath-school  may,  in 
some  cases,  be  the  occasion  of  remissness  in  the  important  duty  of  family 
instruction,  it  be  and  hereby  is  earnestly  recommended  to  heads  of  fami- 
lies not  to  relax  in  their  personal  religious  efforts  at  home,  and  in  the  do- 
mestic circle ;  but  that  they  abound  more  and  more  in  the  use  of  all  ap- 
propriate means,  to  promote  sound  knowledge  and  experimental  piety,  in 
every  member  of  their  households. 

7.  That  as  there  is  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  Catechisms  of  this 
Church  have  not,  in  some  parts  of  our  Zion,  received  that  measure  of  at- 
tention to  which  their  excellence  entitles  them,  it  be  and  hereby  is  recom- 
mended to  pastors,  sessions,  heads  of  families,  superintendents  of  Sabbath- 
schools,  and  all  charged  with  the  education  of  youth,  in  our  connection,  to 
give  these  admirable  summaries  of  Christian  truth  and  duty  a  prominent 
place  in  their  instructions  to  the  youth  and  children  under  their  care. 

8.  That  it  be  and  hereby  is  recommended  to  the  pastors  and  sessions  of 
our  churches  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  system  of  infant 
school  instruction,  now  in  happy  progress  in  many  places,  and  if  practica- 
ble to  establish  such  schools  in  their  congregations. — 1830,  p.  303,  304. 

3.  Catechetical  Instx'uction  Enjoined. 

a.  Resolved,  That  as  there  is  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  catechisms 
of  this  Church  have  not  in  some  parts  of  our  Zion  received  tluit  measure 
of  attention  to  which  their  excellence  entitles  them,  it  be,  and  hereby  is 
recommended  to  pastors,  sessions,  heads  of  families,  superintendents  of 
Sabbath-schools,  and  all  charged  with  the  education  of  youth,  in  our  con- 
nection, to  give  these  admirable  seminaries  of  Christian  truth  and  duty 
a  prominent  place  in  their  instructions  to  the  youth  and  children  under 
their  care.— 1830,  p.  304. 

h.  Resolved,  That  the  use  of  the  catechism  in  the  religious  instruction  of 
the  young,  and  of  the  children  under  the  care  of  the  Church,  be  affection- 
ately and  earnestly  recommended  to  the  sessions  in  connection  with  the 
General  Assembly,  as  the  most  effectual  means  under  God  of  preserving 
the  purity,  peace,  and  unity  of  the  Church. — 1832,  p.  372. 

c.  The  following  resolutions  on  the  subject  of  catechetical  instruction 
were  unanimously  adopted,  viz.  : 

Resolved,  1.  That  this  General  Assembly  consider  the  practice  of  cate- 
chetical instruction  as  well  adapted  to  the  prosperity  and  purity  of  our  Zion. 

Resolved,  2.  That  this  Assembly  view  also  with  deep  regret  the  neglect, 
on  the  part  of  many  of  our  churches,  of  this  good  old  practice  of  our 
fathers;  a  practice  which  has  been  attended  with  such  blessed  results  to 
the  cause  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  institution  of  Sabbath-schools  does  not  exonerate 
ministers  and  parents  from  the  duty  of  teaching  the  Shorter  Catechism  to 
the  children  of  the  Church. 

Resolved,  4.  That  this  Assembly  earnestly  and  affectionately  recommend 
to  all  ministers  and  ruling  elders  in  its  connection  to  teach  diligently  the 
young  of  their  respective  congregations  the  Assembly's  Shorter  Cate- 
chism.—1840,  p.  181,  N.  S. 

d.  Resolved.  That  the  Assembly  regard  Christian  training  at  all  periods 
of  youth  and  by  all  practicable  methods,  especially  by  parents  at  home, 
by  teachers  in  institutions  of  learning,  and  by  pastors  through  catecheti- 
cal and  Bible-classes,  as  binding  upon  the  Church  according  to  the  injunc- 


OF   THE   SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    LORD's    DAY.  643 

tion,  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,"  and  as  having  a  vital 
connection  with  the  increase  of  numbers  and  efficiency  of  the  ministry 
and  of  the  stability  and  purity  of  the  Church. — 1854,  p.  30,  O.  S. 

e.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  recommend  that  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly's Catechism  be  introduced  as  a  text-book  into  all  the  Sabbath- 
schools  under  our  supervision  and  control,  where  it  is  not  now  used. — 
1866,  p.  278,  N.  S. 

4.  Relation  of  Sabbath-schools  to  the  Family. 

We  are  pleased  to  find  that  our  Sabbath-school  system  appears  to  be 
gaining  upon  the  confidence  of  the  churches,  but  we  caution  heads  of 
families  against  the  idea  that  their  duties  may  be  delegated  to  the  Sab- 
bath-school teacher.  The  obligations  of  parents  are  intransferable.  The 
teacher  is  not  the  parent's  substitute,  but  his  helper ;  and  it  is  equally  the 
duty  of  the  parent  to  superintend  the  instruction  of  his  family,  as  though 
there  were  no  such  thing  as  a  Sabbath-school. — 1840,  p.  310,  O.  S. 

[See  also  1846,  p.  221,  O.  S.,  and  1854,  p.  183,  O.  S.] 

5.  Relation  of  the  Sabbath-school  to  the  Session. 

a.  These  schools  should  always  be  under  the  direction  of  the  pastor  and 
session,  and  they  should  see  to  it  that  our  catechisms  constitute,  in  all 
cases,  a  part  of  the  regular  course  of  instruction. — 1840,  p.  310,  O.  S. 

b.  The  Sabbath-school— like  all  the  religious  institutions  and  agencies 
of  each  individual  church — is  and  ought  to  be  under  the  watch  and  care 
of  the  session,  and  should  be  regarded  not  as  superseding  but  as  co-ope- 
rating with  the  entire  system  of  pastoral  instruction,  the  responsibilities 
of  which  it  should  not  in  an}'  manner  diminish. — 1863,  p.  241,  N.  S. 

c.  The  Assembly  resumed  the  unfinished  business,  being  the  consider- 
ation of  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Sunday-schools,  which  was 
amended,  adopted,  and  is  as  follows : 

The  Committee  to  whom  were  entrusted  the  special  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  last  Assembly  on  Sunday-schools,  and  the  memorial  of  the 
Synod  of  Michigan  on  the  same  subject,  respectfully  report : 

That  they  have  carefully  considered  the  papers  committed,  and  are  of 
opinion  that  the  subject  therein  presented,  and  the  suggestions  made 
thereon,  call  for  the  earnest  deliberation  and  mature  action  of  this  As- 
sembly. The  labors  of  individuals  and  churches  on  behalf  of  Sunday- 
schools,  in  the  provisions  admirably  devised  for  their  accommodation,  in 
the  literature  or  music  provided  for  their  use,  in  the  development  of  tal- 
ents and  influences  especially  adapted  to  interest  and  operate  on  the 
minds  there  gathered,  and  in  concerts  of  prayer,  have  conspired  to  lift 
the  institution  into  a  position  of  ])rominence  and  power  never  before 
occupied,  and  promising  yet  greater  growth  and  larger  good.  This  fact 
seems  to  require  that  a  more  distinct  recognition  of  the  Sunday-school 
agency  be  made  in  our  Assembly  reports,  and  that  its  relation  to  the 
Church  and  its  authorities  be  more  clearly  defined.  While  experience 
has  demonstrated  the  vast  capacities  for  good  that  lie  in  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  which  ought  to  be  more  fully  unfolded,  it  has  in  various  ways, 
also,  admonished  us  of  evils  which  ought  to  be  guarded  against  and 
avoided.  The  danger  is,  that  the  Sunday-school  may  become  detached 
from  its  proper  connection  with  the  Church  and  its  authorities,  and 
assume  an  independence  which  must  prove,  in  the  end,  injurious  both  to 
itself  and  the  Church. 

This  severance  has,  we  learn,  actually  taken  place  in  some  instances, 


644  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

aud  the  proper  shepherd  of  the  flock  can  appear  before  the  lambs  only  by 
the  suiferance  of  the  superintendent;  and  so  the  young,  cut  ofi'  from  their 
appointed  spiritual  guardians,  are  exposed  to  influences  which  cannot  be 
brought  under  proper  supervision  and  control.  We  would  recommend, 
therefore,  that  the  Assembly  adopt  and  act  upon  the  resolutions  presented 
in  the  papers  that  we  have  in  charge,  thereby  bringing  this  important  in- 
stitution within  their  constant  purview,  and  doing  what  they  can  to  de- 
velop and  impress  its  great  importance  upon  the  hearts  of  the  Church. 

Resolved,  1.  That  it  belongs  emphatically  to  the  pastor  and  elders  of 
each  congregation  to  direct  and  supervise  the  whole  work  of  the  spiritual 
training  of  the  young,  and  that  it  is  an  important  part  of  the  functions  of 
their  office  both  to  encourage  parents  to  fidelity  in  bringing  up  their  chil- 
dren in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  aud  also  to  secure  the 
co-operation  of  all  the  competent  members  of  the  Church  in  the  religious 
education  of  all  the  children  and  youth  to  whom  they  can  gain  access. 

2.  That  great  attention  ought  to  be  paid  to  the  work  of  inculcating  les- 
sons from  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  of  fixing  in  the  memory  the  Cate- 
chisms of  our  Church  both  as  to  its  doctrine  and  polity ;  and  still  further, 
of  combining  all  the  schools  of  a  congregation  in  united  worship  as  far  as 
possible,  and  especially  of  leading  them  to  Jesus  in  the  exercise  of  a  living 
faith  and  continued  reliance  on  the  Holy  Spirit. 

3.  That  to  the  above  end  we  would  further  recommend  to  the  pastors  that 
they  adapt,  wherever  practicable,  the  second  discourse  of  every  Sabbath, 
particularly  to  the  young  of  their  flock ;  thus  aflxirding  to  this,  the  n>ost 
susceptible  and  hopeful  portion  of  their  fields,  at  least  one-half  of  their 
time  and  labor,  and  giving  their  children  distinctly  to  feel  that  they  have 
a  place,  no  less  in  the  sanctuary  than  in  the  Sunday-school,  both  for  wor- 
ship and  instruction. 

4.  That  chui'ch  sessions  be  required  to  furnish  in  their  statistical  re- 
ports a  full  account  of  the  number  of  Sunday-school  scholars  and  teach- 
ers in  their  respective  congregations,  to  be  embodied  in  the  Assembly's 
minutes. 

5.  That  a  Permanent  Committee  of  the  Assembly  be  appointed,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  take  charge  of  this  great  interest,  and  to  report  what- 
ever may  quicken  and  stimulate  the  Church  in  its  duty  of  training  the 
young  according  to  the  word  of  God. 

6.  That  this  General  Assembly  earnestly  recommend  to  the  pastors  of 
the  churches  within  its  bounds  to  present  before  their  congregations,  in 
one  or  more  discourses,  the  relation  of  baptized  children  to  the  Church, 
and  the  reciprocal  duties  between  parents  and  children  growing  out  of 
this  relation,  as  defined  in  the  word  of  God  and  declared  in  the  doctrines 
of  our  Church. 

7.  That  it  is  exceedingly  desirable  that  the  entire  congregation,  old  and 
young,  be  permanently  connected  with  the  Sunday-school,  either  as  schol- 
ars or  teachers. — 1864,  pp.  507,  508,  N.  S. 

[See  Directory  for  Worship,  chap,  xv.,  sec.  v.] 

d.  The  ('onimittee  to  whom  were  referred  certain  resolutions  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Sabbath-schools,  would  respectfully  report  the  following  minute: 

The  Sabbath-school,  in  its  original  design,  as  it  lay  in  the  mind  of  its 
founder,  was  simply  a  means  of  imparting  instruction  to  the  children  of 
the  poor.  While  that  great  purpose  should  never  be  lost  sight  of,  yet  the 
institution  has  grown  to  be  an  important  auxiliary  to  the  Church  in  the 
instruction  and  religious  culture  of  her  children.  As  such,  it  naturally 
comes  under  the  direction  of  the  pastor  and  session  of  each  church,  and 
they  should  ever  be  recognized  as  its  proper  guardians  and  supervisors. 


OF   THE  SxVXCTIFICATION    OF   THE    LORD's    DAY.  645 

They  have  no  more  right  to  relinquish  this  solemn  responsibility  than  they 
have  to  give  up  the  care,  and  discipline,  and  instruction  of  the  Church. 
He  who  said  to  his  apostle,  "Feed  my  sheep,"  said  also,  "Feed  my  lambs." 
With  this  obvious  fact  of  the  responsibility  of  pastors  for  the  children  of 
their  churches,  the  General  Assembly  does  hereby  set  forth  the  following 
principles  as  guides  to  pastors  and  sessions  in  fulfilling  their  duties  in 
respect  to  the  Sabbath-school  work. 

1.  The  pastoral  office  involves  the  practical  supervision  of  the  Sabbath- 
school.  The  pastor  should  frequently,  if  not  constantly,  be  present  to 
counsel  and  aid  those  who  may  under  him  be  engaged  in  the  work  of 
instruction. 

2.  While  the  holy  Bible  is  the  great  text-book  of  the  Sabbath-school, 
it  is  eminently  fitting  that  the  summary  of  Christian  doctrine  as  contained 
in  our  admirable  Shorter  Catechism  should  also  be  taught,  and  that  a 
lesson  therefrom  should  be  recited  at  least  once  a  month,  and  that  at  least 
once  in  a  quarter  the  pastor  himself  should  examine  the  whole  school 
therein,  adding  thereto  such  explanations  and  illustrations  as  may  to  him 
Beem  proper. 

3.  The  books  of  the  Sabbath-school  library  should  be  wholly  subject  to 
the  supervision  of  the  pastor  and  ruling  elders,  and  no  work,  except  it  be 
published  by  our  Board  of  Publicaiion,  shall  be  admitted,  which  they  have 
not  approved.  In  this  examination  care  should  be  taken  that  no  book 
receives  their  sanction  which  might  give  the  minds  of  children  a  bias 
unfavorable  to  the  order,  doctrine  and  practices  of  our  Church,  or  which 
might  beget  a  taste  for  frivolous  literature,  or  which  does  not  impart  some 
weighty  truth  or  important  information. 

4.  In  addition  to  the  exercises  of  the  Sabbath-school,  every  pastor  should 
hold  frequent  meetings,  especially  for  the  children,  in  which  the  addresses 
and  services  are  adapted  to  their  intellectual  capacities  and  wants. 

5.  Presbyteries  are  hereby  enjoined,  in  their  annual  in(|uiry  into  the 
state  of  the  churches  within  their  bounds,  to  ascertain  whether  these  prin- 
ciples are  adhered  to,  and  how  far  they  are  carried  into  practice. 

6.  The  Assembly  furthermore  recognizes  the  importance  of  securing  for 
those  engaged  in  the  work  of  Sabbath-school  instruction  all  the  aids  that 
may  have  been  prepared  either  in  our  own  country  or  abroad,  whether  in 
illustration  or  explanation  of  the  doctrines  of  the  word  of  God,  or  in 
reference  to  the  conduct  and  discipline  of  the  church,  or  in  regard  to  the 
best  methods  of  securing  its  prosperity  and  largest  success.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  Board  of  Publication  is  directed  to  add  to  their  list  of  works  all 
such  helps  to  Sabbath-school  instruction  as  may  be  found  vahial)le  and 
useful,  either  by  the  republication  of  standard  foreign  works,  or  the  issue 
of  those  which  may  be  obtained  from  authors  at  home,  and  to  procure  for 
the  use  of  pastors  and  teachers,  at  their  request,  such  works  ])uhlished  by 
other  societies  or  establishments  as  may  be  valuable  auxiliaries  in  the  great 
work  of  the  Sabbath-school. 

7.  It  should  be  the  aim  of  all  engaged  in  the  religious  culture  of  the 
young,  whether  parents  or  guardians,  or  pastors  and  teachers,  to  counter- 
act, as  far  as  possible,  the  tendencies  of  the  age  to  unhealthy  excitements, 
to  a  vapid  and  enervating  literature,  which  only  enfeebles  and  deinorali/A'S 
the  mind,  and  often  corrupts  the  heart;  to  induce  the  youth  under  their 
care  to  seek  for  sound  and  wholesome  doctrine;  to  correct  their  taste;  to 
beget  in  them  a  love  for  those  noble  and  substantial  works  which  were  the 
food  on  which  our  fathers  fed,  and  by  which  they  grew  into  a  strength  and 
greatness  which  has  made  them  ever  after  to  be  remembered. — 1867,  p, 
351,  O.  S. 


646  THE  PIRECTOBY   FOR  WORSHIP. 


CHAPTER  IL 

OF  THE  ASSEMBLING  OF   THE  CONGREGATION  AND  THEIR  BE- 
HAVIOR DURING  DIVINE  SERVICE. 

I.  When  the  time  appointed  for  public  worship  is  como,  let  the 
people  enter  the  church,  and  take  their  seats  in  a  decent,  grave,  and 
reverent  manner. 

II.  In  time  of  public  worship,  let  all  the  people  attend  with  grav- 
ity and  reverence;  forbearing  to  read  anything,  except  what  the 
minister  is  then  reading  or  citing ;  abstaining  from  all  whisperings, 
from  salutations  of  persons  present,  or  coming  in ;  and  from  gazing 
about,  sleeping,  smiling,  and  all  other  indecent  behavior. 

1.  Posture  in  Public  Prayer. 

a.  On  an  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  asking  the 
Assembly  to  adopt  measures  for  arresting  or  abating  the  growing  evil  of 
sitting  in  public  prayer,  the  Assembly  took  action,  viz. : 

While  the  posture  of  standing  in  public  prayer,  and  that  of  kneeling 
in  private  prayer,  are  indicated  by  examples  in  Scripture,  and  the  gen- 
eral practice  of  the  ancient  Christian  Church,  the  posture  of  sitting  iu 
public  prayer  is  nowhere  mentioned,  and  by  no  usage  allowed  ;  but  on 
the  contrary,  was  universally  regarded  by  the  early  Church  as  heathen- 
ish and  irreverent,  and  is  still,  even  in  the  customs  of  modern  and  West- 
ern nations,  an  attitude  obviously  wanting  in  the  due  expression  of  rev- 
erence ;  therefore  this  General  Assembly 

Resolve,  That  the  practice  in  question  be  considered  grievously  im- 
proper, whenever  the  infirmities  of  the  worshiper  do  not  render  it  neces- 
sary ;  and  that  ministers  be  required  to  reprove  it  with  earnest  and  per- 
severing admonition. — 1849,  p.  255,  O.  S. 

h.  Reaffirmed  by  the  Assembly  of  1857,  p.  38,  O.  S. 

c.  An  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Michigan  in  relation  to  posture 
in  prayer  and  praise,  with  the  answer  that  action  is  inexpedient,  which 
was  adopted.— 1870,  p.  28. 

See  1854,  p.  509,  N.  S. 


CHAPTER  in. 
OF  THE  PUBLIC  READING   OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 

I.  The  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  the  congregation,  is  a 
part  of  the  public  worship  of  God,  and  ought  to  be  performed  by 
the  ministers  and  teachers. 

II.  The  Ploly  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  shall  be 
publicly  read,  from  tlie  most  approved  translation,  in  the  vulgar 
^onguc,  that  all  may  hear  and  understand. 


OF   THE   SINGING   OF   PSALMS.  647 

III.  How  large  a  portion  shall  be  read  at  once,  is  left  to  the  dis- 
cretion of  every  minister :  however,  in  each  service,  he  ought  to  read 
at  least  one  chapter  ;  and  more,  when  the  chapters  are  short,  or  the  con- 
nection requires  it.  He  may,  when  he  thinks  it  expedient,  expound 
any  part  of  what  is  read :  always  having  regard  to  the  time,  that 
neither  reading,  singing,  praying,  preaching,  or  any  other  ordinance, 
be  disjjroportionate  the  one  to  the  other;  nor  the  whole  rendered  too 
short,  or  too  tedious. 

Overtured,  That  every  minister,  in  their  respective  congregations,  read 
and  comment  upon  a  chapter  of  the  Bible  every  Lord's  day  as  discretion 
and  circumstances  of  time,  place,  etc.,  will  admit.  Adopted. — 1707,  p. 
10. 

2.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  do  hereby  enjoin  on  all  ministers  of 
churches  under  their  care,  a  strict  and  regular  observance  of  the  third 
article  in  the  Directory  for  Public  Worship,  and  they  further  recommend 
to  all  the  Presbyteries  in  connection  with  this  General  Assembly,  that 
they  inquire  at  least  once  in  every  year,  at  a  stated  meeting,  how  far  the 
regulations  in  said  article  have  been  observed  ;  and  if,  in  any  instances, 
overlooked  or  neglected,  that  they  take  measures  to  have  the  same  prop- 
erly observed. — 1839,  p.  166,  O.  S. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

OF  THE  SINGING   OF  PSAL3IS. 

I.  It  Is  the  duty  of  Christians  to  praise  God,  by  singing  psalms, 
or  hymns,  publicly  in  the  church,  as  also  privately  in  the  family. 

1.  Early  Action  on  the  Subject  of  Psalmody. 

a.  A  query  was  brought  in,  in  these  words  :  "  As  sundry  members  and 
congregations  within  the  bounds  of  our  Synod,  judge  it  most  for  their 
edification  to  sing  Dr.  Watts's  imitation  of  David's  Psalms,  does  the 
Synod  so  far  approve  said  imitation  of  David's  Psalms  as  to  allow  such 
ministers  and  their  congregations  liberty  of  using  them?" 

As  a  great  number  of  this  body  have  never  particularly  considered  Dr. 
Watts's  imitation,  they  are  not  ])repared  to  give  a  full  iuiswer  to  the  ques- 
tion. Yet  as  it  is  well  approved  by  many  of  this  body,  the  Synod  have 
no  objection  to  the  use  of  said  imitation  by  such  ministers  and  congrega- 
tions as  incline  to  use  it,  until  the  matter  of  psalmody  be  further  consid- 
ered. And  it  is  recommended  to  the  members  of  this  body  to  be  pre- 
pared to  give  their  sentiments  respecting  this  subject  at  our  next  meet- 
ing.—1763,  p.  331. 

b.  After  some  consideration  of  the  query  concerning  the  use  of  Dr. 
W^atts's  imitation  of  the  Psalms,  the  Synod  judged  it  best,  in  present  cir- 
cumstances, only  to  declare  that  they  look  on  the  inspired  Psalms  in  Scrip- 
ture, to  be  proper  matter  to  be  sung  in  divine  worship,  according  to  their 
original  design  and  the  practice  of  the  Christian  Churches,  yet  will  not  for- 
bicf  those  to  "use  the  imitation  of  them  whose  judgment  and  inclination 
leads  them  to  do  so. — 1765,  p.  345. 


648  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR    WORSHIP. 

c.  The  Committee  appointed  to  converse  with  the  parties  in  the  Seconc 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  city  differing  about  psahuody,  report:  "That 
they  have  taken  opportunities  of  conversing  with  botli  parties,  so  far  as 
the  time  and  circums^tauces  woukl  permit,  and  that  they  do  not  think  the 
Synod  should  directly  judge  of  the  merits  of  the  appeal,  so  as  to  affirm  or 
disapprove  the  several  distinct  propositions  laid  down  by  the  Presbytery 
in  their  judgment ;  but  as  there  is  not  now  time  to  consider  fully  the  dif- 
ferent versions  of  the  Psalms  in  question,  and  there  are  minutes  of  Synod 
formerly  which  countenance  congregations  in  determining  this  matter 
according  to  their  own  choice,  they  cannot  make  any  order  to  forbid  the 
congregation  to  continue  the  practice  now  begun."  Which  being  con- 
sidered was  approved;  and  the  Synod  on  this  occasion  think  proper  earn-_ 
estly  to  recommend  to  both  parties  peace  and  harmony,  and  to  foibear  all 
harsh  sentiments  and  expressions,  and  in  particular  that  neither  of  them 
intimate  that  either  of  the  versions  in  question  is  unfit  to  be  sung  in  Chris- 
tian worship. — 1773,  p.  448. 

d.  A  motion  was  niade  in  the  f(.)llowing  terms,  viz.:  "Whereas  the 
nearest  uniformity  that  is  practicable  in  the  external  modes  of  divine 
worship  is  to  be  desired,  and  the  using  different  books  of  psalmody  is  mat- 
ter of  offence,  not  only  to  Presbyterians  of  different  denominati(jns,  but 
also  to  many  congregations  under  our  care  ;  it  is  queried,  if  the  Synod 
might  not  choose  out,  and  order  some  of  their  number  to  take  the  assist- 
ance of  all  the  versions  in  our  power,  and  compose  for  us  a  version  more 
suitable  to  our  circumstances  and  taste  than  any  we  yet  have;"  which, 
having  been  read,  and  seconded,  after  some  conversation  thereon,  the 
question  was  put,  whether  to  ap})oint  a  Committee,  or  defer,  and  was  car- 
ried by  a  small  majority  to  api)oint.  Whereupon  Dr.  Allison,  Dr.  David- 
son, Dr.  Ewing,  Mr.  Blair  and  JNIr.  Jones,  were  appointed  a  Committee 
for  that  purpose,  who  are  to  make  report  of  their  diligence  herein  at  our 
next  meeting. — 1785,  p.  513. 

[Apparently  in  consequence  of  this  appointment  the  following  minute 
was  adopted  :] 

e.  The  Synod  did  allow,  and  do  hereby  allow,  that  Dr.  Watts's  imita- 
tion of  David's  Psalms,  as  revised  by  Mr.  Barlow,  be  sung  in  the  churches 
and  families  under  their  care. — 1787,  p.  535. 

/.  In  respect  to  the  psalmody,  the  Synod  have  allowed  the  use  of  the 
imitation  of  the  Psalms  of  David  for  many  years,  to  such  congregations 
as  choose  them,  and  still  allow  of  the  same,  but  they  are  far  from  disap- 
proving of  House's  version,  commonly  called  the  Old  Psalms,  in  those 
who  were  in  the  use  of  them  and  chose  them,  but  are  of  <)[)inion  that 
either  may  be  used  by  the  churches,  as  each  congregation  may  judge  most 
for  their  j)eace  and  edihcation,  and  therefore  highly  disapprove  of  j)ublic, 
severe  and  unchristian  censures  being  passed  upon  either  of  the  systems 
of  psalmody,  and  recommend  it  to  all  ministers  in  those  parts  of  the 
Church,  to  be  more  tender  and  charitable  on  these  heads. — 1787,  p.  537. 

2.  "Watts'  H3nnns  Allo-wed.— Dwight's  Revision  Approved  and 

Allo"wed. 

Whereas,  The  version  of  the  Psalms  made  by  Dr.  Watts,  lias  heretofore 
been  allowed  in  the  congregations  under  the  care  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, it  is  now  thought  expedient  that  the  hymns  of  Dr.  Watts  be  also 
allowed;  and  they  are  accordingly  hereby  allowed  in  such  congregation 


as  may  think  it  expedient  to  use  them  in  j)ublic  and  social  worship;  an 
whereas,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Timothy  Dwight,  by  order  of  the  General  Associt 


d 
la- 


OF    THE    SINGIXG   OF    PSALMS.  649 

tion  of  Counecticut,  has  revised  the  version  of  the  Psalms  made  by  Dr. 
AVatts,  and  versified  a  number  omitted  by  him,  and  has  also  made  a  selec- 
tion of  hymns  from  various  authors,  which,  together  with  the  Psalms, 
were  intended  to  furnish  a  system  of  psalmody  for  the  use  of  churches 
and  families,  which  system  has  been  revised  and  recommended  by  a  joint 
Committee  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the  General  Association  of  Con- 
necticut heretofore  appointed,  as  well  as  examined  and  approved  by  a 
Committee  of  this  present  Assembly  ;  the  said  system  is  hereby  cheerfully 
allowed  in  such  congregations  and  churches  as  may  think  it  for  edification 
to  adojjt  and  use  the  same. — 1802,  p.  249. 

3.  Use  of  other  Psalms  and  Hymns  not  Forbidden.— Sessions  and 
Presbyteries  to  take  Supervision. 

Your  Committee  are  of  oj)inion,  that  the  General  Assembly  of  the  year 
1802,  in  their  resolution  on  this  subject,  did  not  intend  that  the  churches 
under  their  care  should  use  no  other  psalms  and  hymns  than  those  speci- 
fied in  the  resolution.  It  is  further  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  that 
when  any  families  or  congregations  in  their  religious  worship  make  use  of 
hymns  containing  erroneous  doctrine  or  trivial  matter,  it  becomes  the  duty 
of  church  sessions  and  Presbyteries  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  and  act  as 
the  case  may  require.     Approved. — 1806,  p.  360. 

4.  Book  of  "  Psalms  and  Hymns." 

[In  1819,  p.  716,  the  subject  of  psalmody  was  considered,  and  referred 
to  the  next  Assembly.  The  Committee  appointed  by  the  Assembly  of 
1820,  Drs.  Caldwell  and  Romeyn,  and  Mr.  Andrew  Wylie,  presented"  the 
following  report,  which  was  adopted  :] 

Psalmody  has  in  all  ages  been  considered  a  most  important  part  of  the 
worship  of  God.  The  Church,  therefore,  has  ever  been  careful  to  preserve 
its  purity  for  the  edification  of  her  members;  whilst  they  who  have  de- 
parted from  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  have  availed  them- 
selves of  it  to  accomplish  their  divisive  plans  with  the  best  success.  Mind- 
ful of  their  duty  in  this  matter,  the  General  Assembly  have,  from  time 
to  time,  authorized  the  use  of  Rouse's  version  of  the  book  of  Psalms, 
Watts's  imitation  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  with  his  three  books  of  hvmns, 
Barlow's  alterations  of,  and  additions  to  Watts's  imitation,  and  Dwight's 
revision  of  Watts,  with  his  additional  versifications  and  collections  of 
hymns,  in  the  churches  under  their  care. 

Whilst  the  Committee  grant  that  each  of  these  systems  of  psalmody 
has  its  excellences,  they  respectfully  recommend  that  one  uniform  system 
of  psalmody  be  prejiared,  under  the  direction  of  the  Assembly,  for  the  use 
of  the  churches  under  their  care.  They  believe  that  the  time  has  come 
when  such  a  measure  may  be  adopted  without  oflfending  any  of  our 
churches,  and  with  the  prospect  of  complete  success. 

If  they  are  correct  in  this  belief,  of  which  the  Assembly  must  judge,  it 
appears  to  them  that  uniformity  in  this  matter  will  furnish  a  strong  bond 
of  peace  and  harmony  between  the  ditterent  sections  of  our  Church. 

The  Committee  further  recommend  that  this  uniform  system  of  psalm- 
ody consist  of  two  parts,  viz. : 

I.  A  compilation  of  metrical  versions  of  the  book  of  Psalms,  adhering 
to  the  order  and  connection  of  the  same  as  far  as  practicable. 

In  this  compilation  the  preference  ought  to  be  given  to  the  authorized 
versions  now  in  use,  so  far  as  the  poetry  and  conformity  to  the  text  allow. 
The  C)mmittee,  in  recommending  this  compilation,  disavow  any  design 
82 


650  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

of  committing  the  Assembly  on  the  difference  of  opinion  -which  exists 
al)out  the  book  of  Psalms.  They  also  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood 
that  they  do  not  disapprove  of  Watts.  But  they  think  that  a  compila- 
tion, such  as  is  recommended,  if  judiciously  executed,  will  satisfy  the 
friends  of  Dr.  Watts's  imitation,  and  the  advocates  of  the  exclusive  author- 
ity of  the  book  of  Psalms. 

11.  A  copious  collection  of  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  from  various  au- 
thors, giving  the  preference  to  those  now  authorized,  so  far  as  good  taste, 
sound  sense  and  enlightened  piety  admit. 

Such  a  system  of  psalmody,  the  Committee  think,  besides  producing 
harmony  among  ourselves  in  this  part  of  public  worship,  will  tend  to  en- 
large that  growing  disposition  among  Christians  of  different  denomina- 
tions, to  union  of  exertions  for  promoting  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

They  therefore  submit  the  following  resolutions,  viz.: 

1.  That  a  Committee  be  appointed  to  digest  and  prepare  a  uniform  sys- 
tem of  psalmody,  as  recommended  in  this  report;  the  whole,  when  pre- 
])ared  agreeably  to  the  views  of  the  Committee,  to  be  submitted  to  the 
General  Assembly  for  their  adoption. 

2.  That  the  Committee  appointed  to  carry  this  resf)lution  into  effect  be 
authorized  to  procure,  at  the  expense  of  the  Assembly,  such  versions  of 
the  Book  of  Psalms,  and  such  collections  of  hymns  and  sacred  songs,  as 
tliey  may  deem  necessary. 

The  Assendily  ai)pointed  Drs.  Romeyn,  Alexander,  Nott,  Blatchford 
and  Spring,  a  Committee  to  prepare  and  digest  a  system  of  psalmody,  as 
recomnK-nded  in  the  foregoing  report. — 1820,  p.  740. 

The  Committee  finally,  after  being  enlarged  from  time  to  time,  reported, 
when  it  was — 

a.  Resolved,  That  the  Book  of  Psalms  and  Hymns,  with  the  alterations 
and  additions  submitted  by  the  Committee,  be  approved  by  the  Assembly, 
and  its  use  in  the  worship  of  God  be  authorized  in  all  the  churches  under 
its  care.— 1830,  p.  306. 

In  the  Assembly  of  1888,  O.  S.,  a  Committee  was  appointed  to  revise 
the  Assembly's  edition  of  the  "  Psalms  and  Hymns."  Their  action  was 
finally  approved  by  the  Assembly,  and  it  was— 

b.  Resolved,  That  the  Book  of  Psalms  and  Plymns  reported  by  the 
Committee  of  Psalmody,  be  approved,  and  authorized  to  be  used  in  all 
our  churches. 

That  such  portion  of  our  standards  be  appended  to  such  portion  of  any 
future  edition  of  tlie  Book  of  Psalmody  as  shall  be  deemed  ex])edient  by 
the  Board  of  Publication. 

Tliat  the  whole,  or  such  portion  of  the  common  translation  of  the 
psalms,  without  note  or  comment,  accompanied  as  far  as  may  be  by  ap- 
propriate music,  be  appended  to  such  portion  of  one  edition  of  said  J3ook 
of  Psalmody  as  may  appear  expedient  to  the  Board  of  Publication. — 
1843,  p.  194,  O.  S. 

[See  also  Baird's  Collection,  Revised  Edition,  pp.  211,  213.] 

5.  The  "  Church  Psalmist." 

[In  the  Assembly  of  1S40,  N.  S.— ] 

a.  On  motion  of  Dr.  Cox,  the  whole  subject  of  psalmody,  with  the  pro- 
curing and  furnishing  an  edition  of  psalms  and  hynuis  for  our  general 
use  in  a  way  involving  no  pecuniary  responsibility  to  the  Assembly,  was 
referred  to  tlie  Consulting  Committee  for  their  deliberation  and  action,  as 
they  :n:iy  deem  proper  and  practicable. — 1840,  p.  24. 


OF  THE  SINGING   OF   PSALMS.  651 

On  the  report  of  this  Committee,  the  General  Assembly  recommended 
the  "Church  Psalmist,"  prepared  by  Dr.  N.  S.  Beman,  to  the  churches  un- 
der our  care,  leaving  them,  at  the  same  time,  free  to  continue  the  books 
now  in  use,  if  they  deem  it  most  for  edification. — 1843,  pp.  21,  22,  N.  S. 

[The  Assembly  of  1846,  inter  alia — ] 

Resolved,  That  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to  the  churches  in  connec- 
tion with  this  Assembly,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  matured 
action  of  our  highest  ecclesiastical  judicatories,  and  thus  securing  uni- 
formity, an  increasing  revenue,  and  the  possession  of  a  work  of  high 
intrinsic  merit,  whenever  they  deem  it  best  to  make  a  change  in  the 
psalmcjdy,  to  adopt  the  book  of  the  Assembly. — 1846,  p.  19,  N.  S. 

[See  also  New  Digest,  pp.  580-583.] 

[In  1855,  p.  32,  and  again  in  1856,  p.  215,  the  Pulilication  Committee 
was  authorized  and  directed  to  purchase  the  Church  Psalinist,  if  it  could 
be  done  on  reasonable  terms.  ]n  1857,  p.  435,  the  Committee  reported  to 
the  Assembly  tiie  purchase  of  the  Book,  upon  which  the  Assembly — ] 

h.  Resolved,  That  we  recognize  with  gratitude  to  God  the  completion  of 
the  labors  of  the  Publication  Committee,  by  which  the  Assembly  is  fur- 
nished with  a  book  of  psalmody  which  they  can  call  their  own ;  the  profits 
of  which  will  materially  aid  the  funds  of  the  Church  in  the  Publication 
cause;  and  the  Assembly  hereby  recommend  to  the  pastors  and  the 
churches  that  they  use  all  reasonable  diligence  in  promoting  uniformity 
by  the  introduction  of  this  book. 

c.  Resolved,  That  the  preparation  of  an  appendix  to  the  Church  Psalm- 
ist of  such  hymns  as  may  be  necessary  to  make  the  work  complete  be  com- 
mitted to  N.  8.  kS.  Beman,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  and  S.  W.  Fisher, 
D.  D.,  and  that  this  Committee  report  to  the  next  General  Assembly. — 
1857,  pp.  410,  411,  N.  S. 

[The  Committee  were  directed  to  report  to  the  Publication  Committee 
(IMinutes,  1858,  p.  585),  by  whom  the  supplement  was  published,  and  the 
book  thus  completed.] — 1859,  p.  38,  ib. 

II,  In  singing  the  praises  of  God,  m'o  are  to  sing  with  the  spirit, 
and  with  the  understanding  also;  making  melody  in  our  hearts  unto 
the  Lord.  It  is  also  proper,  that  we  cultivate  some  knowledge  of  the 
rules  of  music ;  that  we  may  praise  God  in  a  becoming  manner  with 
our  voices,  as  w'ell  as  with  our  hearts. 

1.  The  Book  of  Tunes. 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  three  be  appoi^ited  by  the  Publication 
Committee  to  prepare  a  Book  of  Tunes  adapted  to  the  Church  Psahnist, 
and  that  this  Committee  be  instructed  to  consult  and  correspond  with  j)as- 
tors  and  leaders  of  choirs  in  the  churches,  as  to  the  particular  tunes  most 
in  use  and  most  popular  in  the  congregations,  and  that  this  Committee 
report  to  the  next  General  Assembly. — 1857,  p.  410,  N.  S. 

[The  Committee  rej)orted  progress  to  the  Assembly  in  1858.  The  book, 
"The  Eclectic  Tune  Book,"  was  laid  before  the  Assembly  in  1860,  p.  246.] 

2.  "The  Hymnal." 

[In  consequence  of  overtures  from  various  Presbyteries,  tlie  Assembly 
of  1863,  O.  S.,  appointed  a  Committee  to  take  the  whole  subject  into  con- 
sideration, and  report  to  the  next  Assembly.  This  Committee  reported 
on  the  whole  subject,  and  the  Assembly — ] 


652  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR    WORSHIP. 

Resolved,  1.  That  a  selection  of  psalms  and  hymns  be  made  from  oui 
present  book  and  from  other  sources,  and  published  with  suitable  tunes ; 
and  that  all  the  hymns  in  this  new  selection,  which  are  not  in  our  present 
book,  be  published  as  a  supplement  for  the  use  of  those  who  prefer  it;  and 
that  the  hymns  in  the  new  selection,  in  additicm  to  their  own  numbers, 
shall  retain  the  numbers  in  the  old  book,  so  that  both  may  be  used  in  the 
same  congregation  without  embarrassment. 

2.  That  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  previous  Assemblies, 
and  rcs])onsive  to  the  wish  of  many  in  the  Church,  there  shall  be  made  a 
careful  selection  from  the  Bible  of  passages  to  be  arranged  for  chanting; 
and  that  this  shall  be  fitted  to  be  bound  both  with  the  selection  of  hymns 
and  tunes,  and  with  the  sup})lement,  at  the  option  of  the  churches. 

3.  That  the  volumes  thus  provided  for  shall  be  furnished  with  ample 
indices  after  the  style  of  the  best  improvements  in  this  respect. 

4.  That  a  Committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  this  Assembly,  who  shall 
have  power  to  employ  all  needful  talent  and  means,  at  the  expense  of  the 
Board  of  Publication,  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  ends  as  perfectly 
and  speedily  as  possible,  and  i-eport  the  result  to  some  future  Assembly. 

5.  That  the  Board  of  Publication  be  instructed  to  defray  the  personal 
expenses  of  the  present  Committee  incurred  in  performing  this  service. — 
18G4,  p.  293,  O.  S. 

[The  Committee  called  for  by  the  fourth  resolution  consisted  of  Drs. 
John  M.  Krebs,  J.  Trumbull  Backus,  Robert  Davidson,  J.  E.  Rockwell 
and  Willis  Lord.] 

[By  the  Assembly  of  1865,  O.  S.,  the  Committee  was  directed  to  insert  in 
the  new  book  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  Lord's 
Prayer;  also  the  Shorter  Catechism  and  Directory  for  Worship,  1865,  p. 
532.  The  book  was  reported  to  the  Assembly  of  1866,  together  with  a 
full  report  upon  the  whole  subject.     Whereupon  the  Assembly] 

Besolved,  1.  That  the  report  be  adopted  and  printed  in  the  Appendix  to 
the  Minutes.     See  1866,  pp.  107-112. 

2.  That  this  Assembly  approve  the  Hymnal  as  published,  and  allow  the 
same  to  be  used  in  all  our  churches ;  but  it  is  not  required  that  it  shall 
supersede  the  books  in  present  use. — 1866,  p.  95,  O.  S. 

3.  "Social  Hymn  and  Tu-ne  Book." 

["The  Social  Hymn  and  Tune  Book"  was  prepared  by  the  Publication 
Committee  under  "the  direction  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  laid  before 
it  in  1866,  when  it  was] 

Resolved,  That  the  "Social  Hymn  and  Tune  Book,"  recently  published 
by  the  Committee,  be  commended  as  pre-eminently  adapted  to  social  and 
congregational  worship. — 1866,  p.  272,  N.  S. 

4.  Report  on  Sacred  Music— The  Hymnal  Commended. 

The  Assembly  took  from  the  docket  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Sacred  Music,  which  was  unanimously  adojjted,  and  is  as  follows: 

The  Committee  of  Five,  "appointed  to  j)repare  and  report  to  this  Gen- 
eral Assembly  such  suggestions  or  measures  as  may  to  them  seem  most 
timely  and  ex])odient  for  the  encouragement  of  a  more  devotional  charac- 
ter in  church  music,  and  especially  in  instrumental  and  vocal  voluntaries, 
and  for  the  suppression  ancl  exclusion  of  all  musical  performances  which 
are  inconsistent  with  the  proprieties  of  the  Sabbath  and  of  the  sanctuary," 
respectfully  report,  for  adoption  by  this  General  Assembly,  the  following 
deliverance,  to  wit: 

The  service  of  song,  which  God  has  made  a  part  of  the  worship  of  his 


OF    THE    SIXGIXG    OF    TSALMS.  653 

holy  house,  when  properly  performed,  has  power  for  good  over  human 
hearts,  promoting  our  growth  and  liis  glory.  The  grand  object  of  all 
music,  which  has  a  proj>er  phice  in  the  services  of  the  Sabbath  and  sanc- 
tuary, is,  and  must  be,  to  inspire  and  express  devotion ;  the  introduction 
of  choirs  or  musical  instruments  can  be  justified  only  as  they  serve  this 
end,  and  aid  or  accompany  sacred  song;  and  no  display  of  artistic  skill,  no 
delicacy  of  vocal  training,  no  measure  of  musical  ability,  compensates  for 
the  violation,  or  even  neglect,  of  the  proprieties  of  divine  worship.  The 
Assembly,  therefore,  cannot  observe,  without  serious  concern,  the  great 
and  growing  evil,  that  the  music  of  the  sanctuary,  instead  of  ministering 
to  the  praise  of  God,  should  so  often  be  perverted  to  carnal  ends,  being 
secular  in  character  and  associations,  unsuited  to  congregational  use,  cal- 
culated to  dissipate  devotional  feeling,  and  wholly  incongruous  with  the 
services  of  God's  house. 

The  conduct  of  so  important  a  part  of  divine  worship  should  be  com- 
mitted only  to  those  who  respect  religion,  and,  as  far  as  practicable,  to 
those  who  are  in  communion  with  the  church,  and  amenable  to  its  juris- 
diction. They  should  adapt  their  selections  of  music,  whether  vocal  or 
instrumental,  to  the  awakening  of  devotional  feeling,  the  deepening  of 
religious  impressions,  and  the  expression  of  the  sentiment  embodied  in  the 
psalms  and  hymns,  that  the  entire  music  of  God's  house  may  harmonize 
Vv-ith  the  service  of  which  it  is  a  part,  being  conducted  with  due  gravity, 
solemnity  and  reverence.  It  is  recommended  also  that,  as  far  as  possible, 
meetings  for  rehearsal  or  mere  musical  practice  be  held  during  the  week 
rather  than  on  the  Lord's  day,  that  undue  offence  be  not  given  to  the  con- 
sciences of  Christian  brethren,  and  that  temptation  to  Sabbath  desecration 
be  not  needlessly  incurred. 

The  Assembly  would  remind  the  churches  that  the  Scriptures  nowhere 
recognize  the  service  of  song  as  to  be  performed  by  the  few  in  behalf  of 
the  many;  but  teach  us  that  the  Lord  delights  in  the  "  jiraise  of  all  the 
people."  This  being  the  only  part  of  his  worshij)  in  which  they  distinctly 
and  audibly  unite,  it  is  especially  desirable  that,  as  far  as  may  be,  the 
whole  congregation  shall  engage  therein  ;  and,  even  when  unfamiliar  tunes 
are  sung,  it  should  not  be  without  due  reference  to  prei)aring  the  people 
for  a  more  general  participation.  Moreover,  while  such  advance  is  being 
made  in  the  knowledge  of  the  science  and  culture  of  the  art  of  music,  we 
would  enjoin,  in  the  language  of  our  "Directory  for  Worship,"  chap,  iv., 
sec.  ii.,  that  due  attention  be  given  to  the  study  of  "the  rules  of  music," 
especially  by  the  young,  in  order  to  a  more  intelligent  and  appreciative 
interest  in  this  delightful  part  of  God's  worship. 

In  a  former  resolution  upon  a  subject  kindred  to  this  (Assembly's 
Di2-e>t.  page  197),  the  General  Assembly  called  the  attejition  of  pastors 
and  church  sessions  to  the  important  fact  that  according  to  our  standards 
"the  whole  internal  arrangement  of  a  church,  as  to  worship  and  order, 
is  committed  to  them."  Form  of  Government,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  vi. ;  Direct- 
orv  of  Worship,  cha]).  iv..  sec.  iv.  Being  thus  responsible  to  God  and  the 
Church  for  the  purity  and  ])ropriety  of  this  part  of  divine  worship,  they 
are  to  exercise  a  careful  oversight  thereof,  that  its  sacred  and  devotional 
character  be  ever  maintained.  In  so  doing  they  are  urged  by  this  Assem- 
bly to  cultivate  a  kind  and  fraternal  spirit  toward  those  who  lead_  the 
music  of  the  sanctuary,  and  to  manifest  an  afiection  and  appreciative  inte- 
rest in  any  endeavors  they  may  make  to  improve  the  character  of  this  ser- 
vice, to  the  end  that  harmony"  may  be  promoted,  "  and  all  things  be  done 
unto  edifying." 

The  Hymnal  in  its  present  enlarged  and  completed  form  having  been 


654  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR   WORSHIP. 

adopted  and  recommended  to  the  churches  by  this  Assembh',  its  early 
introduction  will,  it  is  believed,  contribute  to  render  participation  in  this 
service  of  song  more  devout,  uniform  and  general.  Particular  atten- 
tion is  called  to  the  scriptural  selections,  arranged  as  chants,  which  adapt 
the  book  to  a  variety  of  tastes  and  preferences ;  and  while  the  Assem- 
bly thus  sends  forth  upon  its  sacred  mission  this,  its  new  book  of  praise, 
oar  devout  hope  and  prayer  is,  that  to  it  may  be  granted  the  high  honor 
of  promoting  the  ends  of  true  worship,  aiding  "  the  service  of  song  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord,"  and  helping  his  people  "  to  sing  with  the  spirit  and 
with  the  understanding,  making  melody  in  their  hearts  to  the  Lord." — 
1867,  p.  365,  O.  S. 

III.  The  M'hole  congregation  should  be  furnished  with  books,  and 
ought  to  join  in  this  part  of  worship.  It  is  proper  to  sing  without 
parceling  out  the  psalm,  line  by  line.  The  practice  of  reading  the 
psalm,  line  by  line,  was  introduced  in  times  of  ignorance,  when  many 
in  the  congregation  could  not  read  :  therefore,  it  is  recommended,  that 
it  be  laid  aside,  as  far  as  convenient. 

IV.  The  proportion  of  the  time  of  public  worship  to  be  spent  in 
singing,  is  left  to  the  prudence  of  every  minister :  but  it  is  recom- 
mended, that  more  time  be  allowed  for  this  excellent  part  of  divine 
service  than  has  been  usual  in  most  of  our  churches. 

a.   Church  Music  is  under  the  Control  of  the  Session. 

[In  reply  to  an  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  on  the  subject 
of  instrumental  music,  the  following  minute  was  adopted  :] 

Whereas,  By  our  Constitution  (Form  of  Government,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  vi., 
and  Directory  for  Worship,  chap,  iv.,  sec.  iv.),  the  whole  internal  arrange- 
ment of  a  church,  as  to  worship  and  order,  is  committed  to  the  minister 
and  session  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  do  not  feel  themselves  called  upon  and 
obliged  to  take  any  further  order  on  this  subject,  but  leave  to  each  ses- 
sion the  delicate  and  important  matter  of  arranging  and  conducting  the 
music  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  for  edification,  recommending  great 
caution,  prudence  and  forbearance  in  regard  to  it. — 1845,  pp.  21,  22,  O.  S. 

b.  A  memorial  asking  the  Assembly  "  to  define  the  rights  of  a  session 
of  a  church  in  regard  to  the  singing  in  the  house  of  God,"  answered  by 
referring  to  the  above  action. — 1858,  p.  281,  O.  S.  See  also  Form  of 
Government,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  vi.,  and  sec.  ii.,  above. 


OF    PUBLIC    PRAYER.  655 

CHAPTER  V. 
OF  PUBLIC  PRAYER. 

I.  It  seems  very  proper  to  begin  the  })iil)lic  worship  of  the  sanc- 
tuary by  a  short  prayer;  humbly  adoring  the  infinite  majesty  of  the 
living  God  ;  expressing  a  sense  of  our  distance  from  him  as  creatures, 
and  unworthiness  as  sinners;  and  humbly  imploring  his  gracious 
presence,  the  assistance  of  his  Holy  Spirit  in  the  duties  of  his  wor- 
ship, and  his  acceptance  of  us  through  the  merits  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

II.  Then,  after  singing  a  psalm,  or  hymn,  it  is  projier  that,  before 
sermon,  there  should  be  a  full  and  comprehensive  prayer.  First, 
Adoring  the  glory  and  perfections  of  God,  as  they  are  made  known 
to  us  in  the  works  of  creation,  in  the  conduct  of  providence,  and  in 
the  clear  and  full  revelation  he  hath  made  of  himself  in  his  written 
word.  Second,  Giving  thanks  to  him  for  all  his  mercies  of  every 
kind,  general  and  particular,  spiritual  and  temi)oral,  common  and 
special,  above  all,  for  Christ  Jesus,  his  unspeakable  gift ;  and  the 
hope  of  eternal  life  through  him.  Third,  Making  humble  confession 
of  sin,  both  original  and  actual ;  acknowledging,  and  endeavoring  to 
impress  the  mind  of  every  worshijjer  with,  a  deep  sense  of  the  evil 
of  all  sin,  as  such;  as  being  a  departure  from  the  living  God;  and 
also  taking  a  particular  and  affecting  view  of  the  various  fruits  which 
proceed  from  this  root  of  bitterness  : — as,  sins  against  God,  our  neigh- 
bor, and  ourselves ;  sins  in  thought,  in  word,  and  in  deed  ;  sins  secret 
and  presumj)tuous  ;  sins  accidental  and  habitual.  Also,  the  aggrava- 
tions of  sin,  arising  from  knowledge,  or  the  means  of  it ;  from  dis- 
tinguishing mercies;  from  valuable  privileges;  from  breach  of  vows, 
etc.  FouriJi,  Making  earnest  sup])lic-ation  for  the  pardon  of  sin,  and 
peace  with  God,  through  the  blood  of  the  atonement,  with  all  its  im- 
portant and  hap]iv  fruits;  for  the  spirit  of  sanctification,  and  abun- 
dant sup]>lies  of  the  grace  that  is  necessary  to  the  discharge  of  our 
duty  ;  for  supj)ort  and  comfort  under  all  the  trials  to  which  we  are 
liable,  as  we  are  siniul  and  mortal ;  and  for  all  temj)oral  mercies  that 
mav  be  necessary,  in  our  ])assage  through  this  valley  of  tears.  Always 
remembering  to  view  them  as  flowing  in  the  channel  of  covenant- 
love,  and  intended  to  be  subservient  to  the  preservation  and  progress 
of  the  spiritual  life.  Fifth,  rieading  from  every  principle  Avarrant^d 
in  Scripture;  from  our  own  necessity;  the  all-sufficiency  of  God ; 
the  merit  and  intercession  of  our  Saviour;  and  the  glory  of  God  in 


656  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR    WORSHIP. 

the  comfort  and  happiness  of  his  people.  Sixth,  Intercession  for 
others,  including  the  whole  world  of  mankind;  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  or  his  Church  universal;  the  church  or  churches  with  which 
we  are  more  particularly  connected ;  the  interest  of  human  society 
in  general,  and  in  that  community  to  which  we  immediately  belong; 
all  that  ai-e  invested  with  (;ivil  authority;  the  ministers  of  the  ever- 
lasting gospel ;  and  the  rising  generation  :  with  whatever  else,  more 
particuhir,  may  seem  necessary,  or  suitable,  to  the  interest  of  that 
congregation  where  divine  worship  is  celebrated. 

III.  Prayer  after  sermon,  ought  generally  to  have  a  relation  to  the 
subject  that  has  been  treated  of  in  the  discourse;  and  all  other  public 
prayers,  to  the  circumstances  that  gave  occasion  for  them. 

IV.  It  is  easy  to  perceive,  that  in  all  the  preceding  directions  there 
is  a  very  great  compass  and  variety;  and  it  is  committed  to  the  judg- 
ment and  fidelity  of  the  officiating  pastor  to  insist  chiefly  on  such 
parts,  or  to  take  in  more  or  less  of  the  several  parts,  as  he  shall  be 
led  to  by  the  aspect  of  Providence,  the  particuhir  state  of  the  congre- 
gation in  which  he  officiates,  or  the  disposition  and  exercise  of  his 
own  heart  at  the  time.  But  we  think  it  necessary  to  observe,  that 
although  we  do  not  approve,  as  is  well  known,  of  confining  ministers 
to  set  or  fixed  forms  of  prayer  for  pul)lic  worship;  yet  it  is  the  indis- 
pensable (hity  of  every  minister,  previously  to  his  entering  on  his 
office,  to  prepare  and  qualify  himself  for  this  part  of  his  duty,  as  well 
as  for  preaching.  He  ouglit,  by  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  by  reading  the  best  writers  on  the  subject,  by  medi- 
tation, and  by  a  life  of  communion  with  God  in  secret,  to  endeavor  to 
acquire  both  the  spirit  and  the  gift  of  prayer.  Xot  only  so,  but  when 
he  is  to  enter  on  particular  acts  of  worship,  he  should  endeavor  to 
compose  his  spirit,  and  to  digest  his  thoughts  for  prayer,  that  it  may 
be  performed  with  dignity  and  propriety,  as  well  as  to  the  profit  of 
those  who  join  in  it;  and  that  he  may  not  disgrace  that  im])ortant 
service  by  mean,  irregular,  or  extravagant  effusions. 

Liturgical  Forms  not  Needed. 

A  paper  from  the  Synod  of  Albany,  containing  some  suggestions  or 
resokitions  in  relation  to  the  use  of  liturgical  forms  of  worship,  which  they 
desire  to  be  adopted  by  this  General  As'sembly,  was  considered  by  your 
Committee  this  morning,  wlien  it  was — 

Resolved,  That,  as  the  usages  and  forms  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
have  been  so  uniform  and  acceptable  for  years  past,  from  tlieir  scriptural 
simplicity;  and  as  no  extensive  departure  from,  or  change  of,  these  usages 
and  forms  is  likely  to  take  ])hicc  in  the  Presbyterian  denomination,  there- 
fore it  is  the  judgment  of  this  Committee  that  no  action  by  this  Assembly 
is  at  present  demanded. — 18G7,  p.  49(S,  N.  8. 

Resolved,  That  the  practice  of  responsive  reading   of  the  Scriptures 


OF  THE  PEEACHING  OF  THE  WORD.  657 

in  the  public  worship  of  the  sanctuary  is  unwise  in  itself,  and  especially 
dangerous  in  this  day,  when  it  becomes  the  Church  to  withstand  the  tend- 
ency so  strongly  manifested  in  many  places,  to  a  liturgical  and  ritualistic 
service.— 1869,  p.  926,  O.  S. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
OF  THE  PREACHING   OF  THE  WORD. 

I.  The  preaching  of  the  ^Yord  being  an  institution  of  God  for  the 
salvation  of  men,  great  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  manner  of  per- 
forming it.  Every  minister  ought  to  give  diligent  application  to  it; 
and  endeavor  to  prove  himself  a  -svorkman  that  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed  ;  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth. 

Reading  Sermons. 

a.  It  is  further  enjoined  that  all  our  ministers  and  probationers  forbear 
reading  their  sermons  from  the  pulpit,  if  they  can  conveniently. — 1761, 
p.  309. 

h.  The  General  Assembly  has  reason  to  believe  that  the  practice  of 
reading  sermons  in  the  pulpit  is  greatly  on  the  increase  amongst  our  min- 
isters, and  being  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  not  the  best  method  of 
preaching  the  gospel,  it  hereby  recommends  the  discontinuance  of  the 
practice  as  far  as  possible,  and  earnestly  exhorts  our  younger  ministers  to 
adopt  a  different  method,  as  more  scriptural  and  effective. — 1841,  p.  448, 
O.  S. 

c.  Whereas,  This  General  Assembly  has  reason  to  believe  that  the  prac- 
tice of  reading  sermons  in  the  pulpit  is  on  the  increase  amongst  our  min- 
isters; and  being  decidedly  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  the  most  elective  and 
acceptable  method  of  preaching  the  gospel ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  do  earnestly  repeat  the  recommendation  of  the  As- 
sembly of  1841,  that  this  practice  be  discontinued  as  far  as  practicable; 
and  affectionately  exhort  our  younger  ministers  and  candidates  for  the 
ministry  to  adopt  a  different  method  as  more  scriptural  and  effective,  and 
more  generally  acceptable  to  God's  people." — 1849,  p.  271,  O.  S. 

II.  The  subject  of  a  sermon  should  be  some  verse  or  verses  of  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  its  object,  to  explain,  defend  and  apply  some  part  of  the  sys- 
tem of  divine  truth ;  or,  to  point  out  the  nature,  and  state  the  bounds 
and  obligation,  of  some  duty.  A  text  should  not  be  merely  a  motto, 
but  should  fairly  contain  the  doctrine  proposed  to  be  handled.  It  is 
proper  also  that  large  portions  of  Scripture  be  sometimes  exjiounded, 
and  particularly  improved,  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  in  the 
meaning  and  use  of  the  Sacred  Oracles. 

Expository  Preaching  Comniended, 

That  in  the  discharge  of  pastoral  duties  they  take  the  utmost  care  that 
the  word  of  God  be  known  and  understood  by  the  people,  and  that  for 

83 


658  THE    DIEECTORY   FOE   WOESHIP. 

this  purpose,  in  their  public  instructions,  the  practice  of  lecturing  on  cer- 
tain portions  of  the  Scripture  be  not  laid  aside,  but  rather  revived  and 
increased. — 1799,  p.  182. 

III.  The  method  of  preaching  requires  much  study,  meditation, 
and  prayer.  Ministers  ought,  in  general,  to  prepare  their  sermons 
with  care ;  and  not  to  indulge  themselves  in  loose,  extemporary  ha- 
rangues ;  nor  to  serve  God  with  that  which  cost  them  naught.  They 
ought,  however,  to  keep  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel ;  expressing 
themselves  in  language  agreeable  to  Scripture,  and  level  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  meanest  of  their  hearers ;  carefully  avoiding  ostenta- 
tion, either  of  parts  or  learning.  They  ought  also  to  adorn,  by  their 
lives,  the  doctrine  which  they  teach;  and  to  be  examples  to  the  be- 
lievers, in  word,  in  conversation,  in  charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in 
purity. 

J  V.  As  one  primary  design  of  public  ordinances  is  to  pay  social 
acts  of  homage  to  the  Most  High  God,  ministers  ought  to  be  careful 
not  to  make  their  sermons  so  long  as  to  interfere  with,  or  exclude, 
the  more  important  duties  of  prayer  and  praise  ;  but  preserve  a  just 
proportion  between  the  several  parts  of  public  worship. 

V.  The  sermon  being  ended,  the  minister  is  to  pray,  and  return 
thanks  to  Almighty  God;  then  let  a  psalm  be  sung;  a  collection 
raised  for  the  poor,  or  other  purposes  of  the  church  ;  and  the  assem- 
bly dismissed  with  the  apostolic  benediction. 

VI.  It  is  expedient,  that  no  person  be  introduced  to  preach  in  any 
of  the  churches  under  our  care,  unless  by  the  consent  of  the  pastor, 
or  church  session^ 


CHAPTER  VII. 

OF  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  BAPTISM. 

L  Baptism  is  not  to  be  unnecessarily  delayed;  nor  to  be  admin- 
istered, in  any  case,  by  any  private  person;  but  l>y  a  minister  of 
CJirist,  called  to  be  the  stcArard  of  the  mysteries  of  God. 

1.  Age  of  Infancy  not  Determined. 

The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  question,  "At  what  age  ought 
children  to  be  considered  too  old  to  be  l)a])tizod  on  tlie  faith  of  their 
parents?"  reported  the  following  answer;  which,  being  read,  was  adopted, 
viz. : 

The  precise  time  of  life  when  the  state  of  infancy  ceases,  is  not  deter- 
mined in  the  word  of  God,  nor  by  the  standards  of  our  Church,  and,  from 


OF    THE   ADMIXISTRATIOX    OF    BAPTISM.  659 

the  nature  of  the  case,  is  incapable  of  being  regulated  by  any  uniform 
rule,  but  should  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  ministers  and  sessions,  to  be 
determined  according  to  the  particular  circumstances  of  each  case.  The 
Assembly,  therefore,  deem  it  inexpedient  to  attempt  to  fix  the  precise  time 
at  which  children  ought  to  be  considered  too  old  to  be  baptized  on  the 
faith  of  their  parents. — 1822,  p.  53. 

2.  Baptism  by  an  Impostor  Null  and  Invalid. 

Whereas,  A  certain  person  pretending  at  Egg  Harbor  to  be  a  minister 
regularly  ordained  among  the  Presbyterians,  under  that  character  bap- 
tized some  adults  and  infants,  and  it  appearing  to  the  Synod  that  his  pre- 
tences were  false,  having  at  that  time  no  license  or  ordination,  it  is  our 
opinion  that  all  the  gospel  ordinances  he  administered  under  that  false 
and  pretended  character  are  null  and  invalid. — 1752,  p.  249. 

3.  By  a  Profligate.— Cases  to  be  Judged  of  by  the  Session. 

The  following  question  was  proposed  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures, 
viz. : 

Ought  such  persons  to  be  rebaptized  as  have  been  offered  in  baptism  by 
notoriously  profligate  parents,  and  baptized  by  ministers  of  the  same  de- 
scription ? 

Resolved,  That  it  is  a  principle  of  the  Church  that  the  unworthiness  of 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel  does  not  invalidate  the  ordinances  of  religion 
dispensed  by  them.  It  is  also  a  principle  that  as  long  as  any  denomina- 
tion of  Christians  is  acknowledged  by  us  a  Church  of  Christ,  we  ought 
to  hold  the  ordinances  dispensed  by  it  as  valid,  notwithstanding  the 
unworthiness  of  particular  ministers.  Yet,  inasmuch  as  no  general  rule 
can  be  made  to  embrace  all  circumstances,  there  may  be  irregularities  in 
particular  administrations  by  men  not  yet  divested  of  their  office,  either 
in  this  or  in  other  churches,  which  may  render  them  null  and  void.  But 
as  these  irregularities  must  often  result  from  circumstances  and  situations 
that  cannot  be  anticipated  and  pointed  out  in  the  rule,  they  must  be  left 
to  be  judged  of  by  the  prudence  and  wisdom  of  church  sessions,  and  the 
higher  judicatories  to  which  they  may  be  referred.  In  such  cases,  it  may 
be  advisable  to  administer  the  ordinance  of  baj)tism  in  a  regular  manner, 
where  a  profane  exhibition  of  the  ceremony  may  have  been  attempted. 
These  cases  and  circumstances,  however,  are  to  be  inquired  into  by  the 
church  sessions,  and  referred  to  a  Presbytery  before  a  final  decision. — 
1790,  p.  26. 

4.  Unitarian  Baptism. 

a.  A  person  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy  by  Dr.  Priestly  ap- 
plied for  admission  to  the  Lord's  table.     Should  the  baptism  administered 
by  Dr.  Priestly,  then  a  Unitarian,  be  considered  valid  ? 
'  Besolved,  That  this  question  be  answered  in  the  negative. 

In  the  present  state  of  our  country,  whilst  Unitarian  errors  in  various 
forms  are  making  their  insidious  approaches ;  whilst  the  advocates  of  this 
heresv  in  many  cases  are  practicing  a  system  of  concealment,  and  insinu- 
ating themselves  into  the  confidence  of  multitudes  who  have  no  susjjicion 
of  their  defection  from  the  faith,  the  Assembly  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to 
speak  without  reserve. 

It  is  the  deliberate  and  unanimous  opinion  of  this  Assembly  that  those 
who  renounce  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  deny  that 
Tesus  Christ  is  the  same  in  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory  with 


660  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

the  Father,  cannot  be  recognized  as  ministers  of  the  gospel ;  and  that  their 
ministrations  are  wholly  invalid. — 1814,  p.  549. 

b.  Whether  baptism,  administered  by  the  denomination  of  "Disciples" 
(usually  styled  Campbellites),  ought  to  be  regarded  as  valid. 

Answered  in  the  negative. — 1864,  p.  316,  O.  S. 

5.  By  a  Minister  after  he  is  Deposed. 

A  reference  from  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson,  requesting  of  the  Assem- 
bly an  answer  to  the  following  question,  was  received  and  read,  viz. : 

Is  baptism  administered  by  a  minister  after  he  is  deposed  from  office 
valid? 

Resolved,  That  in  answer  to  this  question,  the  Presbytery  be  referred  to 
chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  of  the  Directory  for  Public  Worship. — 1819,  p.  701. 

6.  By  a  Suspended  Minister. 

The  following  overture  was  presented  by  the  Committee  of  Overtures, 
viz. :  "  Can  a  Presbytery  consistently  acknowledge  as  valid  the  ordinance 
of  baptism  as  administered  by  those  who  are  regularly  suspended  by  a 
higher  judicatory  of  the  Church? 

"  If  not,  how  are  we  to  regard  the  baptism  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terians ?" 

The  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  report  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  the  overture  respecting  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians.  After  con- 
siderable discussion,  the  report  of  the  Committee  was  adopted,  and  is  as 
follows,  viz. : 

1.  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly,  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  when  regularly  suspended  by  the  competent  judicatories,  have  no 
right  to  exercise  the  functions  of  a  minister  during  that  suspension, 

2.  That  while  those  persons  styling  themselves  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
tery were  under  suspension,  their  administrations  are  to  be  considered  as  in- 
valid; but  after  the  General  Assembly  have  declared  them  to  be  no  longer 
connected  with  our  Church,  their  administrations  are  to  be  viewed  in  the 
same  light  with  those  of  other  denominations  not  connected  with  our 
body.  This  decision  is  grounded  on  the  opinion  that  the  Act  of  the  As- 
sembly of  1814  precluded  the  propriety  of  deposition,  or  any  other  pro- 
cess in  the  case. — 1825,  pp.  145,  156. 

7.  The  Question,  Is  Baptism  in  the  Church  of  Rome  Valid  ?  an- 
s-wered  in  the  Negative. 

a.  The  question  presented  to  this  Assembly  by  overture  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Ohio,  "Is  baptism  in  the  Church  of  Rome  valid  f  is  one  of  a 
very  grave  character,  and  of  deep  practical  importance.  The  answer  to 
it  must  involve  principles  vital  to  the  peace,  the  purity  and  the  stability 
of  the  Church  of  God. 

After  a  full  discussion,  carried  through  several  days,  this  Assembly  has 
decided,  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote  [173  yeas  to  8  nays],  that  baptism 
so  administered  is  not  valid. 

b.  Because,  since  baptism  is  an  ordinance  established  by  Christ  in  his 
Church  (Form  Gov.,  chap,  vii.,  Matt,  xxviii.,  19,  20),  and  is  to  be  admin- 
istered only  by  a  minister  of  Christ,  duly  called  and  ordained  to  be  a 
steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God  (Directory,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.),  it  follows 
that  no  rite  administered  by  one  who  is  not  himself  a  duly  ordained  minis- 
ter of  the  true  Church  of  God  visible,  can  be  regarded  as  au  ordinance  of 


OF   THE  ADMINISTRATION   OF   BAPTISM.  661 

Christ,  whatever  be  the  name  by  which  it  is  called,  whatever  the  form  em- 
ployed in  its  administration.  The  so-called  priests  of  the  Romish  com- 
munion are  not  ministers  of  Christ,  for  they  are  commissioned  as  agents 
of  the  papal  hierarchy,  which  is  not  a  Church  of  Christ,  but  the  Man  of 
Sin,  apostate  from  the  truth,  the  enemy  of  righteousness  and  of  God.  She 
has  long  lain  under  the  curse  of  God,  who  has  called  his  people  to  come 
out  from  her,  that  they  be  not  partakers  of  her  plagues. 

c.  It  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  the  Reformed  Churches,  that  the 
whole  papal  body,  though  once  a  branch  of  the  visible  Church,  has  long 
since  become  utterly  corrupt,  and  hopelessly  apostate.  It  was  a  convic- 
tion of  this  which  led  to  the  Reformation,  and  the  complete  separation  of 
the  Reformed  body  from  the  papal  communion.  Luther  and  his  coadju- 
tors, being  duly  ordained  presbyters  at  the  time  when  they  left  the  Romish 
communion,  which  then,  though  fearfully  corrupt,  was  the  only  visible 
Church  in  the  countries  of  their  abode,  were  fully  authorized  by  the  word 
of  God,  to  ordain  successors  in  the  ministry,  and'  so  to  extend  and  perpet- 
uate the  Reformed  Churches  as  true  Churches  of  Christ,  while  the  contu- 
macious adherence  of  Rome  to  her  corruptions,  as  shown  in  the  decisions 
of  the  Council  of  Trent  (which  she  adopts  as  authoritative),  cuts  her  ofl' 
from  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  as  heretical  and  unsound.  This  was 
the  opinion  of  the  Reformers,  and  it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  to  this  day.  In  entire  accordance  to  this  is  the  decision  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  our  Church,  passed  in  1835  (see  Minutes  of  General 
Assembly,  vol.  8,  p.  33),  declaring  the  Church  of  Rome  to  be  an  apostate 
body. 

d.  The  decision  by  the  Assembly  of  1835,  renders  the  return  of  a  nega- 
tive to  the  inquiry  proposed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Ohio,  indispensable  on 
the  ground  of  consistency;  unless  we  are  prepared  to  admit,  in  direct  con- 
tradiction to  the  standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  that  baptism  is 
not  an  ordinance  established  by  Christ  in  his  Church  exclusively,  and  that 
it  may  be  administered  by  an  agent  of  the  Man  of  Sin,  an  emissary  of 
the  prince  of  darkness;  that  it  may  be  administered  in  sport  or  in  blas- 
phemy, and  yet  be  valid  as  though  administered  by  a  duly  commissioned 
steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God. 

e.  Nor  can  it  be  urged  that  the  papal  hierarchy  is  improving  in  her 
character,  and  gradually  approximating  to  the  scriptural  standard.  She 
claims  to  be  infallible:  her  dogmas  she  promulgates  as  the  doctrines  of 
heaven  ;  and  she  pronounces  her  heaviest  anathema  against  any  and  every 
man  who  questions  her  authority,  and  refuses  to  bow  to  her  decisions. 
She  cannot  recede  from  the  ground  she  has  assumed.  She  has  adopted  as 
her  own,  the  decisions  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  degrade  the  word 
of  God ;  which  claim  equal  authority  for  the  Apocrypha  as  for  the  Nev,- 
Testament;  and  which  declare  the  sense  held  and  taught  by  holy  mother 
Church,  on  the  authority  of  tradition  and  of  the  Fathers,  to  be  the  true 
and  only  sense  of  Scripture.  All  who  deny  this  position,  or  who  question 
her  authority,  she  denounces  with  the  bitterest  curses. 

/.  She  thus  perverts  the  truth  of  God  ;  she  rejects  the  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication by  faith  ;  she  substitutes  hunuin  merit  for  the  righteousness  of 
Christ;  and  self-inflicted  punishment  for  gospel  repentance:  she  proclaims 
her  so-called  baptism  to  be  regeneration,  and  the  reception  of  the  conse- 
crated wafer  in  the  eucharist,  to  be  the  receiving  of  Christ  himself,  the 
source  and  fountain  of  grace,  and  with  him  all  the  grace  he  can  impart. 
Is  this  the  truth  ?  Is  reliance  on  this  system,  true  religion  ?  Can,  then, 
the  papal  body  be  a  Church  ? 

g.  The  Church  (i.  e.,  the  Church  visible),  as  defined  in  our  standards,  is 


G62  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

the  whole  body  of  those  persons,  together  with  their  children,  who  make 
profession  of  the  holy  religion  of  Christ,  and  of  submission  to  his  laws. 
(Form  Gov.,  chap,  ii.,  sec.  ii.)  As  certainly  then,  as  the  dogmas  and  prac- 
tices of  papal  Kome  are  not  the  holy  reliyioti  of  Christ,  must  it  be  con- 
ceded, that  the  papal  body  is  not  a  Church  of  Olirist  at  all ;  and  if  not, 
then  her  agents,  be  they  styled  priests,  bishops,  archbishops,  cardinals  or 
pope,  are  not  ministers  of  Christ  in  any  sense ;  for  they  have  no  connec- 
tion with  his  true  visible  Church  ;  and  not  being  true  ministers  of  Christ, 
they  have  no  power  to  administer  Christian  ordinances,  and  the  rite  they 
call  baptism,  is  not,  in  any  sense,  to  be  regarded  as  valid  Christian  bap- 
tism. 

h.  Further,  by  the  perverted  meaning  they  affix,  and  the  superstitious 
rites  they  have  superadded  to  the  ceremonies  they  perform  under  the  name 
of  baptism  and  the  eucharist,  the  symbolical  nature  and  true  design  of  both 
the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  are  lost  sight  of  and 
utterly  destroyed — so  that,  could  we  by  any  possibility  assign  to  her  the 
name  of  a  Church,  she  would  still  be  a  Church  without  the  two  grand  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel ;  she  neither  administers  Christian  baptism,  nor  cele- 
brates the  Supper  of  our  Lord. 

i.  Moreover,  since,  by  the  11th  canon  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  she  de- 
clares the  efficacy  of  her  ordinances  to  depend  upon  the  intention  of  the 
administrator,  no  man  can  know  with  certainty  that  her  form  of  adminis- 
tration in  any  ordinance  is  not  a  mere  mockery  :  no  consistent  papist  can 
be  certain  that  he  has  been  duly  baptized,  or  that  he  has  received  the  ver- 
itable eucharist :  he  cannot  know,  that  the  priest  who  officiates  at  his  altar 
is  a  true  priest,  nor  that  there  is  actually  any  one  true  priest,  or  any  one 
prelate  rightly  consecrated  in  the  whole  papal  communion.  The  papal 
hierarchy  has  by  her  own  solemn  act  shrouded  all  her  doings  in  uncer- 
tainty, and  enveloped  all  her  rites  in  hopeless  obscurity.  Even  on  this 
ground  alone,  the  validity  of  her  baptism  might  safely  be  denied. 

j.  Nor  is  the  fact  that  instances  now  and  then  occur  of  apparent  piety 
in  the  members  of  her  communion,  and  of  intelligence,  zeal  and  conscieu- 
ti(jusness  in  some  of  her  priests,  any  ground  of  objection  against  the  po- 
sition here  taken  by  this  Assembly.  The  virtues  rof  individuals  do  not 
purify  the  body  of  which  they  are  members.  We  are  to  judge  of  the 
character  of  a  body  claiming  to  be  a  Church  of  Christ — not  by  the  opin- 
ions or  practices  of  its  individual  members,  but  by  its  standards  and  its 
allowed  practices.  Bound  as  he  is  by  the  authority  of  his  Church — and 
that  on  pain  of  her  heaviest  malediction — to  understand  the  Scriptures 
only  in  the  sense  in  which  his  Cluirch  understands  and  explains  them,  a 
consistent  papist  cannot  receive  or  hold  the  true  religion,  or  the  doctrines 
of  grace.  If  he  does,  he  must  either  renounce  the  papacy,  or  hypocritic- 
ally conceal  his  true  sentiments,  or  he  must  prepare  to  brave  the  thundei'^ 
of  her  wrath.  True  religion  and  an  intelligent  adherence  to  papal  Rome 
are  utterly  iracompatible  and  impossible.  The  Church  and  the  papacy 
are  the  repelling  poles  of  the  moral  system. 

k.  Difficulties  may  possibly  arise  in  individual  cases.  It  may  not  be 
easy  at  all  times  to  say  whether  an  applicant  for  admission  into  the 
Church  of  Christ  has,  or  has  not,  been  baptized:  whether  he  has  been 
christened  by  a  popish  pastor  or  not.  In  all  such  doubtful  cases  the  ses- 
sion of  a  church  must  act  according  to  the  light  before  them.  But  it  is 
safer  and  more  conducive  to  peace  and  edilication,  to  embrace  a  well 
established  principle  lor  our  guidance,  and  act  upon  it  firmly  in  the  fear 
of  God,  leaving  all  consequences  with  him,  than  to  suffer  ourselves,  with- 
out any  fixed  principles,  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  circumstances. 


OF   THE   ADMINISTRATION    OF    BAPTISM.  663 

I.  While  some  other  Churches  may  hesitate  to  carry  out  fully  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  Reformation,  in  wholly  repudiating  popish  baptism,  as  uell  as 
the  popish  mass,  we,  as  Presbyterians,  feel  bound  to  act  on  the  principle 
laid  down  by  our  Assembly  so  long  ago  as  1790,  that,  so  long  as  a  body  is 
by  us  recognized  as  a  true  Church,  are  her  ordinances  to  be  deemed  valid, 
and  no  longer. 

In  1835  the  Assembly  declared  the  papacy  to  be  apostate  from  Christ, 
and  no  true  Church,  As  we  do  not  recognize  her  as  a  portion  of  the  visi- 
ble Church  of  Christ,  we  cannot,  consistently,  view  her  pi-iesthood  as  other 
than  usurpers  of  the  sacred  functions  of  the  ministry,  her  ordinances  as 
unscriptural,  and  her  baptism  as  totally  invalid. — 1845,  pp.  15,  34,  O.  S. 

8.  The  Question  Indefinitely  Postponed. 

The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  reported  an  overture  from 
the  Third  Presbytery  of  New  York,  which  is  as  follows: 

Is  baptism,  as  administered  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  to  be  re- 
garded as  Christian  baptism?  [Referred  to  a  Committee — Drs.  E.  F.  Hat- 
field, S.  H.  Cox  and  Henry  B.  Smith — to  consider  the  subject,  and  report 
to  the  next  General  Assembly.] — 1853,  p.  342,  N.  S. 

The  majority  and  niinority  of  the  Committee  each  made  a  report,  which 
were  discussed  at  great  length.  And  the  whole  subject  indefinitely  post- 
poned.— 1854,  p.  512,  N.  S. 

9.  The  Deliverance  of  1845  Affirmed. 

Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Tuscaloosa,  asking  whether  the  ordi- 
nance of  baptism  ought  to  be  administered  to  a  person  before  reception 
into  our  Church  who  presents  a  certificate  of  good  and  regular  standing  in 
the  New  School  Presbyterian  Church,  but  who  has  received  only  Roman 
Catholic  baptism. 

The  Committee  answer  that  the  mere  fact  that  a  person  has  been  a 
member  of  another  church  has  nothing  to  do  with  his  original  baptism. 
The  memorialists  are  referred  to  the  action  of  the  Assembly  in  1845. 

Adopted.— 1859,  p.  535,  O.  S. 

10.  Ruling  Elders  may  not  Administer  Sealing  Ordinances. 

Overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Peoria  on  the  authority  of  ruling 
elders  to  administer  sealing  ordinances.  The  Committee  recommend  that 
they  be  referred  to  the  Standards,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.,  and  chap,  viii.,  Direct- 
ory for  Worship,  throughout. 

Adopted.— 1870,  p.  22. 

II.  It  is  usually  to  be  administered  in  the  church,  in  the  presence 
of  the  congregation ;  and  it  is  convenient  that  it  be  performed  im- 
mediately after  sermon. 

III.  After  previous  notice  is  given  to  the  minister,  the  child  to  be 
baptized  is  to  be  presented,  by  one  or  both  the  parents,  signifying 
their  desire  that  the  child  may  be  baptized. 

1.  Who  may  be  Presented  for  Baptism. 

a.  Not  only  those  that  do  actually  profess  faith  in  and  obedience  unto 
Christ,  but  also  the  infants  of  one  or  both  believing  parents  are  to  be  bap- 
tized.—  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  xxviii.,  sec.  iv. 


664  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR    WORSHIP. 

b.  Baptism  is  not  to  be  administered  to  any  that  are  out  of  the  visible 
Church,  and  so  strangers  from  the  covenant  of  promise,  till  they  profess 
their  faith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to  him  ;  but  infants  descending  from 
parents,  either  both  or  but  one  of  them,  professing  faith  in  Christ  and  obe- 
dience to  him,  are,  in  that  respect,  within  the  covenant,  and  are  to  be 
baptized. — Larger  CatecJiism,  ques.  166 ;  Shorter  Catechism,  ques.  95. 

2.  The  Duty  of  Christian  Masters  to  have  their  Servants  Baptized. 

The  following  case  of  conscience  from  Donegal  Presbytery  was  over- 
tured,  viz.,  whether  Christian  masters  or  mistresses  ought,  in  duty,  to  have 
such  children  baptized  as  are  under  their  care,  though  born  of  parents 
not  in  the  communion  of  any  Christian  church.  Upon  this  overture 
Synod  are  of  opinion  that  Christian  masters  and  mistresses,  whose  religious 
professions  and  conduct  are  such  as  to  give  them  a  right  to  the  ordinance 
of  baptism  for  their  own  children,  may  and  ought  to  dedicate  the  children 
of  their  household  to  God  in  that  ordinance  when  they  have  no  scruple 
of  conscience  to  the  contrary. — 1786,  p.  527. 

3.  Of  Christian  Slaves  to  have  their  Children  Baptized, 

It  was  overtured  whether  Christian  slaves,  having  children  at  the  entire 
direction  of  unchristian  masters,  and  not  having  it  in  their  power  to  instruct 
them  in  religion,  are  bound  to  have  them  baptized,  and  whether  a  gospel 
minister  in  this  predicament  ought  to  baptize  them,  and  Synod  determined 
the  question  in  the  affirmative. — 1786,  p.  527. 

4.  Infant  Slaves  of  Christian  Masters. 

Ought  baptism,  on  the  profession  and  promise  of  the  master,  to  be  ad- 
ministered to  the  children  of  slaves? 

1.  It  is  the  duty  of  masters  who  are  members  of  the  Church  to  present 
the  children  of  parents  in  servitude  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  provided 
thev  are  in  a  situation  to  train  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord,  thus  securing  to  them  the  rich  advantages  which  the  gospel 
provides. 

2.  It  is  the  duty  of  Christ's  ministers  to  inculcate  this  doctrine,  and  to 
baptize  all  children  of  this  description  when  })resented  bv  their  masters. — 
1816,  p.  617. 

5.  Orphan  Children  of   Heathen   Parents  in  the  Care  of   our 

Missions. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America  to  the  Presbytery  of  Lculiana : 

Dkak  Bkethrkn  :  You  have  submitted  to  us  (piestions  respecting  a 
subject  which  we  have  no  doubt  is  one  of  very  great  ini])ortance  in  regard 
to  tlie  progress  of  religion  among  the  heathen.  We  have  seriously  consitl- 
ered  it,  and  give  you  here  the  result  of  our  deliberations. 

You  present  to  us  three  questions,  to  which  we  re])ly  in  the  order  in 
which  the  same  are  presented. 

a.  1.  Are  all  orphan  children  of  heathen  parents,  committed  to  the  care 
of  our  missions,  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism  with- 
out respect  to  their  ages? 

We  reply,  certainly  they  are  not. 

You  must  nuxke  the  same  distinction  that  you  would  make  if  their  pa- 
rents were  alive  and  members  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  desiring  to 
have  them  bai)tized,  the  same  distinction  which  is  made  in  Christian  cuuu- 


OF   THE   ADMINISTRATION    OF    BAPTISM.  665 

tries.  We  add,  let  those  children  only  be  baptized  in  every  case  who  are 
so  committed  to  the  missions,  or  other  Christian  tuition,  as  to  secure  effect- 
ually their  entire  religious  education.  On  this  point  great  caution  is 
necessary. 

h.  2.  You  ask  (on  the  presumption  that  the  preceding  question  is  an- 
swered in  the  negative).  Are  those  only  to  be  baptized  who  have  not  at- 
tained to  years  of  discretion  ? 

This  question  we  answer  in  the  affirmative. 

e.  3,  Your  third  question  is  in  substance  as  follows:  If  those  only  who 
have  not  attained  to  years  of  discretion  are  to  be  baptized,  at  what  age 
shall  the  federal  right  be  supposed  to  cease  and  personal  responsibility  to 
commence  ? 

Although  it  is  not  difficult  to  answer  this  question  in  accordance  with 
the  standards  and  the  practice  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  yet  the  rule 
may  frequently  be  found  difficult  of  application.  Our  answer  to  the 
question,  however,  is : 

The  officers  of  the  Church  must  judge  in  each  particular  case  whether 
the  proposed  subject  of  baptism  has  arrived  at  years  of  discretion  or  not. 
We  can  adopt  no  other  rule  in  our  own  practice,  and  we  can  recommend 
no  other  to  you.  We  refer  you  to  chap,  ix.,  sec.  ii.,  of  our  Directory  for 
Worship.  If  the  person  proposed  to  be  baptized  has  acquired  that  ma- 
turity of  mind  which  renders  him  capable  of  making  an  intelligent  pro- 
fession of  religion  himself,  he  ought  not  to  be  baptized  on  the  faith  of  an- 
other. Our  Confession  of  Faith  recognizes  the  right  to  baptism  of  the 
infant  children  only  of  such  parents  as  are  members  of  the  Church.  We 
do  not  doubt  that  in  heathen  countries  children  of  heathen  parents  ordi- 
narily arrive  at  what  are  called  ijears  of  discretion  later  than  those  who 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  Christian  instruction  in  early  life;  but  in  a  coun- 
try where  the  religion  of  all  consists  in  forms  and  ceremonies,  great  care 
should  be  taken  that  the  Christian  religion  does  not  even  appear  to  par- 
take of  the  formality  and  emptiness  of  Mohammedanism  and  Paganism. — 
1843,  p.  179,  O.  S. 

6.  Obligations  and  Qualifications  of  Parents. 

a.  The  Synod  do  also  exhort  all  the  ministers  within  our  bounds  to  take 
due  care  in  the  examination  of  all  candidates  for  baptism,  or  that  offer  to 
dedicate  their  children  to  God  in  that  sacred  ordinance,  that  they  are 
persons  of  a  regular  life,  and  have  suitable  acquaintance  with  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Christian  religion  ;  that  that  seal  be  not  set  to  a  blank,  and 
that  such  be  not  admitted  to  visible  church  relation  that  are  manifestly 
unfit  for  it. — 1735,  p.  115. 

b.  That  previously  to  the  administration  of  baptism,  the  minister  shall 
inquire  into  the  parents'  knowledge  of  the  great  and  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel,  and  the  regularity  of  their  lives;  and  being  satisfied 
so  as  to  admit  them,  shall,  in  public,  point  out  the  special  duties  of  the 
parents,  and  ])articularly  that  they  teach  their  children  the  doctrines  and 
precepts  of  Christianity,  contained  in  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  and  comprised  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Catechisms,  which  therefore  he  shall  recommend  unto  them. — 1755,  p.  267. 

c.  The  following  reference  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  was  laid  be- 
fore the  Assembly  :  As  baptism  is  to  be  administered  to  the  infants  of 
those  who  are  members  of  the  visible  Church  (but  our  Directory  leaves 
the  description  of  the  visible  and  credible  profession  of  Christianity  vague 
and  indefinite),  it  is  humbly  proposed  to  the  Assembly  to  give  some  pre- 
cise direction  and  definition  of  such  a  profession  for  the  information  of 

84 


6QQ  THE   DIRECTORY  FOR   WORSHIP. 

its  ministers.  In  answer  to  the  above  reference,  the  Assembly  judged  it 
unnecessary,  and  perhaps  impracticable,  to  deliver  rules  more  explicit 
than  those  contained  in  the  standards  of  our  Church ;  but  should  cases 
of  difficulty  arise,  they  must  be  decided  respectively,  according  to  their 
own  merits,  before  the  proper  judicatories. — 1794,  p.  91. 

d.  Our  Confession  of  Faith  recognizes  the  right  to  baptism  of  the  in- 
fant children  only  of  such  parents  as  are  members  of  the  Church. — 1843, 
p.  180,  O.  S. 

IV.  Before  baptism,  let  the  minister  use  some  words  of  instruc- 
tion, respecting  the  institution,  nature,  use,  and  ends  of  this  ordi- 
uance ;  showing. 

That  it  is  instituted  by  Christ ;  that  it  is  a  seal  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  faith ;  that  the  seed  of  the  faithful  have  no  less  a  right  to 
this  ordinance,  under  the  gospel,  than  the  seed  of  Abraham  to  cir- 
cumcision, under  the  Old  Testament;  that  Christ  commanded  all 
nations  to  be  baptized  ;  that  he  blessed  little  children,  declaring  that 
of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  that  children  are  federally  holy, 
and  therefore  ought  to  be  baptized  ;  that  we  are,  by  nature,  sinful, 
guilty,  and  polluted,  and  have  need  of  cleansing  by  the  blood  of 
Christ,  and  by  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

The  minister  is  also  to  exhort  the  parents  to  the  careful  perform- 
ance of  their  duty;  requiring, 

That  they  teach  the  child  to  read  the  word  of  God ;  that  they  in- 
struct it  in  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion,  as  contained  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament;  an  excellent  summary 
of  which  we  have  in  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Church,  and  in 
the  Larger  and  Shorter  Catechisms  of  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
which  are  to  be  recommended  to  them,  as  adopted  by  this  Church,  for 
their  direction  and  assistance,  in  the  discharge  of  this  important 
duty;  that  they  pray  with  and  for  it;  that  they  set  an  example  of 
piety  and  godliness  before  it,  and  endeavor  by  all  the  means  of  God's 
appointment,  to  bring  up  their  child  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord. 

1.  Parents  required  to  Enter  into  Engagements. 

The  following  question,  through  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  was  read, 
viz. : 

AVhelher,  besides  requiring  of  parents  dedicating  their  children  to  God 
in  baptism,  an  express  acl<;nowledgment  of  the  duties  of  parents,  and  rec- 
ommending to  them  the  observance  thereof,  it  siiould  be  considered  as 
essential  to  require  that  they  come  under  an  explicit  vow  or  solemn  en- 
gagement also  to  perform  those  duties  ?  whereupon  the  Assembly 

Resolved,  Tliat  an  answer  to  this  question  is  contained  in  the  Directory 
for  Public  Worship  of  this  Church,  under  the  head  of  the  Administra- 
tion of  Bai)tism,  which  requires  an  express  engagement  upon  the  part  of 
parents. — 1794,  p.  89. 


OF  THE   ADMINISTRATIOX   OF   THE   LORD's  SUPPER.  667 

Y.  Then  the  minister  is  to  pray  for  a  blessing  to  attend  this  ordi- 
nance ;  after  which,  calhng  the  chikl  by  its  name,  he  shall  say, 

"  I  baptize  thee,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

As  he  pronounces  these  words,  he  is  to  baptize  the  child  with 
water,  by  pouring,  or  sprinkling,  it  on  the  face  of  the  child,  with- 
out adding  any  other  ceremony :  and  the  whole  shall  be  concluded 
with  prayer. 

Although  it  is  proper  that  baptism  be  administered  in  the  presence 
of  the  congregation ;  yet  there  may  be  cases  when  it  will  be  expedi- 
ent to  administer  this  ordinance  in  private  houses;  of  which  the  min- 
ister is  to  be  the  judge. 

Mode  of  Baptism. 

Is  it  expedient,  in  the  present  state  of  the  Church,  for  a  Presbyterian 
minister  to  baptize  by  immersion  in  any  case  ? 

The  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  xxviii.,  sec.  iii.,  teaches  as  follows,  viz. : 
Dipping  of  the  person  into  the  water  is  not  necessary  ;  but  baptism  is 
rightly  administered  by  pouring  or  sprinkling  of  water  upon  the  person. 
Your  Committee  see  no  cause  for  adding  anything  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Confession  on  this  subject.     Adopted. — 1834,  p,  433. 


CHAPTER  VHI. 

OF  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 

I.  The  communion,  or  supper  of  the  Lord,  is  to  be  celebrated 
frequently;  but  how  often,  may  be  determined  by-  the  minister  and 
eldership  of  each  congregation,  as  they  may- judge  most  for  edification. 

1.  "Where  there  is  no  Church  Organized. 

a.  It  was  moved  that  the  restriction  laid  by  the  last  General  Assembly 
on  our  missionaries,  which  confines  them  to  administer  the  ordinance  of 
the  Lord's  Su))per  in  such  places  only  where  there  are  church  officers 
retjularly  appointed,  be  repealed,  and  it  is  hereby  repealed  accordingly. — 
1798,  p.  146. 

2.  Not  Usually  in  the  Bounds  of  a  Congregation  -without  Consent. 

"While  the  Assembly,  as  a  general  principle,  disapprove  of  the  admin- 
istration of  the  sacraments,  by  one  of  their  ministers,  within  the  bounds 
of  a  congregation  with  which  he  is  not  connected,  without  the  consent  of 
the  minister  and  session  of  said  congregation  ;  yet  under  the  peculiar  local 
circumstances  of  the  people  among  which  ]\Ir.  ]\Iaccalla  occasionally^  ad- 
ministered ordinances,  the  Assembly  cannot  decide  that  he  deserves  cen- 
sure. Therefore,  Resolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
affirming  a  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Ebenezer  in  regard  to  the  com- 


668  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR   WORSHIP. 

plaint  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dobbins,  against  the  Rev.  Mr.  Maccalla,  be,  and  it 
hereby  is  affirmed. — 1824,  p.  124. 

3.  "Where  a  Minister  may  Statedly  Preach  he  may  Administer  the 

Lord's  Supper. 

The  Judicial  Conimissiou  appointed  to  hear  and  try  an  appeal  and 
complaint  of  the  church  and  congregation  of  Mifflinburg  against  the 
action  of  the  Synod  of  Phihidelphia,  on  the  appeal  and  complaint  of  the 
Rev.  Isaac  Grier,  D.  D.,  beg  leave  to  report : 

That  they  have  issued  the  case  pro  forma,  according  to  the  directions 
of  the  Book  of  Discipline  in  the  case  of  appeals  and  complaints,  and  after 
a  full  hearing,  do  unanimously  adjudge: 

1st.  That  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  affirming  the  right 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Grier  to  preach  in  Mifflinburg  to  the  people  of  his  charge,  be 
approved  and  confirmed. 

2d.  That  the  restriction  preventing  him  from  administering  the  Lord's 
Supper  in  JNIifflinbui-g,  except  under  extraordinary  circumstances,  be 
removed. — 1870,  p.  31. 

4.  Administered  in  a  Private  House  in  Sickness. 

Overture  No.  12,  from  the  Central  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  asking 
the  Assembly  to  decide  wliether,  in  no  case  of  sickness  or  of  conversion, 
however  peculiar,  the  session  of  a  church  is  not  at  liberty  to  administer 
the  Lord's  Supper  in  a  private  house. 

Tlie  Committee  recommend  the  following  minute: 

The  standards  of  our  Church  are  clear  in  their  teaching,  that  the  Lord's 
Supper  is  not  to  be  received  by  any  one  alone,  yet,  in  cases  of  protracted 
sickness  or  a})proaching  death,  when  the  desire  is  very  strongly  urged  by 
a  member  of  the  church,  to  enjoy  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, a  pastor,  having  duly  admonished  the  applicant  that  such  ordinance, 
however  a  source  of  spiritual  comfort,  is  not,  in  such  cases,  an  imperative 
duty,  or  indispensable  to  salvation,  may,  with  a  member  of  his  session,  and 
such  communicants  as  may  appropriately  be  permitted  to  partake  in  such 
solemnity,  proceed  to  administer  this  sacrament — a  minute  of  every  such 
act  to  be  entered  on  the  records  of  session. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted. — 1863,  p.  37,  O.  S. 

[For  answer  as  to  question  on  the  authority  of  ruling  elders  to  admin- 
ister sealing  ordinances,  see  above,  chap,  vii.,  sec.  i.] 

II.  Tlic  ignorant  and  scandalous  are  not  to  be  admitted  to  the 
Lord's  Sui)per. 

III.  It  is  proper  tliat  ])ul)llc  notice  shonld  be  given  to  the  congre- 
gation, at  least,  the  Sabbath  before  tlie  administration  of  this  ordi- 
nance, and  that,  either  then,  or  on  some  day  of  tlie  week,  the  people 
be  instructed  ih  its  nature,  and  a  duo  preparation  for  it;  that  all  juay 
come  in  a  suitable  manner  to  this  holy  feast. 

IV.  When  the  serrnou  is  ended,  the  minister  shall  show, 

That  this  is  an  ordinance  of  Christ;  by  reading  the  words  of  in- 
stitution, either  from  one  of  the  evangelists,  or  from  1  Cor.,  xi.  chap- 
ter ;  which,  as  to  him  may  appear  expedient,  he  may  explain  and 
apply ;  that  it  is  to  be  observed  in  remembrance  of  Christ,  to  show 


OF    THE   ADMINISTRATION   OF   THE    LORD's   SUPPER.  G69 

forth  his  death  till  he  come;  that  it  is  of  inestimable  benefit,  to 
strengthen  his  peoi)le  against  sin  ;  to  support  them  under  troubles  ; 
to  encourage  and  quicken  them  in  duty ;  to  insj>ire  them  with  love 
and  zeal;  to  increase  their  faith,  and  holy  resolution ;  and  to  beget 
peace  of  conscience,  and  comfortable  hopes  of  eternal  life. 

He  is  to  warn  the  profane,  the  ignorant,  and  scandalous,  and  those 
that  secretly  indulge  themselves  in  any  known  sin,  not  to  approach 
the  holy  table.  On  the  other  hand,  he  shall  invite  to  this  holy  table, 
such  as,  sensible  of  their  lost  and  helpless  state  of  sin,  depend  upon 
the  atonement  of  Christ  for  pardon  and  acceptance  with  God  ;  such  as, 
being  instructed  in  the  gospel  doctrine,  have  a  competent  knowledge 
to  discern  the  Lord's  body,  and  such  as  desire  to  renounce  their  sins, 
and  are  determined  to  lead  a  holy  and  godly  life. 

1.  The  Ignorant  or  Scandalous  Excluded. 

Such  as  are  found  to  be  ignorant  or  scandalous,  notwithstanding  their 
profession  of  the  faith,  and  desire  to  come  to  the  Lord's  vSupper,  may  and 
ought  to  be  kept  from  that  sacrament  by  the  power  which  Christ  hath 
left  in  his  Churcli,  until  they  receive  instruction,  and  manifest  their  reform- 
ation.— Larger  Catechism,  quest.  173. 

2.  Not  the  Custom  to  Invite  those  ^who  have  not  Professed  Christ. 

Overture  No.  42,  asking  if  it  accords  with  the  spirit  and  usage  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  to  invite  persons,  believers,  not  members  of  any 
evangelical  church,  to  pailake  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  Committee 
recommend  the  reply,  that  "  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and 
usage  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  extend  such  invitations."  Adopted. — 
1872,  p.  75. 

V.  The  table,  on  which  the  elements  are  placed,  being  decently 
covered,  the  bread  in  convenient  dishes,  and  the  wine  in  cups,  and 
the  communicants  orderly  and  gravely  sitting  around  the  table  (or  in 
their  seats  before  it),  in  the  presence  of  the  minister;  let  him  set  the 
elements  apart,  by  prayer  and  thanksgiving. 

The  bread  and  wine  being  thus  set  apart  by  prayer  and  thanksgiv- 
ing, the  minister  is  to  take  the  bread,  and  break  it,  in  the  view  of 
the  people,  saying,  in  expressions  of  this  sort : 

"  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  on  the  same  night  in  which  he  Avas  be- 
trayc<l,  having  taken  bread,  and  blessed  and  broken  it,  gave  it  to  his 
(liscij)les;  as  I,  ministering  in  his  name,  give  this  bread  unto  you, 
saving  [here  the  bread  is  to  be  distributed],  Take,  eat:  this  is  my 
body,  which  is  broken  for  you  :  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

Alter  having  given  the  bread,  he  shall  take  the  cup,  and  say, 

"  After  the  same  manner,  our  Saviour  also  took  the  cup  ;  and  hav- 
ing given  thanks,  as  hath  been  done  in  his  name,  he  gave  it  to  the 
disciples;  saying  [while  the  minister  is  repeating  these  words  let  him 


670  THE  DIRECTORY   FOR  WORSHIP. 

give  the  cup],  This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my  blood,  which  is 
shed  for  many,  for  the  remission  of  sins :  drink  ye  all  of  it." 

The  minister  himself  is  to  communicate,  at  such  time  as  may  ap- 
pear to  him  most  convenient. 

The  minister  may,  in  a  few  words,  put  the  communicants  in  mind, 

"Of  the  grace  of  God,  in  Jesus  Christ,  held  forth  in  this  sacra- 
ment ;  and  of  their  obligation  to  be  the  Lord's ;  and  may  exhort 
them  to  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  they  are  called; 
and,  as  they  have  professedly  received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  that 
they  be  careful  so  to  walk  in  him,  and  to  maintain  good  works." 

It  may  not  be  improper  for  the  minister  to  give  a  word  of  exhort- 
ation also  to  those  who  have  been  only  spectators,  reminding  them, 

"  Of  their  duty ;  stating  their  sin  and  danger,  by  living  in  disobe- 
dience to  Christ,  in  neglecting  this  holy  ordinance;  and  calling  upon 
them  to  be  earnest  in  making  preparation  for  attending  upon  it,  at 
the  next  time  of  its  celebration." 

Then  the  minister  is  to  pray,  and  give  thanks,  to  God, 

"  For  his  rich  mercy,  and  invaluable  goodness,  vouchsafed  to  them 
in  that  sacred  communion ;  to  implore  pardon  for  the  defects  of  the 
whole  service;  and  to  pray  for  the  acceptance  of  their  persons  and 
performances ;  for  the  gracious  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  enable 
them,  as  they  have  received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so  to  walk  in  him ; 
that  they  may  hold  fast  that  which  they  have  received,  that  no  man  take 
their  crown ;  that  their  conversation  may  be  as  becometh  the  Gospel ; 
that  they  may  bear  about  with  them,  continually,  the  dying  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  may  be  manifested  in  tlieir  mortal 
body ;  that  their  light  may  so  shine  before  men,  that  others,  seeing 
their  good  works,  may  glorify  their  Father,  who  is  in  heaven." 

The  collection,  for  the  poor,  and  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  ele- 
ments, may  be  made  after  this,  or  at  such  other  time  as  may  seem 
meet  to  the  eldership. 

Now  let  a  psalm  or  hymn  be  sung,  and  the  congregation  dismissed, 
fvith  the  following  or  some  other  gospel  benediction  : 

"  Now  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our 
Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of 
the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work  to  do 
his  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is  Avell  pleasing  in  his  sight, 
through  Jesus  Christ ;  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

VI.  As  it  has  been  customary,  in  some  parts  of  our  Church,  to 
observe  a  fast  before  the  Lord's  Supper ;  to  have  a  sermon  on  Satur- 
day and  Monday ;  and  to  invite  two  or  three  ministers,  on  such  occa- 
sions ;  and  as  these  seasons  have  been  blessed  to  many  souls  and  may 


OF   THE   ADMISSION   OF   PERSONS   TO   SEALING   ORDINANCES.      671 

tend  to  keep  up  a  stricter  union  of  ministers  and  congregations;  we 
think  it  not  improper,  that  they  who  choose  it  may  continue  in  this 
practice. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OF  THE  ADMISSION  OF  PERSONS  TO  SEALING   ORDINANCES. 

I.  Children,  born  within  the  pale  of  the  visible  Ciuirch,  and  ded- 
icated to  God  in  baptism,  are  under  the  inspection  and  government  of 
the  Church  ;  and  are  to  be  taught  to  read,  and  repeat  the  Catechism, 
the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer.  They  are  to  be  taught 
to  pray,  to  abhor  sin,  to  fear  God,  and  to  obey  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
And,  when  they  come  to  years  of  discretion,  if  they  be  free  from  scan- 
dal, appear  sober  and  steady,  and  to  have  sufficient  knowledge  to  dis- 
cern the  Lord's  body,  they  ought  to  be  informed,  it  is  their  duty,  and 
their  privilege,  to  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper. 

[See  also  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  i.,  sec.  vi.] 

1.  Pastoral  Care  over  Baptized  Children. 

a.  Whereas,  The  Book  of  Discipline  states  that  children  born  within 
the  pale  of  the  visible  Church,  and  dedicated  to  God  in  baptism,  are  under 
the  inspection  and  government  of  the  Church,  and  specifies  various  im- 
portant particulars  in  which  that  inspection  and  government  should  be 
exercised,  as  also  directs  the  mode  in  which  they  shall  be  treated  if  they 
do  not  perform  the  duties  of  church  members ;  and  whereas,  there  is  rea- 
son to  apprehend  that  many  of  our  congregations  neglect  to  catechise  the 
children  that  have  been  admitted  to  the  sealing  ordinance  of  baptism,  and 
do  not  exercise  suitable  discipline  over  them;  therefore, 

Re-iolved,  That  the  ditferent  Presbyteries  within  our  bounds  are  hereby 
directed  to  inquire  of  the  different  sessions  whether  a  proper  pastoral  care 
be  exercised  over  the  baptized  children  in  their  congregations,  that  they 
learn  the  principles  of  religion,  and  walk  in  newness  of  life  before  God, 
and  that  said  Presbyteries  do  direct  all  sessions  delinquent  in  this  respect 
to  attend  to  it  carefully  and  without  delay. — 1809,  p.  431. 

b.  Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  recommend,  and  they  do  hereby 
reconnnend  to  the  pastors  and  sessions  of  the  different  churches  under 
their  care,  to  assemble  as  often  as  they  may  deem  necessary  during  the 
yc;ir  the  baptized  children,  with  their  parents,  to  recommend  said  children 
to  God  in  prayer,  explain  to  them  the  nature  and  obligations  of  their  bap- 
tism, and  the  relation  they  sustain  to  the  Church. — 1818,  p.  691. 

2.  Discipline  of  Baptized  Children.— The  Subject  Postponed. 

a.  How  far,  and  in  what  sense,  are  persons  who  have  been  regularly 
baptized  in  infancy,  and  have  not  partaken  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  subject  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church  ? 

Resolved,  That  the  public  standards  of  this  Church  contain  a  sufficient 
answer  to  the  question  stated  in  the  above  reference. — 1799,  p.  171. 


672  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

b.  [The  Book  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky]  contains  a  reference  from  said 
Synod  to  this  Assembly  of  a  case  relative  to  the  disciplining  of  baptized 
persons  arrived  at  maturity,  not  in  communion. 

This  reference  was  committed  to  Dr.  Clark,  Messrs.  Nathan  Grier  and 
Picton,  who  were  directed  to  report  to  the  Assembly  on  the  subject. — 
1811,  p.  468. 

The  Committee  .  .  .  brought  in  their  report,  which  was  read,  and  the 
subject  indefinitely  postponed. — 1811,  p.  475. 

c.  Eemlved,  That  Drs.  Miller  and  Romeyn,  and  Rev.  James  Richards, 
be  a  Committee  to  prepare  and  report  to  the  next  Assembly  a  full  and 
complete  answer  to  the  following  overture  from  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
viz. : 

What  steps  should  the  Church  take  with  a  baptized  youth,  not  in  com- 
munion, but  arrived  at  the  age  of  maturity,  should  such  youth  prove  dis- 
orderly and  contumacious? — 1811,  p.  480. 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  last  Assembly  to  report  to  this  As- 
sembly on  the  subject  of  disciplining  baptized  children,  reported,  and  the 
report  was  recommitted  to  the  same  Committee  for  revision  and  publica- 
tion, and  it  was 

d.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly,  without  expressing  any  opinion  on  the 
principles  it  contains,  recommend  it  to  tiie  serious  consideration  of  all  the 
Presbyteries  and  ministers  that  in  due  time  a  decision  may  be  had  on  the 
important  subjects  discussed  in  the  report. — 1812,  p.  509. 

e.  [In  1814  the  matter  came  up  again,  and  it  was] 

Resolved,  That  the  whole  subject  be  referred  to  a  Committee,  to  con- 
sider and  report  to  the  Assembly  what  shall  appear  to  them  to  be  the 
correct  method  of  procedure  to  be  adopted  relative  thereto,  in  the  circum- 
stances in  which  it  is  now  before  the  Assembly,  and  that  Drs.  Green, 
WoodhuU  and  AVilson,  and  Messrs.  Caldwell  and  Connelly,  be  the  Com- 
mittee.—1814,  p.  543. 

/.  The  report  on  the  subject  of  disciplining  baptized  children,  which 
had  at  a  former  session  of  this  Assembly  been  laid  on  the  table,  was  again 
read  and  recommitted  to  the  same  Committee,  with  the  addition  of  Drs. 
Griffin  and  Blatchford,  and  Messrs.  Blackburn,  Fisher  and  Haslett.— 76., 
p.  551. 

[Tliis  Committee  was  subsequently  discharged,  and  the  whole  subject 
indefinitely  postponed. — 1814,  p.  567.] 

g.  A  reference  from  the  Preebytery  of  Fayetteville  on  the  subject  of  ex- 
communicating a  person  who  bad  been  baptized,  but  had  not  been  received 
into  full  communion  of  the  Church,  was  overtured,  and  was  committed  to 
Dr.  Miller,  Messrs.  Finley,  Freeman,  Cook  and  Haslett. 

The  unfinishod  business  of  yesterday,  viz.,  the  consideration  of  the  re- 
port of  the  Ciinmittee  to  which  had  been  comniitted  the  reference  of  the 
Presbytery  of  P^ayetteville,  concerning  the  proper  construction  of  the  first 
article  of  the  first  chapter  of  the  forms  of  ])rocess,  relative  to  persons  who 
have  been  baptized,  but  have  not  been  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table,  was 
resumed.  After  a  long  discussion  on  the  subject,  a  motion  was  made  and 
seconded  for  an  indefinite  post])onement.  The  question  being  taken,  was 
determined  in  the  affirmative,  and  therefore  the  further  consideration  of 
the  subject  was  indefinitely  postponed. — 1815,  pp.  578,  589. 

h.  In  consequence  of  but  little  being  said  [in  the  presbyterial  narratives] 
in  regard  to  the  care  and  instruction  of  the  baptized  children  of  the  Church, 
the  Assembly  fears  that  there  is  a  lamentable  deficiency  in  this  respect. 
Let  us,  as  we  value  that  covenant  which  makes  the  promise  not  only  ours 
but  our  children's,  take  a  more  diligent  oversight  of  these  youthful  mem- 


OF  THE   ADMISSION   OF   PERSONS   TO   SEALING   ORDINANCES.      673 

bers  of  our  Church.  Too  often  are  they  left  to  wander  unrestrained  and 
forgotten  in  the  paths  of  error  and  of  sin.  Can  the  Church  answer  to  her 
great  Head,  if  this  neglect  of  duty  be  not  mourned  over  and  corrected? — 
1835,  p.  37. 

3.  Children  should  be  trained  in  the  Faith  of  our  Fathers. 

"We  have  two  suggestions  to  make  to  Christian  parents  on  this  general 
subject.  One  is,  that  they  cause  their  children  to  be  brought  up  in  the 
faith  of  their  fathers.  We  do  not  mean  by  this  that  our  youth  should  be 
prevented  from  following  out  their  honest  convictions  of  duty  ;  but  that 
they  should  be  dissuaded  from  uniting  with  other  denominations  from 
mere  caprice  or  childish  fancies.  We  consider  the  conduct  of  those 
parents  who  suffer  their  children  to  abandon  our  own  Church  without 
any  adequate  reason,  as  in  a  high  degree  reprehensible,  and  calculated  to 
inflict  a  serious  injury  both  on  the  Church  and  on  their  divided  households. 
—1840,  p.  310,  O.  S. 

4.  Catechetical  Instruction. 

a.  The  following  resolutions  on  the  subject  of  catechetical  instruction 
were  unanimously  adopted,  viz. : 

1.  Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  considers  the  practice  of  cate- 
chetical instruction  as  well  adapted  to  the  prosperity  and  purity  of  our 
Zion. 

2.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  view  also  with  deep  regret  the  neglect, 
on  the  part  of  many  of  our  churches,  of  this  good  old  practice  of  our 
fathers — a  practice  which  has  been  attended  with  such  blessed  results  to 
the  cause  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  institution  of  Sabbath-schools  does  not  exonerate 
ministei's  and  parents  from  the  duty  of  teaching  the  Shorter  Catechism  to 
the  children  of  the  Church. 

4.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  earnestly  and  affectionately  recom- 
mend to  all  the  ministers  and  ruling  elders  in  its  connection  to  teach  dili- 
gently the  young  of  their  respective  congregations  the  Assembly's  Shorter 
Catechism.— 1849,  p.  181,  N.  S. 

6.  Family  Training  essential  to  the  Increase  of  the  Ministry  and 

the  Church. 

h.  Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  regard  Chris-tian  training  at  all  periods  of 
youth,  and  by  all  practicable  methods,  especially  by  parents  at  home,  by 
teachers  in  institutions  of  learning,  and  by  pastors  through  catechetical 
and  Bible  classes,  as  binding  upon  the  Church,  according  to  the  injunc- 
tion. Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  as  having  a  vital  con- 
nection with  the  increase  of  the  numbers  and  efficiency  of  the  ministry 
and  of  the  stability  and  purity  of  the  Church. — 1854,  p.  30,  O.  S. 

6.  Placing  Children  in  Catholic  Schools  a  Violation  of  Covenant 

Engagement. 

What  course  ought  church  sessions  to  pursue  with  members  of  the 
Church  who  send  their  children  to  Catholic  boarding-schools,  where  they 
are  entirely  deprived  of  the  evangelical  means  of  grace,  and  are  obliged 
to  attend  upon  papistical  services  ? 

1.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  deem  such  conduct  on  the  part  of  any 
Protestant  parents,  whether  church  members  or  not,  as  highly  injudicious, 
fraught  with  great  danger  to  their  children,  and  utterly  inconsistent  with 
every  principle  of  Protestantism. 
85 


674  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR   WORSHIP. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  deem  such  conduct  in  church  members,  whose 
children  have  been  dedicated  to  God  in  baptism,  as  a  violation  of  their 
vows  made  in  that  ordinance,  and  a  great  hindrance  to  the  training  up  of 
their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

3.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  ministers  in  our  connection 
where  such  a  practice  exists,  to  present  this  subject  from  the  pulpit,  and 
in  other  suitable  ways  to  admonish  those  who  offend. — 1849,  p.  265,  O.  S. 

II.  The  years  of  discretion,  in  young  Christians,  cannot  be  pre- 
cisely fixed.  This  must  be  left  to  the  prudence  of  the  eldership. 
The  officers  of  the  church  are  the  judges  of  the  qualifications  of  those 
to  be  admitted  to  sealing  ordinances;  and  of  the  time  when  it  is  pro- 
per to  admit  young  Christians  to  them. 

Sec.  iii.,  8,  below. 

III.  Those  who  are  to  be  admitted  to  sealing  ordinances  shall  be 
examined  as  to  their  knowledge  and  piety. 

1.  Universalists  not  to  be  Admittsd  to  Sealing  Ordinances. 

a.  A  question  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carol inas  was  introduced  as  fol- 
lows, viz. : 

Are  they  who  publicly  profess  a  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  universal 
and  actual  salvation  of  the  whole  human  race,  or  of  the  fallen  angels,  or 
both,  through  the  mediation  of  Christ,  to  be  admitted  to  the  sealing  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel ? 

The  Assembly  determined  that  such  persons  should  not  be  admitted. 
—1792,  p.  60. 

b.  The  consideration  of  Dr.  McCorkle's  letter  was  resumed.  On  the 
proposition  in  the  letter,  requesting  a  reconsideration  of  the  sentence  of 
the  General  Assembly,  respecting  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation, 
passed  at  Carlisle  in  1792,  the  Assembly  unanimously  agreed  to  adhere  to 
the  aforesaid  decision. — 1794,  p.  86. 

2.  Persons  refusing  to  Present  their  Children  in  Baptism  not  to 
be  refused  Communion,  but  the  Expediency  of  Receiving  them 
to  be  Judged  of  by  the  Session 

The  Committee  appointed  on  Overture  No.  7,  from  the  session  of 
Union  Grove  church,  Illinois,  made  the  following  report,  which  was 
adopted,  viz. : 

That  two  questions  are  submitted  in  this  overture  to  the  judgment  of 
the  Assembly,  viz. : 

1.  Is  it  the  duty  of  church  sessions  to  admit  to  membership  persons 
who  refuse  to  present  their  children  to  God  in  the  ordinance  of  bai)tisni? 

2.  What  is  the  duty  of  the  session  in  case  of  parents,  members  of  the 
church,  who  refuse  from  conscientious  scruples  to  present  their  children 
for  baptism  ? 

For  a  reply  to  these  questions,  the  session  are  referred  to  the  Digest, 
part  iv.,  chap,  ii.,  sec.  7,  p.  98,  where  the  decision  of  the  Assembly  on  the 
l)rinciple  involved  in  both  is  recorded  as  follows  : 

A  letter  also  came,  through  tlie  Committee  of  Overtures,  from  Bethuel 
Church,  Esq.,  inquiring  whether  he  may  be  admitted  to  occasional  com- 
munion, whilst  he  has  scruples  concerning  infant  baptism. 


OF   THE   ADMISSION    OF    PERSONS    TO   SEALING    ORDINANCES.       675 

The  letter  from  Bethuel  Church,  Esq.,  as  overtured,  was  read,  and  the 
motion  formerly  made  thus  amended,  That  the  session  of  the  church  of 
Cambridge  be  permitted  to  receive  Mr.  Church  upon  satisfactory  evidence 
of  his  good  character,  his  scruples  notwithstanding,  was  taken  up  and 
agreed  to. 

But  while  it  is  clear,  that  persons  otherwise  of  good  Christian  charac- 
ter, are  not  to  be  excluded  frois  the  communion  of  the  church,  because 
they  have  scruples  concerning  infant  baptism,  there  is  in  every  case, 
where  such  persons  apply  for  admission,  a  question  as  to  the  expediency 
of  receiving  them,  upon  which  the  session  of  the  church  must  decide. — 
1834,  p.  449. 

3.  Duelists  to  be  Received  only  on  Evidence  of  Repentance. 

Resolved,  Also,  that  it  be,  and  it  is  hereby  recommended  to  all  the 
ministers  under  the  care  of  the  Assembly,  that  they  scrupulously  refuse  to 
attend  the  funeral  of  any  person  Avho  shall  have  fallen  in  a  duel ;  and 
that  they  admit  no  person  who  shall  have  fought  a  duel,  given  or  accepted 
a  challenge,  or  been  accessory  thereto,  unto  the  distinguishing  privileges 
of  the  Church  until  he  manifest  a  just  sense  of  his  guilt,  and  give  satis- 
factory evidence  of  repentance. — 1805,  p.  339. 

4.  Postmasters  Officiating-  on  the  Sabbath. 

a.  An  appeal  by  Mr.  Wiley,  postmaster  in  Washington,  Pennsylvania, 
from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg,  by  which  it  is  determined  that 
Mr.  Wiley's  officiating  as  postmaster  on  the  Sabbath  day,  in  existing  cir- 
cumstances, is  a  sufficient  reason  to  exclude  him  from  the  special  privi- 
leges of  the  Church,  was  overtured  and  read. 

Resolved,  That  the  above  decision  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  be  affirmed. 
—1810,  p.  456. 

b.  A  petition  signed  by  a  number  of  persons  in  Washington,  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  vicinity,  praying  the  revision,  with  a  view  to  its  being  rescinded, 
of  the  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1810,  respecting  the  case  of 
Mr.  Wiley,  postmaster,  was  overtured. 

Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  be  not  granted. — 1812,  p. 
508. 

5.  Proprietor  of  Mail  Stages  Running  on  the  Sabbath. 

An  overture  relative  to  receiving  a  person  as  a  member  of  the  Church 
who  is  a  proprietor  in  a  line  of  stages  which  carries  the  mail,  and  runs  on 
Sabbath. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  decided  opinion  of  this  Assembly  that  all  at- 
tention to  worldly  concerns  on  the  Lord's  day,  farther  than  the  works  of 
necessity  and  mercy  demand,  is  inconsistent  both  with  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  the  fourth  commandment;  and  consequently  all  engagements  in  regard 
to  secular  occupations  on  the  Lord's  day,  with  a  view  to  secure  worldly 
advantages,  are  to  be  considered  inconsistent  with  Christian  character,  and 
that  those  who  are  concerned  in  such  engagements,  ought  not  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  communion  of  the  Church  while  they  continue  in  the 
same. — 1819,  p.  713. 

6.  Persons  Engaged  in  the  Sale  of  Intoxicating  Drinks. 

Resolved,  That  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Pittsburg  be  approved,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  they  seem  to  establish  a  general  rule  in  regard  to  the  use 
and  sale  of  ardent  spirits  as  a  beverage,  which  use  and  sale  are  generally 


676  THE  DIRECTftRY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

to  be  decidedly  disapproved,  but  each  case  must  be  decided  in  view  of  all 
the  attendant  circumstances  that  go  to  modify  and  give  character  to  the 
same.— 1843,  p.  189,  O.  S. 
[See  also  1842,  p.  16,  O.  S.] 

7.  Subjection  to  the  Discipline  of  the  Church  Requisite. 

Is  a  church  session  authorized  by  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  to  admit  individuals  to  the  Lord's  table,  who  do  not  sub- 
scribe to  the  doctrines  and  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church  ? 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  all  persons  admitted  to  the  communion  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  do  in  fact  and  form  submit  to  its  discipline  (ex- 
cept in  cases  of  occasional  communion  by  members  of  other  churches) ; 
but  every  session  must  judge  for  themselves  of  that  degree  of  knowledge 
of  Christian  doctrine  and  adherence  thereto  on  the  part  of  those  examined 
by  them,  which  may  render  their  reception  suitable,  and  for  their  own  edi- 
fication and  the  peace  of  the  Church. — 1853,  p.  434,  0.  S. 

8.  To  be  Admitted  only  by  a  Session  Regularly  Constituted. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  involved  in  so  much 
of  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  as  relates  to  the  admission  of 
persons  to  church  privileges  at  the  great  meetings  common  in  that  region, 
made  the  following  report,  which  was  adopted,  viz. : 

That  they  have  given  this  subject  a  careful  consideration,  and  recom- 
mend the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions,  viz. : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  order  of  the  churches  requires  that  all  persons 
making  a  public  pi'ofession  of  religion  be  introduced  to  the  communion  of 
the  church  only  by  an  individual  session  regularly  constituted. 

Resolved,  2.  That  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  sessions  to  take  the  ex- 
clusive oversight  of  their  respective  congregations,  and  that  the  practice 
of  one  session  admitting  to  a  Christian  profession  persons  belonging  or  in- 
tending to  belong  to  a  congregation  under  the  care  of  another  session,  is 
irregular,  and  ought  not  to  be  countenanced. 

Resolved,  3.  That  the  purity  and  prosperity  of  the  Church,  as  well  as 
the  best  interests  of  those  immediately  concerned,  demand  great  circum- 
spection in  the  admission  of  persons  to  church  privileges ;  and  that  ordi- 
narily it  is  deemed  improper  to  receive  persons  immediately  upon  their 
indulging  a  hope  of  reconciliation  with  God,  especially  in  the  case  of  the 
young,  and  of  persons  of  previously  immoral  lives  or  lax  principles,  and 
of  those  concerning  whom  little  is  known. — 1832,  p.  373. 

9.   The  Session  the  Judge  of  the  Qualification  of  Candidates  for 

Membership. 

Has  a  session  or  church  constitutional  power,  in  examining  a  candidate 
for  membership,  to  require  abstinence  from  any  error,  practice,  or  custom, 
which  the  members  adjudge  to  be  sinful,  and  decidedly  injurious  to  per- 
sonal piety,  and  to  the  interests  of  the  Church  of  Christ?  And,  if  they 
have  this  power,  tlien  is  it  expedient  to  admit  persons  to  meml)ership  who 
practice  and  defend  promiscuous  dancing,  card-playing,  and  the  use,  man- 
ufacture and  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  as  a  beverage? 

The  Committee  recomnicndod  tlie  following  answer: 

It  is  the  province  of  the  session  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  candi- 
dates for  membership  in  the  church.     For  their  guidance  in  the  matters 


OF   THE   ADMISSION   OF   PERSONS   TO   SEALING  OEDINANCES.      677 

noticed  in  the  overture,  reference  is  made  to  past  acts  of  the  Assembly, 
f')und  in  the  Digest,  chap,  vii.,  on  "Moral  Questions,"  sees,  iii.,  iv.  and  v.* 
The  report  was  adopted.— 1864,  p.  510,  N.  S. 

10.  Question   as  to  the  Baptism  of  a  Member  of  the   Friends* 

Society. 

Overture  No.  7,  from  the  Presbytery  of  St.  Clairsville.  Would  it  be 
consistent  for  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  administer  the 
ordinance  of  baptism  to  a  member  of  the  Friends'  Society,  who  professes 
to  believe  that  "Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God"  and  the  essential  doctrines  of 
the  Christian  religion,  but  declares  his  intention  to  continue  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Friends'  Society? 

The  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  reported  a  recommendation  that 
the  inquirers  be  referred  to  the  answers  in  the  Larger  and  Shorter  Cate- 
chisms, to  the  question,  "To  whom  is  baptism  to  be  administered?" 

The  report  was  adopted. — 186-1,  p.  314,  O.  S. 

11.  Intercommunion  -with  those  who  Maintain  an  Irregular  Minis- 

try Discouraged. 

The  Committee  on  Overture  No.  3,  viz.:  a  question  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Bethel,  respecting  holding  communion  with  the  followers  of  Wm.  C 
Davis,  a  deposed  minister,  and  calling  themselves  Independent  Presby- 
terians, reported,  that  in  their  judgment  the  questions  proposed  in  said 
overture  ought  to  be  answered  in  the  negative.  They  therefore  would 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution,  viz.: 

Revived,  That  while  this  Assembly  readily  acknowledges  the  right  of 
the  session  to  determine  according  to  the  Scriptures  and  the  Constitution 
of  our  Church,  the  qualifications  for  admission  to  sealing  ordinances,  yet 
they  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  declare,  that  in  their  judgment,  the  services 
of  those  who  have  received  only  lay-ordination,  and  of  those  who  have 
been  deposed  from  the  gospel  ministry,  are  unscriptural  and  unwarrant- 
able ;  and  therefore  an  attendance  on  their  ministrations  cannot  be  in  the 
order  of  the  gospel,  and  ought  to  be  discouraged  and  discountenanced  by 
every  friend  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. — 1833,  p.  407. 

IV.  When  unbaptized  persons  apply  for  admission  into  the  church, 
they  shall,  in  ordinary  cases,  after  giving  satisfaction  with  respect  to 
their  knowledge  and  piety,  make  a  public  profession  of  their  faith, 
in  the  presence  of  the  congregation ;  and  thereupon  be  baptized. 

1.  On  Baptism  upon  a  General  Profession  of  Faith  in  Christ. 

The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  reported  an  answer  to  the 
following  inquiry : 

"Is  it  forbidden  by  our  standards  to  baptize  adult  converts  upon  a 
general  confession  of  faith  in  Christ,  previous  to  tlieir  being  received  into 
a  particular  church,  and  assenting  to  its  articles  of  faith  ?"  as  follows,  viz. : 

A  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to  him  is  all  that  is  re- 
quired in  our  standards  of  those  who  are  out  of  the  visible  Church,  in 
order  to  their  being  baptized.  (See  C\)nfession  of  Faitli,  chap,  xxviii., 
sec.  iv. ;  Larger  Catechism,  quest.  166;   Shorter  Catechism,  quest.  95.) 

*  The  reference  above  is  to  Moore's  New  Digest,  sections  on  intemperance,  the  thea- 
tre, dancing  and  gambling,  pp.  257-265.  See  in  this  Digest  under  Discipline,  chap,  i.. 
Bee.  iii. 


678  THE   DIRECTORY   FOE  WORSHIP. 

Hence,  eases  may  occur  in  which,  as  in  the  case  of  Philip  and  the  Ethio- 
pian eunuch,  it  may  be  proper  to  baptize  a  person  who  does  not  expect  im- 
mediately to  connect  himself  with  any  particular  church.  But  inasmuch 
as  it  was  the  obvious  intent  of  the  Saviour  that  all  his  disciples  should  be 
associated  in  local  churches,  and  inasmuch  as  we  cannot  obey  one  of  his 
commandments,  that  requiring  us  to  remember  him  at  his  table,  without 
such  connection  :  therefore,  your  Committee  believe  that  in  no  ordinary 
circumstances  can  a  person  give  good  evidence  of  a  readiness  to  obey  Christ 
in  all  things,  who,  having  the  opportunity,  does  not  connect  himself  with 
some  particular  branch  of  the  visible  body  of  Christ.  In  the  practice  of 
our  Church,  and  according  to  her  standards,  baptism  is  manifestly  regarded 
as  a  part  of  the  general  profession  of  faith  in,  and  obedience  to,  Christ, 
which  constitute  his  initiation  into  the  visible  Church,  and  into  some  par- 
ticular branch  of  it ;  and  in  no  ordinary  case  ought  the  several  parts  of 
this  solemn  profession  to  be  separated. — 1860,  p.  244,  N.  S. 
[See  Form  of  Government,  chap,  ix.,  sec.  vi.,  5.] 

2.  To  Admit  to  Sealing  Ordinances  belongs  Exclusively  to  the 
Session.— Forms  of  Admission. 

Overture  No.  38,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Brooklyn,  on  the  methods  of 
receiving  members  to  the  communion  of  our  churches  and  urging  the  im- 
portance of  uniformity  iu  these  methods,  as  well  as  calling  attention  to 
"serious  and  hurtful  evils"  growing  out  of  a  disregard  of  the  teachings 
of  our  standards  on  this  subject. 

The  following  answer  is  recommended  by  the  Committee : 

1.  That  the  admission  of  persons  to  sealing  ordinances  is  confided,  by 
the  Form  of  Government,  really  and  exclusively  to  the  church  session. 

2.  That  any  forms,  for  publicly  recognizing  those  who  have  been  thus 
admitted  to  sealing  ordinances,  should  keep  in  view  the  principle  thus 
declared,  and  should  give  effect  to  the  distinction,  so  clearly  laid  down  by 
our  standards,  between  admitting  the  children  of  the  Church  to  the  Lord's 
table,  and  the  unbaptized  to  membership  in  the  Church. 

3.  That  it  be  referred  to  a  Committee  of  five,  to  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly,  whether  it  is  desirable  to  propose  uniform  methods  of 
publicly  recognizing  these  classes  of  persons  respectively,  and,  if  they 
deem  it  desirable,  to  prepare  such  forms  as  may  seem  to  them  most  appro- 
priate.    Adopted. — 1872,  p.  89. 

The  Committee  reported,  and  the  further  consideration  of  the  report 
was  referred  to  the  next  Assembly. — 1873,  p.  549. 


CHAPTER  X. 

OF  THE  MODE  OF  INFLICTING   CHURCH  CENSURES. 

I.  The  power  which  Christ  hath  given  the  rulers  of  his  Church  is 
for  edification,  and  not  for  destruction.  As,  in  the  preaching  of  the 
word,  the  wicked  are,  doctrinally,  separated  from  the  good ;  so,  by 
discipline,  the  Church  authoritatively  makes  a  distinction  between  the 
holy  and  the  profane.  In  this,  slie  acts  the  part  of  a  tender  mother, 
correcting  her  children  only  for  their  good,  that  every  one  of  them 
may  be  presented  faultless,  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 


OF   THE   MODE   OF   IXFLICTIXG    CHURCH   CENSURES.  679 

II.  When  any  member  of  the  Church  shall  have  been  guilty  of  a 
fault,  deserving  censure,  the  judicatory  shall  proceed  with  all  tender- 
ness, and  restore  their  offending  brother  in  the  spirit  of  meekness ; 
considering  themselves,  lest  they  also  be  tempted.  Censure  ought  to 
be  inflicted  with  great  solemnity ;  that  it  may  be  the  means  of  im- 
pressing the  mind  of  the  delinquent  with  a  proper  sense  of  his  dan- 
ger, while  he  stands  excluded  from  the  privileges  of  the  Church  of 
the  living  God,  and  that,  with  the  divine  blessing,  it  may  lead  him 
to  repentance. 

III.  When  the  judicatory  has  resolved  to  pass  sentence,  suspend- 
ing a  member  from  church  privileges,  the  moderator  shall  address 
him  to  the  following  purpose  : 

"  Whereas  you  are  guilty  [by  your  own  confession,  or  convicted  by 
sufficient  proof,  as  the  case  may  be]  of  the  sin  of  [here  mention  the 
particular  offence],  we  declare  you  suspended  from  the  sacraments  of 
the  Church,  till  you  give  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  sincerity  of 
your  repentance."  To  this  shall  be  added  such  advice,  admonition, 
or  rebuke,  as  may  be  judged  necessary ;  and  the  whole  shall  be  con- 
cluded by  prayer  to  almighty  God,  that  he  would  follow  this  act  of 
discipline  with  his  blessing.  We  judge  it  prudent,  in  general,  that 
such  censures  be  inflicted  in  the  presence  of  the  judicatory  only ;  but, 
if  any  church  think  it  expedient  to  rebuke  the  offender  publicly,  this 
solemn  suspension  from  the  sacraments  may  be  in  the  presence  of  the 
congregation. 

IV.  After  any  person  hath  been  thus  suspended  from  the  sacra- 
ments, it  is  proper  that  the  minister,  and  elders,  and  other  Christians, 
should  frequently  converse  with  him,  as  well  as  pray  for  him  in  pri- 
vate, that  it  would  please  God  to  give  him  repentance.  And  it  may 
be  requisite  likewise,  particularly  on  days  preparatory  to  the  dispens- 
ing of  the  Lord's  Supper,  that  the  prayers  of  the  church  be  offered 
up  for  those  unhappy  persons  who,  by  their  wickedness,  have  shut 
themselves  out  from  this  holy  communion. 

V.  When  the  judicatory  shall  be  satisfied  as  to  the  reality  of  the 
repentance  of  any  offender,  he  shall  be  admitted  to  profess  his  repent- 
ance, and  be  restored  to  the  privileges  of  the  Church.  Which  restora- 
tion shall  be  declared  to  the  penitent,  in  the  presence  of  the  session, 
or  of  the  congregation;  and  followed  with  prayer  and  thanksgiving. 

VI.  When  any  offender  has  been  adjudged  to  be  cut  off  from  the 
communion  of  the  Church,  it  is  proper  that  the  sentence  be  publicly 
pronounced  against  him. 

VII.  The  design  of  excommunication  is,  to  operate  upon  the 
offender  as  a  means  of  reclaiming  him  ;  to  deliver  the  Church  from 


680  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

the  scandal  of  his  offence :  and  to  inspire  all  with  fear,  by  the  exam- 
ple of  his  punishment. 

The  minister  shall  give  the  church,  or  congregation,  a  short  narra- 
tive of  the  several  steps,  which  have  been  taken,  with  respect  to  their 
offending  brother,  and  inform  them,  that  it  has  been  found  necessary 
to  cut  him  off  from  the  communion  ;  and  shall,  in  the  presence  of 
the  church,  or  congregation,  pronounce  this  sentence  in  the  following 
or  like  form,  viz. : 

He  shall  begin,  by  showing  the  authority  of  the  Church  to  cast  out 
unworthy  members,  from  Matt,  xviii.  15,  16,  17,  18;  1  Cor.  v.  1,  2, 
3,  4,  5 ;  and  shall  briefly  explain  the  nature,  use,  and  consequences 
of  this  censure ;  warning  the  people  to  avoid  all  unnecessary  inter- 
course with  him  who  is  cast  out. 

Then  he  shall  say, 

"  Whereas  A.  B.  hath  been,  by  sufficient  proof,  convicted  of  [liere 
insert  the  sin],  and  after  much  admonition  and  prayer,  obstinately 
refuseth  to  hear  the  Church,  and  hath  manifested  no  evidence  of  re- 
pentance; therefore,  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority,  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  1  pronounce  him  to  be  excluded  from  the  communion 
of  the  Church." 

After  which,  prayer  shall  be  made,  that  the  blessing  of  God  may 
follow  his  ordinance,  for  the  conviction  and  reformation  of  the  excom- 
municated person,  and  for  the  establishment  of  all  true  believers. 

VIII.  When  one  who  hath  been  excommunicated  shall  be  so 
affected  with  his  state,  as  to  be  brought  to  repentance,  and  to  desire 
to  be  re-admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  Church;  the  session,  having 
obtained  sufficient  evidence  of  his  sincere  repentance,  shall,  with  the 
advice  and  concurrence  of  the  Presbytery,  restore  him.  In  order  to 
which,  the  minister  shall,  on  two  Lord's  days  previous  thereto,  in- 
form the  congregation  of  the  measures  which  have  been  taken  with 
the  excommunicated  person,  and  of  the  resolution  of  the  session  to 
receive  him  again  to  the  communion  of  the  Church. 

On  the  day  appointed  for  his  restoration,  when  the  other  parts  of 
divine  service  are  ended,  before  pronouncing  the  blessing,  the  minis- 
ter shall  call  upon  the  excommunicated  ])erson,  and  propose  to  him, 
in  the  presence  of  the  congregation,  the  following  questions : 

"  Do  you,  from  a  deep  sense  of  your  great  wickedness,  freely  con- 
fess your  sin,  in  thus  rebelling  against  God,  and  in  refusing  to  hear 
his  Church;  and  do  you  acknowledge  that  you  have  been  in  justice 
and  mercy  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  the  saints?"  Answer,  "  I 
do."  "  Do  you  now  voluntarily  profess  your  sincere  repentance  and 
deep  contrition,  for  your  sin  and  obstinacy :  and  do  you  humbly  ask 


OF  THE   SOLEMNIZATION   OF   MARRIAGE.  681 

the  forgiveness  of  God,  and  of  his  Church?"  Answer,  "I  do."  "Do 
you  sincerely  promise,  through  divine  grace,  to  live  in  all  humbleness 
of  mind  and  circumspection ;  and  to  endeavor  to  adorn  the  doctrine 
of  God  our  Saviour,  by  having  your  conversation  as  becometh  the 
gospel  ?"     Answer,  "  I  do." 

Here  the  minister  shall  give  the  penitent  a  suitable  exhortation, 
addressing  him  in  the  bowels  of  brotherly  love,  encouraging  and  com- 
forting him.  Then  he  shall  pronounce  the  sentence  of  restoration  in 
the  following  words : 

"  Whereas  you,  A.  B.,  have  been  shut  out  from  the  communion  of 
the  faithful,  but  have  now  manifested  such  repentance  as  satisfies  the 
Church :  In  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  his  authority, 
I  declare  you  absolved  from  the  sentence  of  excommunication  formerly 
denounced  against  you  ;  and  I  do  receive  you  into  the  communion  of 
the  Church,  that  you  may  be  a  partaker  of  all  the  benefits  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  to  your  eternal  salvation." 

The  whole  shall  be  concluded  with  prayer,  and  the  people  dismissed 
with  the  usual  blessing. 


CHAPTER  XL 
OF  THE  SOLEMNIZATION  OF  MARRIAGE. 

I.  Marriage  is  not  a  sacrament ;  nor  peculiar  to  the  Church  of 
Christ.  It  is  proper  that  every  commonwealth,  for  the  good  of  soci- 
ety, make  laws  to  regulate  marriage ;  which  all  citizens  are  bound  to 
obey. 

II.  Christians  ought  to  marry  in  the  Lord  ;  therefore  it  is  fit  that 
their  marriage  be  solemnized  by  a  lawful  minister;  that  special  in- 
struction may  be  given  them,  and  suitable  prayers  made,  when  they 
enter  into  this  relation. 

1.  Marriage  Solemnized  by  Licentiates. 

That  while  our  Form  of  Government  does  not  recognize  licentiates  as 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  yet  this  Assembly  do  not  consider  them  as  violat- 
ing any  rules  of  the  Church  by  solemnizing  marriage  in  those  States  where 
the  civil  laws  expressly  authorize  them  to  do  it. — 1844,  p.  377,  O.  S. 

2.  Marrying  in  the  Lord  Defined. 

It  is  lawful  for  all  sorts  of"  people  to  marry  who  are  able  with  judgment 
to  give  their  consent,  yet  it  is  the  duty  of  Christians  to  marry  only  in  the 
Lord.  And,  therefore,  such  as  profess  the  true  reformed  religion  should 
not  marry  with  infidels,  papists  or  other  idolaters:  neither  should  such  as 
are  godly  be  unequally  yoked,  by  marrying  with  such  as  are  notoriously 

86 


682  THE   DIRECTOEY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

"wicked  in  their  life,  or  maintain  damnable  heresies. —  Confession  of  Faith, 
chap,  xxiv.,  iii. 

3.  Marriage  of  Heathen  Convei'ts. — The  Presbyteries  to  Judge. 

A  memorial  from  the  Presbytery  of  Ningpo,  in  China,  asking  for  advice 
from  this  General  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  the  marriage  of  professing 
Christians  with  the  heathen. 

The  Committee  recommended  that  it  be  answered  as  follows : 
In  performing  the  woi'k  of  missions  among  the  heathen,  many  difficul- 
ties will  arise  which  will  require  great  wisdom  and  forbearance,  and  which 
can  only  be  overcome  by  a  wise  application  of  scriptural  rules.  Of  this 
kind  are  the  cases  respecting  marriage,  which  will  frequently  occur  so 
long  as  the  great  majority  of  the  people  are  heathen.  And  this  applica- 
tion of  these  rules  must  be  made  with  a  sound  discretion,  and  be  very 
much  modified  by  particular  circumstances.  That  the  apostolical  direc- 
tion, "be  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers,"  is  the  advice  of 
the  Lord  by  the  apostle,  and  is  to  be  observed  carefully  in  all  cases,  as  far 
as  practicable,  is  true.  But  like  other  divine  injunctions,  it  must  be  ap- 
plied in  all  cases  with  due  consideration  of  circumstances.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  in  the  circumstances  stated  in  the  overture,  to  be  regarded  as 
sinful  universally  and  necessarily  for  a  Christian  to  marry  a  heathen;  nor 
is  a  Christian  to  be  subjected  to  discipline  on  this  account,  unless  the  cir- 
cumstances show  criminality  and  require  the  infliction  of  censure,  of  which 
circumstances  the  missionaries  are  the  best  judges.  [The  overture  was] 
referred  back  to  the  Presbytery  of  Ningpo. — 1850,  pp.  458,  482,  O.  S. 

III.  Marriage  is  to  be  between  one  man  and  one  woman  only:  and 
they  are  not  to  be  within  the  degrees  of  consanguinity  or  affinity  pro- 
hibited by  the  word  of  God. 

Marriage  is  to  be  between  one  man  and  one  woman ;  neither  is  it 
lawful  for  any  man  to  have  more  than  one  wife,  nor  for  any  woman  to 
have  more  than  one  husband  at  the  same  time. —  Confession  of  Faith,  chap, 
xxiv.,  i. 

1.  Questions  of  Marriage  of  Divorced  Persons. 

Adultery  or  fornication,  committed  after  a  contract,  being  detected 
before  marriage,  giveth  just  occasion  to  the  innocent  party  to  dissolve  that 
contract.  In  the  case  of  adultery  after  marriage,  it  is  lawful  for  the  inno- 
cent party  to  sue  out  a  divorce,  and  after  the  divorce  to  marry  another, 
as  if  the  offending  party  were  dead. —  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  xxiv.,  v. 

2.  A  Minister,  having  Married  again,  Requii'ed  to  Cease  OflQciat- 
ing  until  Proof  is  Furnished  of  the  Death  of  his  "Wife. 

The  business  concerning  Mr.  Van  Vleck  and  his  people  again  taken  into 
consideration. 

It  was  concluded  that  after  the  Presbytery  had  examined  the  several 
evidences  brought  in  relation  to  the  crime  of  bigamy,  alleged  against  Mr. 
Van  Vleck,  as  also  the  exceptions  offered  by  the  said  Van  Vleck  against 
the  evidences  and  in  vindication  of  himself,  the  Presbytery  not  finding  the 
evidences  clear  and  positive  enough  to  prove  the  crime  against  him,  and 
yet  Mr.  Van  Vleck's  vindication  not  sufficient  to  take  off  the  scandal 
wholly,  do  therefore,  till  such  time  as  Mr.  Van  Vleck  bring  satisfying 
proof  of  his  first  wife's  death,  for  the  honor  of  the  gospel,  advise  that  he 


OF   THE   SOLEMNIZATION   OF   MARRIAGE.  683 

do  not  officiate  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.     To  which  advice  he  does  will- 
inflv  a'Tee. 

Ordered,  upon  the  whole,  that  a  letter  be  writ  to  Mr.  Van  Vleck's  peo- 
ple by  the  moderator  and  Mr.  Hampton. — 1712,  p.  26. 

3.  Nothing  but  Adultery  or  Willful  Desertion  whicli   cannot  be 

Remedied  Just  Cause  of  Divorce. 
Although  the  corruption  of  man  be  such  as  is  apt  to  study  arguments, 
unduly  to'^put  asunder  those  whom  God  hath  joined  together  in  marriage, 
vet  no'thing  but  adulterv,  or  such  willful  desertion  as  can  no  way  be  reme- 
died by  the  Church  or  civil  magistrate,  is  cause  sufficient  of  dissolving  the 
bond  of  marriage:  wherein  a  public  and  orderly  course  of  proceeding  is 
to  be  observed,  and  the  persons  concerned  in  it  not  left  to  theirown  wills 
and  discretions  in  the  case. —  Coufesslon  of  Faith,  c\vd.]).  xxiv.,  vi. 

4,  In  Divorce  for  Adultery  the  Innocent  Party  may  Marry  Again. 
The  following  question,  referred  to  Synod  by  the  Presbytery  of  Done- 
gal for  their  decision,  was  brought  in   by  the  Committee  of  Overtures, 

^'  Whether,  on  full  proof  of  adultery  by  one  party,  the  Presbytery  has  a 
right  to  declare  the  marriage  so  far  void  as  that  the  innocent  party  may 
marry  a^ain  without  being  liable  to  church  censure? 

And  after  some  time  spent  in  debating  the  case,  it  was  moved  and 
agreed  that  each  member  should  speak  to  the  question  in  the  order  of  the 
roll.  After  which  the  vote  was  put,  and  the  question  carried  in  the  affirm- 
ative, by  a  small  majority. — 1785,  p.  509. 

5.  A  Bigamist  to  be  Excluded  from  the  Privileges  of  the  Church. 
—Willful  Desertion  a  just  Cause  for  Divorce.— If  just  Cause  ex- 
ist and  Divorce  be  Refused,  the  Church  may  Receive  him. 
A  married  man  left  Ireland  a  number  of  years  ago,  leaving  his  family 
behind  him,  with  hopes  of  providing  better  for  them  in  this  country.     Me 
afterward  returned  to  Ireland  three  sundry  times,  with  an  intention  ot 
brino-ino-  in  his  iamilv.     But  by  no  arguments  could  his  wile  be  persuaded 
to  come  with  him  ;  and  the  last  time  peremptorily  refused  a  1  farther  co- 
habitation     He  afterward  returned,  and  remained  in  single  lite  ten  years 
in  this  country.     He  is  since  married,  and  has  children  in  second  mar- 
riao-e :  his  wife  and  he  are  desiring  communion.  ^    ,     r.,       i     i 

This  man  ou<rht  not  to  be  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  Church;  be- 
ca\i^e  althousli  willful  and  obstinate  desertion  is  a  legal  cause  of  divorce, 
vet V  does  not  appear  that  this  man  has  actually  been  divorced  from  Ins 
wife-  and  it  is  improper  and  dangerous  to  receive  to  Church  communion 
such'persons  as,  in  the  eve  of  the  civil  law,  are  living  in  vice.  And  ai- 
thou4  a  cr,H)d  man  mav  "sometimes  be  oppressed  by  power,  and  prevented 
fronfobtaniinir  a  divorce  where  sufficient  causes  exist,  yet  it  does  not  ap- 
pear from  your  representation  that  he  has  used  the  proper  means  to  obtain 
\  lend  divorce,  nor  even  to  authenticate  the  facts  upon  whicli  he  founds 
ins  application  for  the  privileges  of  the  Church  by  sufficient  evidence  from 
■  Ireland-the  place  in  which  they  happened,  and  where  alone  they  can  be 
substantiated ;  and  it  is  contrary  to  all  just  rules  of  proceeduig  to  take  any 
evidence  or  representation  e.v  parte.  But,  the  decision  of  the  Assembly 
notwithstanding,  if  it  shall  appear  that  this  nmn  has  separated  from  his 
wife  by  her  willful  and  obstinate  desertion,  and  that  he  has  taken  all  ju.t 
means  to  obtain  a  divorce,  to  which  he  was  lawfully  entitled,  but  was  pre- 


684  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHtP. 

vented  and  oppressed  by  the  power  of  antagonists  or  of  unjust  courts ;  and 
if  he  shall  moreover  produce  such  evidence  of  these  facts  from  the  place 
in  which  they  happened,  as  would  entitle  him  to  a  divorce  by  the  laws  of 
this  land  and  of  this  Church,  then,  in  that  case,  it  is  the  opinion  of  the 
General  Assembly  that  such  man,  behaving  himself  otherwise  as  a  good 
Christian,  may  be  admitted  to  Church  privileges.  But  in  such  case,  it  is 
necessary  that  the  most  authentic  evidence  be  required  and  great  caution 
used,  both  that  the  proceedings  of  the  Church  may  not  be  inconsistent 
with  the  civil  law,  and  that  a  door  be  not  opened  to  laxness  on  this  im- 
portant subject  of  morals. — 1790,  p.  28. 

6.  Marriage  -with  a  'Woinan  Divorced  for  Cause  other  than  Adul- 
tery. 

[The  Assembly,  by  a  vote  of  106  to  52,  sustained  the  complaint  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Des  Moines,  in  the  case  of  Rev.  James  H.  Shields.  The 
minute  adopted  states  the  case — ] 

a.  In  the  year  1853,  Maria  C.  Cowles  presented  a  petition  under  oath  to 
the  District  Court  of  Wayne  county,  Iowa,  praying  for  a  divorce  from  her 
husband,  William  A.  Cowles,  in  which  it  was  stated  substantially,  that  she 
had  been  lawfully  married  to  said  Cowles  in  January,  1839,  in  the  State 
of  Massachusetts ;  that  they  had  lived  together  there  until  August,  1851, 
when  she  separated  herself  from  him,  and  proceeded  to  Iowa,  where  she 
has  since  resided.  That,  pi-evious  to  her  departing  from  him  in  1851,  her 
husband  was  in  the  habit  of  becoming  intoxicated,  and  when  so  intoxi- 
cated, was  ill-natured  and  abusive — so  much  so,  that  her  situation  as  his 
wife  became  intolerable ;  and  she  had  been  under  the  necessity  of  leaving 
his  house  and  of  making  her  own  living  since  that  time,  the  defendant 
having  neglected  to  make  provision  for  her  support  since  the  period  of  her 
separation  from  him.  No  pertinent  proof  of  the  truth  of  these  allegations 
was  made ;  but  the  court,  notwithstanding,  granted  her  a  divorce  a  vin- 
culo matrimonii;  when  James  H.  Shields,  then  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Des  Moines,  being  cognizant  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  was  mar- 
ried to  the  said  Maria  C.  Cowles,  and  has  continued  to  cohabit  with  her 
as  his  wife.  In  April,  1856,  the  Presbytery  instituted  proceedings  against 
him  for  adultery,  and  finally  convicted  him  of  that  offence,  and  deposed 
him  from  the  ministry  and  excommunicated  him  from  the  church.  There- 
upon the  said  Shields  appealed  to  the  Synod  of  Iowa,  who  reversed  the 
decision  of  Presbytery.  The  case  is  before  this  General  Assembly  on  a 
complaint  of  the  Rev.  Thompson  Bird,  on  behalf  of  the  Presbytery, 
against  the  action  of  Synod. 

In  view  of  all  the  testimony  brought  before  the  Assembly,  the  com- 
plaint is  sustained. 

It  has  not  been  made  to  appear  that  the  said  Maria  C.  Cowles  attempted 
to  establish  the  fact  of  adultery  against  her  husband,  William  A.  Cowles. 
Neither  has  there  been  proved  "such  willful  desertion^'  on  his  part,  as  can 
no  way  he  remedied  by  the  Church  or  civil  magistrate,"  as  is  recognized  in 
the  Confession  of  Faith  (chap,  xxiv.,  sec.  vi.),  as  "  caxise  sufficient  of  dis- 
solving the  bond  of  marriage." 

The  General  Assembly  do,  therefore,  consider  that  the  said  James  H. 
Shields  was  properly  convicted  of  adultery;  and  the  decision  of  the  Synod 
of  Iowa  in  this  case  is  hereby  reversed,  and  the  judgment  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Des  Moines  therein  confirmed. 

The  Assembly,  whilst  rendering  this  decision,  takes  occasion  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  churches  under  its  care  to  a  tendency,  manifest  in  some 


OF  THE  SOLEMNIZATION   OF   MARRIAGE.  686 

portions  of  our  country,  to  relax  the  sacredness  of  the  marriage  tie.  Ly- 
ing, as  the  institution  of  marriage  does,  at  the  very  foundation  cif  order, 
purity  and  prosperity  in  the  State  and  in  the  Church,  the  Assembly  can- 
not view  without  abhorrence  any  attempt,  to  diminish  its  sanctity  or  to 
extend  beyond  the  warrant  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  the  grounds  of  divorce. 
—1858,  pp.  599,  600,  N.  S. 

c.  The  Assembly  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  appeal  of  the  Rev. 
George  Sheldon. 

The  original  parties  having  been  fully  heard,  the  roll  was  called,  and 
opportunity  was  given  to  the  members  of  the  Assembly  to  express  their 
opinions  on  the  case.  After  which  the  final  vote  was  taken,  and  the  ap- 
peal was  not  sustained,  nineteen  voting  in  the  aflBrmative,  and  fifty-four 
in  the  negative.— 1858,  p.  607,  N.  S. 

[Mr.  Sheldon  was  deposed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Portage,  on  the  ground 
of  adultery,  in  having  married  a  second  wife  during  the  life  of  his  first 
wife,  from  whom  he  had  obtained  a  divorce  in  the  civil  courts,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Presbytery  on  other  than  scriptural  grounds.  From  the 
decision  of  the  Presbytery  he  took  an  appeal  to  the  Synod  of  the  Western 
Reserve.     The  Synod  decided  as  follows,  viz. : 

After  a  full  and  patient  hearing  of  the  whole  case  of  appeal  by  George 
Sheldon  from  the  Presbytery  of  Portage,  the  Synod  are  constrained  to  be- 
lieve that  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  was  just;  and  that  the  Presbytery 
conducted  the  case  with  as  much  order  and  tenderness  as  the  inherent  dif- 
ficulties of  the  case  would  admit.] 

In  view  of  the  whole  case — 

Resolved,  That  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  of  Portage  be  sustained. 
—lb. 

7.  Degrees  of  Affinity  and  Consanguinity. 

INIarriage  ought  not  to  be  within  the  degrees  of  consanguinity  or  affin- 
ity, forbidden  in  the  word  ;  nor  can  such  incestuous  marriages  ever  be 
made  lawful  by  any  law  of  man  or  consent  of  })arties,  so  as  those  persons 
may  live  together  as  man  and  wife.  The  man  may  not  marry  any  of  his 
wife's  kindred  nearer  in  blood  than  he  may  of  his  own,  nor  the  woman 
of  her  husband's  kindred  nearer  in  blood  than  of  her  own. —  Confession  of 
Faith,  ch.  xxiv.,  iv. 

8.  Marriage  -with  a  Brother's  "Widow  Incestuous. 

The  aflTair  of  Andrew  Van  Dyke,  that  was  referred  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  Castle  to  the  Synod,  came  under  consideration,  and  a  consid- 
erable time  being  spent  in  discoursing  upon  it,  it  was  determined  nemine 
contradicente,  that  his  marriage  with  his  brother's  wife  or  widow  was  in- 
cestuous and  unlawful,  and  their  living  together  as  the  consequence  of 
that  marriage,  is  incestuous  and  unlawful ;  and  that  so  long  as  they  live 
t(»gether,  they  be  debarred  from  all  sealing  ordinances,  and  that  Mr. 
W()thers})oon  make  intimation  hereof  to  his  congregation  in  what  time 
and  manner  he  shall  think  convenient. — 1718,  p.  50. 

h.  Left  to  the  Discretion  of  the  Sessioii. 

The  appeal  of  Mr.  William  Adams  from  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburg'  was  laid  before  the  Assembly.  The  minutes  of  the  Synod  re- 
specting the  case  being  read,  it  appeared  that  the  said  William  Adams 
had  married  his  brother's  widow  ;  that  his  case  having  been  brought  be- 
fore the  Presbytery  of  Erie,  the  said  Presbytery  had  pronounced  his  mar- 
riage unconstitutioual,  and  that  the  Synod,  upon  an  appeal,  had  coufirmed 


686  THE  DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery.     From  this  judgment  of  the  Synod,  Mr. 
Adams  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly. 

The  Assembly,  having  taken  the  subject  into  consideration,  were  in- 
formed by  some  of  their  members,  who  are  also  members  of  the  Synod 
of  Pittsburg,  that  Mr.  Adams'  moral  and  religious  character  is  perfectly 
fair  and  exemplary,  except  in  what  respects  his  marriage,  which  was  con- 
tracted above  fifteen  years  ago. — 1805,  p.  388. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  to  whom  the  appeal  was  referred  having 
been  read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz. : 

Whereas,  Frequent  decisions  on  marriages  of  a  similar  nature  have 
been  given  by  the  late  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  by  the 
General  Assembly  ;  and  whereas,  it  appeared  on  these  occasions  that  while . 
such  marriages  are  offensive  to  some,  to  others  they  appear  lawful,  there- 
fore this  Assembly  consider  the  subject  doubtful  and  delicate,  and  do  not 
think  it  expedient  to  express  any  opinion  on  the  decision  of  the  Synod  of 
Pittsburg  in  the  present  case.  But  in  conformity  to  a  decision  made  by 
last  Assembly  on  a  marriage  somewhat  similar,  this  General  Assembly  re- 
fers the  case  of  Mr.  Adams  to  the  session  of  the  church  of  Rocky  Spring, 
or  that  of  any  other  in  which  he  may  be,  and  leave  it  to  their  discretion 
to  act  according  to  their  own  best  light  and  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  find  themselves  placed. — 1805,  p.  340. 

9.  Marriage  -with  a  deceased  Wife's  Sister. 

a.  In  the  case  of  a  man's  marrying  two  sisters,  one  after  the  other's 
death,  the  S)'nod  judge,  That,  as  the  Levitical  law,  enforced  also  by  the 
civil  laws  of  the  land,  is  the  only  rule  by  which  we  are  to  judge  of  mar- 
riages, whoever  marry  within  the  degrees  of  consanguinity  and  afiinity 
forbidden  therein  act  unlawfully,  and  have  no  right  to  the  distinguishing 
privileges  of  the  Church  ;  and  as  the  marriages  in  question  appear  to  be 
within  the  prohibited  degrees,  they  are  to  be  accounted  unlawful,  and  the 
persons  suspended  from  special  communion  while  they  continue  in  this 
relation. — 1761,  p.  312. 

b.  Anthony  Dushane,  who  has  married  the  sister  of  his  former  wife, 
and  whose  case  has  been  before  the  Synod  for  two  years  past,  preferred 
a  petition  that  he  might  no  longer  be  debarred  the  privileges  of  the 
church  on  account  of  said  marriage. 

After  full  and  deliberate  discussion,  the  question  was  put,  "Shall  An- 
thony Dushane  and  his  wife  be  capable  of  Christian  privileges,  their  mar- 
riage notwithstanding  ?"  which  was  carried  in  the  aflirmative  by  a  consid- 
erable majority. — 1782,  p.  495. 

Remonstrances  from  sundry  congregations  were  brought  in  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  Overtures,  requesting  a  reversing  of  the  decision  of  the  last 
Synod,  respecting  the  marriage  of  a  man  with  his  former  wife's  sister. 

The  Synod  having  again  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  judgment 
which  they  passed  last  year  concerning  Anthony  Dushane,  declare  their 
dissatisfaction  with  all  such  marriages  as  are  inconsistent  with  the  Levit- 
ical law,  and  that  persons  marrying  within  the  degrees  of  consanguinity 
prohibited  in  that  law,  ought  to  suffer  the  censures  of  the  Church  ;  and 
they  further  judge,  that,  although  the  marriage  of  a  man  to  two  sisters 
successively,  viz.,  to  the  one  after  the  death  of  the  other,  may  not  be  a  di- 
rect violation  of  the  express  words  of  that  law,  yet,  as  it  is  contrary  to  the 
practice  of  the  Protestant  Churches  in  general,  and  an  evidence  of  great 
untenderness  toward  many  serious  and  well-disposed  Christians,  and  may, 
through  the  prejudices  or  generally  received  opinions  of  the  members  of 
our  Church,  be  productive  of  very  disagreeable  consequences  ;  the  persons 


OF   THE   SOLEMNIZATION   OF   MARRIAGE.  687 

contracting  such  marriages  are  highly  censurable,  and  the  practice  ought 
to  be  disallowed  in  express  terms  by  the  Synod,  and  we  do  therefore  con- 
demn such  marriages  as  imprudent  and  unseasonable.  Yet  as  some 
things  may  be  done  very  imprudently  and  unseasonably,  which  when  done 
ought  not  to  be  annulled,  we  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  necessary  for 
the  persons  whom  this  judgment  respects,  to  separate  from  one  another,  yet 
they  should  not  be  received  into  tlie  communion  of  the  Church,  without  a 
solemn  admonition,  at  the  discretion  of  the  session  of  the  congregation  to 
which  they  belong  ;  and  the  Synod  publicly  recommend  it  to  all  their 
members  to  abstain  from  celebrating  such  marriages,  and  to  discounte- 
nance them  by  all  proper  means  in  their  power. — 1783,  p.  500. 

10.  Where  a  Brother's  and  Sister's  Relicts  married  together. 

The  Synod  judge  that  such  a  marriage,  however  inexpedient  it  may  be, 
yet,  as  Ave  cannot  find  it  prohibited  by  the  Levitical  law,  it  is  not  to  be 
condemned  as  incestuous. — 1760,  pp.  301  and  303. 

11.  Marriage  to  Deceased  Wife's  Sister  Disapproved. 

a.  The  Committee  to  wliich  had  been  referred  the  appeal  of  Mr.  "Wil- 
liam Vance  from  the  judgment  of  the  churcli  session  of  Cross  Creek,  and 
the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of  Washington,  Pa.,  by  which  judgment 
Mr.  Vance  had  been  excluded  from  church  privileges  on  account  of  his 
being  married  to  the  sister  of  his  deceased  wife,  reported,  and  their  report 
was  read,  and  the  consideration  and  discussion  of  it  was  postponed,  to 
take  into  consideration  the  following  resolutions,  which,  after  a  full  dis- 
cussion, were  adopted  by  the  Assembly  as  their  decision  in  the  case,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  General  Assembly,  the  marriage 
of  a  man  to  the  sister  of  his  deceased  wife,  and  all  similar  connections, 
are  highly  inexpedient,  unfriendly  to  domestic  purity,  and  exceedingly 
offensive  to  a  large  portion  of  our  churches. 

Resolved,  Tliat  it  be,  and  it  hereby  is  earnestly  enjoined  \\])on  the  min- 
isters, elders  and  churches  of  our  communion,  to  take  every  proper  occa- 
sion to  impress  the  sentiments  contained  in  the  foregoing  resolution,  on 
the  public  mind,  and  by  all  suitable  means  to  discourage  connections  so 
unfavorable  in  their  influence  on  the  peace  and. edification  of  the  Church. 

Resolved,  That  while  the  Assembly  adopt  the  opinion,  and  would  enforce 
the  injunction  above  expressed,  they  are  by  no  means  j)repared  to  decide 
that  such  marriages  as  that  in  question,  are  so  plainly  prohibited  in  Scrip- 
ture, and  so  undoubtedly  incestuous,  as  necessarily  to  infer  the  exclusion 
of  those  who  contract  them  from  church  privileges;  they,  therefore,  re- 
fer the  case  of  Mr.  Vance  back  again  to  the  session  of  the  church  of 
Cross  Creek,  agreeably  to  former  decisions  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
similar  cases,  to  be  disposed  of  in  such  manner  as  the  said  session  may 
think  most  conducive  to  the  interests  of  religion. — 1821,  p.  22. 

[P.eaffirmed  in  1822,  p.  45.] 

b.  Assembly  Sustains  Sitspe7iswn  and  Refuse  to  Alter  Confession. 

The  Committee  on  ISIr.  McCrimmon's  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Fayettevillc,  confirming  his  suspension  from  the  commu- 
nion of  the  Church  for  having  married  his  deceased  wife's  sister,  reported, 
that  in  their  opinion,  no  relief  can  be  given  to  the  said  McCrimmon  with- 
out an  alteration  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  xxiv.,  sec.  iv.,  the 
last  clause  of  which  declares,  that  "  the  man  may  not  marry  any  of  his 
wife's  kindred  nearer  in  blood  than  he  may  of  his  own,  nor  the  woman  of 


688  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

her  husband's  kindred  nearer  in  blood  than  of  her  own;"  but  inasmuch  as 
a  diversity  of  opinion  and  practice  obtains  on  this  very  important  subject, 
your  Committee  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  resolution,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbyteries  be  and  they  are  hereby  directed  to  take 
this  matter  into  serious  consideration,  and  send  up  in  writing  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  an  answer  to  the  question,  whether  the  above  quoted 
clause  of  our  Confession  shall  be  erased. 

The  above  report  was  adopted. — 1826,  p.  177. 

In  regard  to  the  proposed  erasure  of  the  4th  section  of  the  24th  chap- 
ter of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  sixty -eight  Presbyteries  have  reported ; 
fifty  of  them  against  the  erasure,  and  eighteen  in  favor  of  it.  The  sec- 
tion, therefore,  is  not  to  be  erased. — 1827,  p.  218. 

c.  Case  of  Archibald  McQueen. — Suspended,  and  Suspension  Sustained. 

[The  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen  appealed  from  a  decision  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Fayetteville,  by  which  he  was  suspended  from  the  ministry  for 
marrying  the  sister  of  his  deceased  wife.] 

"Shall  the  api^eal  be  sustained  ?"  Ayes,  11 ;  nays,  68.  Sustain  in  part, 
8;  excused,  1. 

Resolved,  That  the  judgment  of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  in  the 
case  of  Archibald  McQueen,  be  affirmed,  and  that  the  appeal  be  dis- 
missed.—1842,  p.  44,  O.  S. 

[Upon  a  memorial  against  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  for  refusal  to 
restore  Mr.  McQueen,] 

Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  memorialist  be  granted  so  far  as  that 
this  General  Assembly  recommend  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  to 
reconsider  their  decision  in  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen ; 
and  if  in  their  judgment  it  should  appear  conducive  to  the  peace  of  the 
Church  and  the  promotion  of  religion  in  the  region  around  them,  to  restore 
Mr.  McQueen  to  the  communion  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  exercise  of  the 
functions  of  the  gospel  ministry,  on  the  ground  that  in  his  case  the  ends 
of  discipline  are  attained  by  the  operation  of  the  sentence  under  which 
,Mr.  McQueen  has  been  lying  for  a  period  of  three  years. — 1845,  p.  32,  O.  S. 

[The  Presbytery,  acting  under  the  discretion  thus  conceded,  restored 
Mr.  McQueen.     A  complaint  was  taken.] 

Resolved,  That  the  complaint  of  the  Rev.  Colin  Mclver  and  others 
against  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina,  for  having  sustained  the  action  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  in  restoring  the  said  Archibald  McQueen, 
in  accordance  with  the  judicial  decision  of  the  Assembly  of  1845,  cannot 
be  entertained  by  this  house,  and  is  hereby  dismissed. 

In  making  this  disposition  of  the  above-mentioned  complaint,  this  Gene- 
ral Assembly  wishes  it  to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  they  do  not  mean 
either  to  retract  or  modify  any  judgment  hitherto  expressed  by  any  As- 
sembly respecting  the  offence  for  which  Mr.  McQueen  was  suspended  from 
the  exercise  of  the  gospel  ministry.  They  simply  declare  that  his  case  can- 
not be  regularly  brought  before  them  by  this  conii)laint. — 1847,  p.  395, 0.  S. 

On  motion,  the  order  of  the  day  was  suspended  to  take  up  the  following 
resolution,  viz.  : 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Assembly  overture  to  the  Presbyteries  the 
following  question,  viz. :  Shall  that  part  of  the  fourth  section  of  the 
twenty-fourth  chapter  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  from  i.  to  ii.,  which 
says,  "  Nor  can  such  incestuous  marriages  ever  be  made  lawful  by  any 
law  of  man,  or  consent  of  parties,  so  as  those  persons  may  live  together 
as  man  and  wife,"  be  stricken  out? 


OF    THE   SOLEMNIZATION    OF    MARRIAGE.  689 

The  previous  question  being  insisted  on,  the  resolution  was  put  to  the 
vote,  and  lost.— 1847,  p.  397,  O.  S. 

d.  The  appeal  of  John  Cathey  fi'om  a  decision  of  the  Synod  of  North 
Carolina,  sustaining  the  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  and  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Paw  Creek  church,  by  which  he  was  suspended  from  the 
church  for  marrying  his  deceased  wife's  sister,  was  not  sustained.  Ayes, 
26;  nays,  55.— 1848,  p.  57,  O.  S. 

12.  "With  a  Wife's  Brother's  Daughter. 

After  mature  deliberation,  the  Synod  declare  tlieir  great  dissatisfac- 
tion with  all  such  marriages  as  are  inconsistent  with  the  Levitical  law, 
which  in  cases  matrimonial  we  understand  is  the  law  of  our  nation,  and 
that  persons  intermarrying  in  these  prohibited  degrees,  are  not  only  pun- 
ishable by  tte  laws  of  the  country,  but  ought  to  suffer  the  censures  of  the 
Church  ;  and  furthoi  judge,  though  the  present  case  is  not  a  direct  viola- 
tion of  the  express  words  of  the  Levitical  law,  yet  as  it  is  contrary  to  the 
custom  of  Protestant  nations  in  general,  and  an  evidence  of  great  unten- 
derness,  and  so  opposite  to  such  precepts  of  the  gospel  as  require  Chris- 
tians to  avoid  things  of  ill  report,  and  all  appearance  of  evil,  and  what 
is  offensive  to  the  Church  ;  that  the  person  referred  to  in  this  instance, 
ought  to  be  rebuked  by  the  church  session,  and  others  warned  against 
such  offensive  conduct ;  and  in  case  these  persons  submit  to  such  rebuke, 
and  are  in  other  respects  regular  professors,  that  they  be  not  debarred  of 
Christian  privileges. — 1772,  p.  427. 

13.  "With  a  Wife's  Half-brother's  Daughter. 

A  reference  from  the  Synod  of  Virginia  was  received  through  the  Com- 
mittee of  Overtures,  respecting  a  certain  Charles  Mitchel,  who  had  mar- 
ried his  former  wife's  half-brother's  daughter,  requesting  the  opinion  of 
the  Assembly  whether  such  persons  maybe  admitted  to  church  privileges. 
Whei-eupon, 

Besolved,  That  though  the  Assembly  would  wish  to  discountenance  im- 
prudent marriages,  or  such  as  tend  in  any  w'ay  to  give  uneasiness  to  seri- 
ous persons,  yet  it  is  their  opinion  that  the  marriage  referred  to  is  not  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  render  it  necessary  to  exclude  the  parties  from  the 
privileges  of  the  C-hurch. — 1797,  p.  127. 

14.  With  a  Deceased  Wife's  Sister's  Daughter. 

a.  Reference  on  the  petition  of  John  Latham,  who  has  married  his  de- 
ceased wife's  sister's  daughter,  praying  a  reconsideration  of  his  case,  which 
was  tried  and  issued  against  him,  nine  years  ago,  in  the  Synod  of  the 
(Jarolinas. 

After  mature  deliberation,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  case  of  John  Latham,  referred  for  the  decision  of 
the  General  Assembly  by  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  be  remitted  to  the 
said  Synod,  and  that  they  be  directed  to  review  the  case,  and,  if  they  shall 
judge  it  to  be  consistent  with  the  existing  laws  of  the  State  and  the  peace 
of  the  Church,  they  may  admit  the  parties  alluded  to  to  its  privileges. — 
1799,  p.  176. 

b.  The  session  of  the  church  of  Westminster,  in  Jefferson  county.  State 
of  Tennessee,  having  requested  the  direction  of  this  Assembly  in  a  case  of 
discipline,  viz. :  Whether  a  man  and  his  wife  were  admissible  to  church 
privileges  who  had  been  related  to  each  other  as  uncle  and  niece — that  is 

87 


690  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR  WORSHIP. 

to  say,  the  ^vonlan  being  sister's  daughter  to  the  man's  former  wife. 
Whereupon,  the  Assembly 

Resolved,  That  such  marriages  as  that  in  question  have  been  determined 
both  by  the  late  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  and  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  be  on  the  one  hand  not  forbidden  by  the  laws  of  God, 
and  on  the  other  hand  to  be  contrary  to  the  general  practice  of  Protestant 
Churches,  and  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  many  serious  Christians  among 
ourselves,  and  on  that  account  to  be  discountenanced ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  when  such  marriages  take  place,  tlie  session  of  the 
church  where  they  happen  are  carefully  to  consider  the  case,  and  if  they 
think  it  expedient,  to  administer  such  discipline  as  they  may  judge  to  be 
deserved  for  that  want  of  Christian  tenderness  and  forbearance  that  are 
incumbent  on  all  the  professors  of  our  holy  religion,  or  for  violating  any 
municipal  law,  if  this  has  been  done,  and  then  to  admit  or  restore  them  to 
good  standing  in  the  Church.  And  if  the  session  judge  that  the  state  of 
society  is  such  where  these  marriages  take  place  as  that  neither  the  duty 
of  Christian  tenderness  and  forbearance,  nor  the  laws  of  the  State  have 
been  violated,  they  may  admit  the  persons  concerned  to  Christian  privi- 
leges without  censure. — 1802,  p.  248. 

c.  It  appeared  that  a  Mr.  James  Gaston  had  been  censured  as  being 
guilty  of  incest  for  having  married  a  woman  who  was  sister's  daughter 
to  his  former  wife,  and  had  brought  the  cause  by  appeal  to  the  Synod 
of  Pittsburg.  The  Synod,  conceiving  that  the  cause  involved  a  high 
question  of  discipline,  chose  to  refer  it  to  the  General  Assembly  for  their 
decision. 

The  Assembly  having  given  repeated  decisions  on  similar  cases,  cannot 
advise  to  annul  such  marriages,  or  to  pronounce  them  to  such  a  degree 
unlawful  as  that  the  parties,  if  otherwise  worthy,  should  be  debarred  from 
the  privileges  of  the  Church.  But  as  great  diversity  of  opinion  seems  to 
exist  on  such  questions  in  different  parts  of  the  Church,  so  that  no  abso- 
lute rule  can  be  enjoined  with  regard  to  them  that  shall  be  universally 
binding  and  consistent  with  the  peace  of  the  Church,  and  as  the  cases  in 
question  are  esteemed  to  be  doubtful,  the  Assemlily  is  constrained  to  leave 
it  to  the  discretion  of  the  inferior  judicatories  under  their  care,  to  act  ac- 
cording to  their  own  best  lights  and  the  circumstances  in  which  they  find 
themselves  placed. — 1804,  p.  306. 

d.  A  reference  from  Bethel  Church,  South  Carolina,  was  overtured,  re- 
questing the  decision  of  the  Assembly  in  relation  to  a  case  in  which  a  per- 
son had  married  the  sister  of  his  deceased  wife.     On  motion. 

Resolved,  That  this  reference  be  answered  by  the  decision  of  the  Assem- 
bly of  1804.     [Above,  c.]— 1810,  p.  456. 

15.  With  a  Sister's  Daughter. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Bills  and  Overtures  in  answer  to  the 
two  questions,  "May  a  num,  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, marry  a  daughter  of  his  own  sister?"  and  "  When  members  of  the 
Church  have  contra-cted  such  a  marriage,  may  they  still  retain  their  stand- 
ing in  the  Church?"  was  taken  up  for  consideration. 

A  motion  was  made  for  indefinite  postponement,  which  was  lost. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  was  postponed,  and  the  following  substi- 
tute, proposed  by  Rev.  S.  P.  M.  Hastings,  was  adopted  : 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  first  question  be  answered  in  the  negative,  such 
marriages  being  evidently  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  the  Scripture,  and 
incestuous.     See  Lev.  xviii.  6,  12,  13. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  second  question  in  the  overture  be  answered  as 


OF   THE  SOLEMNIZATIOX   OF   MAREIAGE.  691 

follows,  viz.:  In  the  judgment  of  this  Assembly,  such  a  connection  as  is 
contemplated  by  the  overture  demands  the  judicial  action  of  the  Church, 
and  if  not  repented  of,  should  incur  Cliurch  censure.— 1853,  p.  339,  N.  S. 

16.  Loose  Opinions  on  Marriage  Condenined. 

Overture  No.  31,  from  the  Presbytery  of  Schuyler,  on  the  subject  of 
divorce.  The  Committee  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  reso- 
lution : 

Whereas,  Latitudinarian  ideas  on  marriage  and  divorce  are  alarmingly 
.prevalent  at  the  present  time,  and,  in  some  portions  of  the  country,  prac- 
tically demoralizing, 

Resolved,  That  this  General  Assembly  enters  its  solemn  protest  against 
such  loose  opinions,  and  calls  upon  all  its  ministers  to  use  their  moral  in- 
fluence to  create  a  more  healthful  sentiment  in  the  community  and  a  thor- 
oughly scriptural  practice  in  tlie  Churcli. 

Adopted. — 1872,  p.  73. 

IV.  The  parties  ought  to  be  of  such  years  of  discretion  as  to  be 
capable  of  making  their  own  choice:  and  if  they  be  under  age,  or  live 
with  their  jiarents,  the  consent  of  the  parents  or  others,  under  whose 
care  they  are,  ought  to  be  previously  obtained,  and  well  certified  to 
the  minister,  before  he  proceeds  to  solemnize  the  marriage. 

Clandestine  Marriage  Discouraged. 

The  Synod  do  recommend  it  to  all  their  members  to  use  the  greatest 
caution  that  tliey  do  not  countenance  any  clandestine  marriages,  and  espe- 
cially that  they  do  not  marry  any  that  they  have  reason  to  suspect  to  go 
contrary  to  the  minds  of  their  parents  and  guardians  in  seeking  it. — 1735, 
p.  115. 

V.  Parents  ought  neither  to  compel  their  children  to  marry  con- 
trary to  their  inclinations,  nor  deny  their  consent  without  just  and 
important  reasons. 

VI.  INIarriage  is  of  a  public  nature.  The  welfare  of  civil  society, 
the  happiness  of  families,  and  the  credit  of  religion,  are  deeply  inter- 
ested in  it.  Therefore  the  purpose  of  marriage  ought  to  be  sufficiently 
published  a  proper  time  previously  to  the  solemnization  of  it.  It  is 
enjoined  on  all  ministers  to  be  careful  that,  in  this  matter,  they  neither 
transgress  the  laws  of  God,  nor  the  laws  of  the  community  :  and  that 
they  may  not  destroy  the  peace  and  comfort  of  families,  they  must  be 
properly  certified  with  respect  to  the  parties  applying  to  them,  that 
no  just  objections  lie  against  their  marriage. 

Publication  of  Purpose  of  Marriage. 

What  is  a  sufficient  publication  of  the  purpose  of  marriage  according 
to  the  second  sentence  of  the  sixth  section  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the 
Book  of  Discipline? 

Resolved,  That  the  following  be  given  as  an  answer  to  this  question, 
viz.:  That  the  Presbyteries  arc  the  best  judges  in  the  case. — 1820,  p.  740. 


692  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

VII.  Marriage  must  always  be  performed  before  a  competent  num- 
ber of  witnesses ;  and  at  any  time,  except  on  a  day  of  public  humili- 
ation. And  we  advise  that  it  be  not  on  the  Lord's  day.  And  the 
minister  is  to  give  a  certificate  of  the  marriage  when  required. 

YIII.  When  the  parties  present  themselves  for  marriage,  the  min- 
ister is  to  desire,  if  there  is  any  person  present  who  knows  any  law- 
ful reason  why  these  persons  may  not  be  joined  together  in  the  mar- 
riage relation,  that  they  will  now  make  it  known,  or  ever  after  hold 
their  peace. 

No  objections  being  made,  he  is  then  severally  to  address  himself 
to  the  parties  to  be  married,  in  the  following  or  like  words : 

"  You,  the  man,  declare,  in  the  presence  of  God,  that  you  do  not 
know  any  reason  by  pre-contract  or  otherwise,  why  you  may  not  law- 
fully marry  this  woman." 

Upon  his  declaring  he  does  not,  the  minister  shall  address  himself 
to  the  bride,  in  the  same  or  similar  terms : 

"  You,  the  Avoman,  declare,  in  the  presence  of  God,  that  you  do  not 
know  any  reason,  by  pre-contract  or  otherwise,  why  you  may  not 
lawfully  marry  this  man." 

Upon  her  declaring  she  does  not,  he  is  to  begin  with  prayer  for  the 
presence  and  blessing  of  God. 

The  minister  shall  then  proceed  to  give  them  some  instruction  from 
the  Scriptures,  respecting  the  institution  and  duties  of  this  state, 
showing, 

"  That  God  hath  instituted  marriage  for  the  comfort  and  happiness 
of  mankind,  in  declaring  a  man  shall  forsake  his  father  and  mother, 
and  cleave  unto  his  wife;  and  that  marriage  is  honorable  in  all;  that 
he  hath  apj)()inted  various  duties,  which  are  incumbent  upon  those 
who  enter  into  this  relation  ;  such  as,  a  high  esteem  and  mutual  love 
for  one  another;  bearing  with  each  other's  infirmities  and  weaknesses, 
to  which  human  nature  is  subject  in  its  present  lapsed  state ;  to  en- 
courage each  other  under  the  various  ills  of  life;  to  comfort  one 
another  in  sickness ;  in  honesty  and  industry  to  provide  for  each 
other's  temporal  support;  to  pray  for  and  encourage  one  another  in 
the  things  which  pertain  to  God,  and  to  their  immortal  souls  ;  and 
to  live  together  as  the  heirs  of  the  grace  of  life.'* 

Then  the  minister  shall  cause  the  bridegroom  and  bride  to  join 
their  hands,  and  shall  pronounce  the  marriage-covenant,  first  to  the 
man,  in  these  words : 

"You  take  this  woman,  whom  you  hold  by  the  hand,  to  be  your 
lawful  and   married   wife ;   and   you  promise,  and   covenant,  in  the 


OF   THE  SOLEMNIZATION   OF   MARRIAGE.  693 

presence  of  God  and  these  witnesses,  that  you  will  be  unto  her  a  lov- 
ing and  faithful  husband,  until  you  shall  be  separated  by  death." 

The  bridegroom  shall  express  his  consent,  by  saying,  "  Yes,  I  do." 

Then  the  minister  shall  address  himself  to  the  woman,  in  these 
words  : 

"  You  take  this  man,  whom  you  hold  by  the  hand,  to  be  your  law- 
ful and  married  husband ;  and  you  promise  and  covenant,  in  the 
presence  of  God  and  these  witnesses,  that  you  will  be  unto  him  a 
loving,  faithful,  and  obedient  wife,  until  you  shall  be  separated  by 
death." 

The  bride  shall  express  her  consent,  by  saying,  "  Yes,  I  do.'' 

Then  the  minister  is  to  say, 

"  I  pronounce  you  husband  and  wife,  according  to  the  ordinance 
of  God ;  whom  therefore  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put 
asunder." 

After  this  the  minister  may  exhort  them,  in  a  few  words,  to  the 
mutual  discharge  of  their  duty. 

Then  let  him  conclude  with  prayer  suitable  to  the  occasion. 

Let  the  minister  keep  a  proper  register  for  the  names  of  all  per- 
sons whom  he  marries,  and  of  the  time  of  their  marriage,  for  the 
perusal  of  all  whom  it  may  concern. 


694  THE   DIREOTOKY  FOR   WORSHIP. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

OF  THE   VISITATION  OF  THE  SICK. 

I.  When  persons  are  sick,  it  is  their  duty,  before  their  strength 
and  understanding  fail  them,  to  send  for  their  minister,  and  to  make 
knoAvn  to  him,  with  prudence,  tlieir  spiritual  state ;  or  to  consult  him 
on  the  concerns  of  their  precious  souls.  And  it  is  his  duty  to  visit 
them,  at  their  request,  and  to  apply  himself,  with  all  tenderness  and 
love,  to  administer  spiritual  good  to  their  immortal  souls. 

II.  He  shall  instruct  the  sick,  out  of  the  Scriptures,  that  diseases 
arise  not  out  of  the  ground,  nor  do  they  come  by  chance ;  but  that 
they  are  directed  and  sent  by  a  wise  and  holy  God,  either  for  correc- 
tion of  sin,  for  the  trial  of  grace,  for  improvement  in  religion,  or  for 
other  important  ends :  and  that  they  shall  work  together  for  good,  to 
all  those  who  make  a  wise  improvement  of  God's  visitation,  neither 
despising  his  chastening  hand,  nor  fainting  under  his  rebukes. 

III.  If  the  minister  finds  the  sick  person  to  be  grossly  ignorant, 
he  shall  instruct  him  in  the  nature  of  repentance  and  faith,  and  the 
way  of  accejjtance  with  God,  through  the  niediation  and  atonement 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

IV.  He  shall  exhort  the  sick  to  examine  himself,  to  seai'ch  his 
heart,  and  try  his  former  ways,  by  the  word  of  God ;  and  shall  assist 
him,  by  mentioning  some  of  the  obvious  marks  and  evidences  of 
sincere  piety. 

V.  If  the  sick  shall  signify  any  scruple,  doubt,  or  temptation, 
under  which  he  labors,  the  minister  must  endeavor  to  resolve  his 
doubts,  and  administer  instruction  and  direction,  as  the  case  may  seem 
to  require. 

VI.  If  the  sick  appear  to  be  a  stupid,  thoughtless,  and  hardened 
sinner,  he  shall  endeavor  to  awaken  his  mind ;  to  arouse  his  con- 
science ;  to  convince  him  of  the  evil  and  danger  of  sin  ;  of  the  curse 
of  the  law,  and  the  wrath  of  God  due  to  sinners  ;  to  bring  him  to  an 
humble  and  penitential  sense  of  his  iniquities;  and  to  state  before 
him  the  fullness  of  the  grace  and  mercy  of  God,  in  and  through  the 
glorious  Iledeemer ;  the  absolute  necessity  of  faith  and  repentance,  in 
order  to  his  being  interested  in  the  favor  of  God,  or  his  obtaining 
everlasting  happiness. 

VII.  If  the  sick  person  shall  appear  to  have  knowledge,  to  be  of 
a  tender  conscience,  and  to  have  been  endeavoring  to  serve  God  in 
uprightness,  though  not  without  many  failings  and  sinful  infirmities; 
or  if  his  spirit  be  broken  with  a  sense  of  sin,  or  through  apprehen- 


OF    FASTING    AND    THANKSGIVING.  695 

sioiis  of  the  want  of  the  divine  favor ;  then  it  will  be  proper  to  ad- 
minister consolation  and  encouragement  to  him,  by  setting  before  him 
the  freencss  and  riches  of  the  grace  of  God,  the  all-sufficiency  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ,  and  the  supporting  promises  of  the  gospel. 

[For  cases  where  it  may  be  proper  to  adraiuister  the  Lord's  Supper  in 
the  sick  chamber,  see  Directory,  chap,  viii.,  sec.  i.,  2.] 

VIII.  The  minister  must  endeavor  to  guard  the  sick  person  agaiust 
ill-grounded  persuasions  of  tlie  mercy  of  God,  without  a  vital  union 
to  Christ;  and  against  unreasonable  fears  of  death,  and  desponding 
discouragements ;  against  presumption  upon  his  own  goodness  and 
merit,  upon  the  one  hand,  and  against  despair  of  the  mercy  and  grace 
of  God  in  Jesus  Chi  ist,  on  the  other. 

IX.  In  one  word,  it  is  the  minister's  duty  to  administer  to  the  sick 
person,  instruction,  conviction,  support,  consolation,  or  encourage- 
ment, as  his  case  may  seem  to  require. 

At  a  proper  time,  when  he  is  most  composed,  the  minister  shall 
pray  with  and  for  him. 

X.  Lastly,  the  minister  may  improve  the  present  occasion,  to  ex- 
hort those  about  the  sick,  to  consider  their  mortality  :  to  turn  to  the 
Lord,  and  make  their  peace  with  him ;  in  health  to  prepare  for  sick- 
ness, death,  and  judgment. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 
OF  THE  BURIAL  OF  THE  DEAD. 

I.  When  any  person  departs  this  life,  let  the  corpse  be  taken  care 
of  in  a  decent  manner;  and  be  kept  a  proper  and  sufficient  time  be- 
fore interment. 

II.  When  the  season  for  the  funeral  comes,  let  the  dead  body  be 
decently  attended  to  the  grave  and  interred.  During  such  solemn 
occasions,  let  all  who  attend  conduct  themselves  with  becomiufr  trrav- 
ity ;  and  apply  themselves  to  serious  meditation  or  discourse  :  and 
the  minister,  if  present,  may  exhort  them  to  consider  the  frailty  of 
life  and  the  importance  of  being  prepared  for  death  and  eternity. 

Carousing  and  Ostentatious  Parades  Discountenanced. 

That  as  the  too  great  use  of  spirituous  liquors  at  funerals  in  some 
parts  of  the  country,  is  risen  to  such  an  height  as  greatly  to  endanger  the 
morals  of  many,  and  is  the  cause  of  nnich  scandal,  the  Synod  earnestly 
enjoin,  that  the  several  sessions  and  Committees  shall  take  the  most  effect- 
ual methods  to  correct  these  mischiefs,  and  discountenance  by  their  ex- 


696  THE    DIRECTORY    FOR    WORSHIP. 

ample  and  influence  all  approaches  to  such  practices,  and  all  ostentatious 
and  expensive  parades,  so  inconsistent  with  such  mortifying  and  distress- 
ing occasions. — 1766,  p.  359. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


OF  FASTING,  AND  OF  THE  OBSERVATION  OF  THE  DAYS  OF 

THANKSGIVING.  * 

0 

I.  There  is  no  day  under  the  gospel  commanded  to  be  kept  holy, 
except  the  Lf)rd's  day,  which  is  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

II.  Nevertheless,  to  observe  days  of  fasting  and  thanksgiving,  as 
the  extraordinary  dispensations  of  divine  providence  may  direct,  we 
judge  both  scriptural  and  rational. 

We  will  further  observe,  that  the  duty  of  fasting,  as  united  with 
prayer,  appears  to  be  too  much  disregarded,  if  not  entirely  neglected  by 
many  Christians  of  the  present  day.  We  agree  w'ith  our  fathers  of  the 
Reformation,  that  the  appointment  of  annual  or  stated  fasts  is  not  author- 
ized under  the  gospel  dispensation  ;  but  occasional  fasting,  both  public 
and  private,  such  as  is  called  for  by  peculiar  circumstances,  or  by  the 
dispensations  of  iieaven,  are  still  among  the  appointed  means  of  grace, 
and  form  an  important  part  of  Christian  duty.  Our  Saviour  said,  the 
children  of  the  bride-chamber  would  fast  when  the  bridegroom  was  taken 
from  them  ;  surely  such  a  dispensation  as  we  have  lately  witnessed  should 
lead  those  children  to  fast. — 1838,  p.  48,  O.  S. 

III.  Fasts  and  thanksgivings  may  be  observed  by  individual 
Christians;  or  families,  in  private;  by  particular  congregations;  by 
a  number  of  congregations  contiguous  to  each  other;  by  congrega- 
tions under  the  care  of  a  Presbytery,  or  of  a  Synod  ;  or  by  all  the  con- 
gregations of  our  Church. 

IV.  It  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  and  discretion  of  every 
Christian  and  family,  to  determine  when  it  is  jiroper  to  observe  a 
private  fast  or  thanksgiving;  and  to  the  church  sessions  to  de- 
termine for  particular  congregations;  and  to  the  Presbyteries  or 
Synods  to  determine  for  larger  districts.  When  it  is  deemed  ex- 
pedient that  a  fast  or  thanksgiving  should  be  general,  the  call  for 
them  must  be  judged  of  by  the  Synod  or  (leneral  Assembly.  And 
if  at  any  time  the  civil  j)o\ver  should  think  it  ])roper  to  ajipoint  a 
fast  or  thanksgiving,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  ministers  and  people  of 
our  communion,  as  we  live  under  a  Christian  government,  to  pay  all 
due  respect  to  the  same. 


OF   FASTING   AND  THANKSGIVING.  697 

Churches  should  observe  Days  a/ppointed  by  the  Local  Aidhorities. 

In  this  connectiou,  the  Committee  further  recommend  that  this  Assembly 
sanction  and  approve  the  practice  of  particular  churches  observing,  with 
appropriate  worship,  days  of  thanksgiving,  recommended  in  proclamation 
by  the  governors  of  commonwealths  in  which  they  are  located. 

The  recommendations  were  adopted. — 1849,  p.  266,  O.  S. 

Days  of  Fasting  appointed  by  the  Supreme  Judicatory. 
1.  Upon  the  Occasion  of  the  French  War. 

a.  The  Synod,  under  a  sense  of  the  present  distressed  and  calamitous 
state  of  the  country,  do  agree  that  they  will  recommend  to  all  their  con- 
gregations to  unite  in  observing  the  last  Thursday  of  October  instant,  as 
a  day  of  public  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer. 

The  Synod  propose  further  to  recommend  to  their  congregations  to 
spend  part  of  the  last  Thursday  of  every  month  in  extraordinary  prayer, 
while  the  present  mournful  state  of  our  public  affairs  continues. 

And  they  do  further  most  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  their  members, 
present  and  absent,  to  exert  themselves  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  in 
their  several  spheres  of  influence,  for  a  general  and  thorough  reformation 
of  those  crying  abominations  which  seem  most  evidently  to  have  kindled 
the  anger  of  heaven  against  this  land. 

And  that  they  would,  iu  their  public  performances,  frequently  explain  and 
warmly  press  on  their  hearers  the  necessity  of  such  a  reformation  in  this  day. 

The  Synod  taking  into  serious  consideration  the  dangerous  situation  of 
the  public  at  this  juncture,  by  means  of  a  potent,  prevailing  and  cruel 
enemy;  the  divided  state  of  these  colonies;  the  abounding  of  profanity, 
luxurj^  infidelity,  error  and  ignorance;  the  evident  suspension  of  spiritual 
influences  from  the  Church,  which  is  followed  with  an  evident  insensibility 
under  the  judgments  as  well  as  ordinances  of  God;  together  with  other 
awful  aspects  of  divine  Providence;  cannot  but  view  them  as  plain  dem- 
onstrations of  his  displeasure.  We  have  been  warned  and  chastised,  first 
more  gently,  then  more  terribly;  but  not  returning  to  Him  that  smites  us, 
his  anger  is  not  turned  away,  but  his  hand  is  stretched  out  still.  Judg- 
ment yet  proceeds,  the  prospect  becomes  darker  and  darker,  and  all  things 
respecting  us,  are  loudly  alarming.  When  God  judges  he  will  overcome; 
none  have  ever  hardened  themselves  against  him  and  prospered.  Nothing 
but  impiety  rouses  his  vengeance,  and  nothing  but  repentance  toward  him, 
and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  can  turn  it  away.  We  have  not 
so  much  as  the  least  reason  to  expect  deliverance  and  safety  in  a  way  of 
impenitent  sinning;  for  we  are  assured,  if  we  walk  contrary  to  our  God, 
he  will  Avalk  contrary  to  us,  and  will  punish  us  yet  seven  times  more  for 
our  iniquity.  And  as  we  judge  that  extraordinary  distresses  are  calls  to 
extraordinary  humiliation  and  acts  of  devotion,  so  we  look  on  ourselves 
bound,  not  only  as  members  of  the  community,  but  by  the  duty  of  our 
office,  as  those  who  are  entrusted  with  the  declaration  of  God's  revealed 
will,  to  warn  all  who  will  attend  unto  us,  and  earnestly  exhort  them  to 
prostrate  themselves  before  his  offended  majesty,  in  the  humblest  manner; 
to  deprecate  his  righteous  displeasure ;  implore  his  mercy  for  themselves, 
their  children,  country  and  nation,  their  and  our  rightful  and  gracious 
sovereign  King  George  the  Second,  his  royal  family,  all  officers  civil  and 
military,  and  the  whole  Church  of  God ;  and  solemnly  endeavor  sincere 
and  thorough  reformation.  For  this  purpose  the  Synod  agree  to  recom- 
mend the  last  Thursday  of  this  instant,  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  public 


698  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

fasting  and  prayer,  in  all  the  congregations  under  our  care.  "We  also  rec- 
ommend to  all  the  members  of  our  body,  that  they  exert  themselves  ia 
promoting  a  reformation  from  those  evils  which  have  evidently  kindled 
the  anger  of  heaven  against  this  laud  ;  and  that  they  would  frequently 
urge  the  necessity  of  such  a  reformation  in  this  day. 
Signed  in  the  name  of  the  Synod, 

RICHARD  TREAT,  Synod  Clerk 
— 1756,  p.  276,  Synod  of  New  York. 

b.  l_In  1758  tJie  reunited  S^nod']  recommend  that  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer  be  observed  by  all  the  congregations  under  our  care,  to  deprecate 
the  wrath  of  God,  to  pray  for  a  blessing  on  his  majesty's  armaments  by 
sea  and  land,  in  order  to  procure  a  lasting  and  honorable  peace,  and  in 
particular  for  the  success  of  all  intended  expeditions  in  America;  for  the 
prosperity  of  his  Prussian  majesty's  arms,  and  advancement  of  the  Pro- 
testant interest;  for  the  overthrow  of  antichristian  errors,  superstition  and 
tyranny;  and  the  universal  spread  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  And 
'tis  ordered  that  the  members  within  the  bounds  of  this  province,  observe 
it  on  the  sixteenth  of  June  next,  being  the  day  appointed  by  this  govern- 
ment for  that  purpose ;  and  that  those  brethren  who  live  in  the  bounds  of 
other  governments,  observe  it  on  such  a  day  in  June  or  July  next  as  the 
several  Presbyteries  think  proper. 

And  as  prayer  has  been  made  without  ceasing,  by  the  Church  in  times 
of  imminent  danger,  and  God  has  heard  his  people  in  a  day  of  trouble, 
and  delivered  them,  the  Synod  recommend  that  some  time  be  sj^ent  in  so- 
cial prayer,  by  every  congregation  within  their  bounds,  on  the  last  Thurs- 
day of  every  month,  during  these  times  of  trouble  and  rebuke. — 1758,  p. 
290. 

[Also  in  1760,  p.  305 ;  and  1761,  p.  310.] 

2.  On  the  "War  with  Spain. 

The  Synod  seriously  considering  that  our  nation  is  involved  in  an 
additional  war  with  Spain,  and  the  melancholy  state  of  religion  in  our 
churches,  do  agree  that  the  third  Thursday  of  June  be  observed  as  a  day 
of  public  fasting  and  prayer  in  all  the  congregations  under  the  care  of 
our  Synod,  where  the  government  under  which  they  live  has  not,  or  shall 
not  before  that  time  appoint  another  day  for  that  purjiose,  that  all  may 
humble  themselves  before  Almighty  God,  to  deprecate  his  just  displeasure, 


an 
arras 


d  pray  for  the  blessing  of  heaven  on  his  majesty's  ]:)erson,  counsels  and 
ras,  and  for  the  revival  of  true  piety  among  us. — 1762,  p.  315. 


3.  On  Account  of  the  Troubles  -with  England. 

a.  The  Synod  taking  into  their  serious  consideration  the  dark  and 
threatening  aspect  of  our  public  affairs,  both  civil  and  religious,  as  loudly 
calling  for  deep  humiliation  before  God,  and  earnest  application  to  the 
throne  of  grace,  do  agree  to  observe  the  third  Thursday  of  June  next,  as 
a  (lay  of  solemn  fasting  and  prayer,  to  implore  the  divine  compassion,  that 
it  may  please  God  in  his  great  mercy  to  avert  those  calamities  which,  on 
account  of  our  manifold  provocations,  we  have  great  reason  to  fear. — 1774, 
p.  460. 

h.  The  Synod  considering  the  present  alarming  state  of  public  affairs, 
do  unanimously  judge  it  their  duty  to  call  all  the  congregations  under 
their  care  to  solemn  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  ami  for  tliis  purpose 
appoint  the  last  Thursday  of  June  next  to  be  carefully  and  religiously  ob- 


OF   FASTING   AND  THANKSGIVING.  699 

served.  But  as  the  Continental  Congress  are  now  sitting,  ^Yho  may  proba- 
bly appoint  a  fast  for  the  same  i)urpose,  the  Synod,  from  respect  to  that 
august  body  and  for  the  greater  harmony  with  all  other  denominations, 
and  for  the  greater  public  order,  if  the  Congress  shall  appoint  a  day  not 
above  four  weeks  distant  from  the  said  last  Thursday  of  June,  order  that 
the  congregations  belonging  to  this  Synod  do  keep  the  day  appointed  by 
the  Congress,  in  obedience  to  this  resolution ;  and  if  they  appoint  a  day 
more  distant,  the  Synod  order  both  to  be  observed  by  all  our  communion. 
The  Synod  also  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  the  congregations  under 
their  care  to  spend  the  afternoon  of  the  last  Thursday  in  every  month  in 
public  solemn  prayer  to  God,  during  the  continuance  of  our  present 
troubles. — 1775,  p.  465. 

[See  also  1777,  p.  478 ;  1778,  p.  481 ;  1779,  p.  483 ;  1780,  p.  488.] 

4.  Before  the  Second  War  with  England. 

In  1808  the  Assembly  appointed  the  second  Thursday  of  September  as 
a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  to  beseech  the  Ruler  of  the  uni- 
verse that  for  Christ's  sake  he  would  be  i:)Ieased  to  avert  the  calamities 
with  which  we  are  threatened.  That  he  would  restore  harmony  to  the 
contending  nations  of  the  world  ;  that  he  would  pour  out  his  Spirit  upon 
our  churches  more  generally  and  more  abundantly;  bless  the  efforts  that 
are  making  to  christianize  the  heathen,  and  to  extend  the  blessings  of  the 
gospel  to  the  destitute  inhabitants  of  our  land. — 1808,  p.  409. 

5.   During  the  "War  with  England. 

[See  Minutes,  1812,  p.  497  ;  1813,  p.  524.]  In  this  case  it  was— 
Resolved,  That  if  the  President  of  the  United  States  shall,  previous  to 
the  day  specified  (first  Thursday  in  August),  recommend  the  observance 
of  a  day  of  humiliation,  fasting  and  prayer,  different  from  that  which 
has  been  assigned,  then,  and  in  that  case,  it  is  recommended  to  the 
churches  under  our  care,  to  observe  the  day  which  may  be  appointed  by 
the  civil  government  of  our  country;  otherwise  to  observe  the  day  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Assembly. 
[See  also  1814,  p.  572.] 

6.  On  the  Outbreak  of  the  Civil  War. 

a.  Gratefully  acknowledging  the  distinguished  bounty  and  care  of  al- 
mighty God  toward  this  favored  land,  and  also  recognizing  our  obligations 
to  submit  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake,  this  General 
Assembly  adopt  the  following  resolutions: 

Resolved,  1.  That  in  view  of  the  present  agitated  and  unhappy  condition 
of  this  country,  the  first  day  of  July  next  be  hereby  set  apart  as  a  day  of 
prayer  throughout  our  bounds,  and  that  on  this  day  ministers  and  people 
are  called  on  humbly  to  confess  and  bewail  our  national  sins;  to  offer  our 
thanks  to  the  Father  of  light  for  his  abundant  and  undeserved  goodness 
toward  us  as  a  nation  ;  to  seek  his  guidance  and  blessing  upon  our  rulers 
and  their  counsels,  as  well  as  on  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  about 
to  assemble;  and  to  implore  him,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  great 
High  Priest  of  the  Christian  profession,  to  turn  away  his  anger  from  us, 
and  speedily  restore  to  us  the  blessings  of  an  honorable  peace. 

Resolved,  2.  That  this  General  Assembly,  in  the  spirit  of  that  Christian 
patriotism  which  the  Scriptures  enjoin,  and  which  has  always  character- 
ized this  Church,  do  hereby  acknowledge  and  declare  our  obligations  to 
promote  and  perpetuate,  so  far  as  in  us  lies,  the  integrity  of  these  United 


700  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

States,  and  to  strengthen,  uphold  and  encourage  the  Federal  Government 
in  the  exercise  of  all  its  functions  under  our  noble  Constitution:  and  to 
this  Constitution  in  all  its  provisions,  requirements  and  principles  we  pro- 
fess our  unabated  loyalty. 

And  to  avoid  all  misconception,  the  Assembly  declare  that  by  the  terms 
"Federal  Government,"  as  here  used,  is  not  meant  any  particular  admin- 
istration, or  the  peculiar  opinions  of  any  particular  party,  but  that  central 
administration,  which  being  at  any  time  appointed  and  inaugurated  ac- 
cording to  the  forms  jirescribed  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
is  the  visible  representative  of  our  national  existence. 

This  paper  was  adopted  by  the  following  vote :  yeas  156,  nays  QQ. — 
1861,  p.  329,  O.  S. 

b.  In  view  of  the  turbulence  and  the  menace  of  our  times,  the  drear  in- 
auguration of  civil  war,  and  the  prospect  of  its  ravages  of  physical  and 
moral  desolation  in  our  country, 

Resolved,  1.  That  we  acknowledge  the  agency  and  the  just  judgments 
of  our  God  in  all  this,  and  would  humble  ourselves  before  him  with  the 
prayer — O  Lord,  in  wrath  remember  mercy !  spare  thy  people,  and  restore 
peace  in  all  our  borders ! 

Resolved,  2.  That  Friday,  June  28th,  be  appointed,  in  these  national 
and  solemn  relations,  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer  before 
God,  to  confess  our  sins,  to  supplicate  his  mercy  and  gracious  return  to 
us,  almighty  to  save;  and  especially  that  he  would  prepare  the  members 
of  both  houses  of  Congress,  so  soon  to  convene,  in  this  crisis  of  our  affairs, 
for  all  their  duties,  with  wisdom,  piety  and  patriotic  sincerity  of  devotion 
to  the  good  of  our  one  great  nation  ;  and  that  he  would  bless  our  Presi- 
dent and  his  Cabinet,  our  army  and  our  navy,  and  order  all  the  operations 
of  this  new  and  dreadful  war,  for  his  own  glory,  the  prosperity  of  his  own 
Zion,  and  the  ultimate  good  of  our  country  for  this  and  all  coming  ages. — ■ 
1861,  p.  464,  N.  S. 

7.  On  Account  of  the  Profanation  of  the  Sabbath. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  consider  the  measures  proper  to  be  adopted 
to  promote  the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  made  a  report,  which  being 
read  and  amended,  was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.: 

Resolved,  That  the  second  Thursday  of  November  next  be  and  it  hereby 
is  recommended  to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer 
on  account  of  the  sin  which  rests  upon  the  Church  and  on  the  whole  land 
by  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  ;  and  that  it  be  given  in  charge  to  all 
Synods  and  Presbyteries  in  our  connection,  to  take  such  order  on  this 
subject  as  may  be  most  effectual  in  securing  the  observance  of  that  day 
by  the  churches.— 1830,  p.  302. 

8.  For  the  Conversion  of  the  World. 

The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No.  11,  viz.:  "On  the 
appointment  of  a  day  of  jorayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,"  made  the 
following  report,  which  was  unanimously  adopted,  viz. : 

It  being  understood  that  Christians  and  churches,  both  in  this  country 
and  in  Europe,  have  at  different  times  desired  the  public  designation  of  a 
day  to  be  observed  by  all  Christians  throughout  the  world  as  a  day  of  last- 
ing and  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  whole  family 
of  man,  and  this  Assembly  being  deeply  impressed  with  the  iin[)ortance 
and  high  privilege  of  such  an  observance,  and  feeling  urged  and  encour- 
aged to  more  importunate  supplications  in  view  of  the  recent  revivals  of 


OF    FASTIXG   AXD    THANKSGIVING.  701 

religion  in  this  land,  as  well  as  the  signs  of  the  present  time  in  relation  to 
the  prospects  of  the  Church  in  other  nations,  therefore, 

Besolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  ministers  and  churches  under 
the  supervision  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  churches  in  correspondence  with  the  same, 
to  observe  the  first  Monday  in  January,  1833,  as  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer  for  the  divine  blessing  on  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  throughout 
the  world,  for  the  revival  of  religion  in  the  whole  of  Christendom,  and  for 
the  entire  success  of  those  benevolent  enterprises  which  have  for  their 
object  the  world's  conversion  to  God. 

Resolved,  That  other  denominations  of  Christians  in  the  United  States, 
and  the  Christian  churches  in  all  other  countries,  be,  and  they  hereby  are 
affectionately,  and  with  Christian  salutations,  invited  to  concur  in  the  ob- 
servance of  the  day  above  specified. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  published  with  the  signature  of  the 
moderator  and  clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  for  the  information  of  such 
Synods,  Assemblies,  Associations,  Conferences,  Conventions  and  other  ec- 
clesiastical bodies  as  may  choose  to  recommend  the  above  observance  to 
the  churches  under  their  care.  And  may  grace,  mercy  and  peace  be  mul- 
tiplied to  all  throughout  the  world  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. — 
1832,  p.  365. 

[See  also  minutes  of  1833,  pp.  397-399.  It  became  thenceforth  a  custom 
for  the  Assembly  to  designate  the  first  Monday  in  January  of  each  year 
as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  and  to  rec- 
ommend the  last  Thursday  in  February  as  a  day  of  prayer  for  colleges, 
theological  seminaries  and  other  institutions  of  learning.  See  minutes,  pas- 
shn.  Recently  the  "week  of  prayer"  has  taken  the  place  of  the  first  Mon- 
day, and  the  last  Thursday  in  January  been  substituted  for  the  last  in 
February .—1871,  p.  577.] 

9.  The  "Week  of  Prayer. — The  First  Entire  "Week  in  January. 

On  the  appointment  of  a  concert  of  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world. 

This  overture  is  based  upon  a  proposal  from  the  missionary  brethren 
of  Northern  India  to  observe  the  second  Monday  of  January;  1860,  and 
the  succeeding  week,  as  a  season  of  special  prayer  all  over  the  globe  for 
the  conversion  of  the  world.  This  General  Assembly  cordially  sympa- 
thize with  the  object  contemplated,  as  it  implies  the  desire  that  Christians 
everywhere  may  more  directly  regard  the  missionary  and  aggressive  cha- 
racter of  our  faith,  as  it  tends  to  call  forth  their  affections  toward  each 
other,  and  toward  a  perishing  world ;  and  especially  as  it  recognizes  the  great 
truth  of  our  dependence  upon  divine  power  for  the  success  of  the  gospel. 

We,  therefore,  recommend  to  the  churches  under  our  care  to  observe 
l!ie  time  thus  specified  in  such  manner  as  the  various  sessions  or  Presby- 
tei'ies  may  direct.     Adopted. — 1859,  p.  532,  O.  S. 

[See  also  1860,  p.  21,  O.  S;  1861,  p.  335,  O.  S. ;  1862,  p.  620,  O.  S. ; 
and  annually  to  1867.] 

In  1861,  p.  469,  the  Assembly,  N.  S.,  appointed  the  first  week  in  De- 
cember "  as  a  season  of  special  i:)rayer  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on 
our  congregations,  and  in  special  religious  services  calculated  to  edify  the 
saints,  and  lead  sinners  to  Christ."  In  1862,  p.  16,  the  Assembly  recom- 
mends "  that  another  week  of  prayer  be  observed  during  the  coming  eccle- 
siastical year ;  but  that  the  time  be  changed  so  as  to  correspond  with  that 
recommended  first  by  the  Lodiana  mission — the  first  entire  week  in 
January." 


702  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

[See  also  1863,  p.  277,  N.  S. ;  1864,  p.  462,  N.  S.,  and  annually  to  1869. 
The  custom  has  come  to  have  almost  the  force  of  law.] 

The  Assembly  renewed  the  following  recommendations  of  last  year : 
1.  The  observance  of  the  first  week  of  each  new  year,  as  a  special  sea- 
son of  united  suj^plicatiou  throughout  the  Christian  world,  has  already 
been  attended  and  followed  by  results  too  grand  to  allow  of  a  question  as 
to  its  claims  upon  our  churches. — 1872,  p.  94. 

V.  Public  notice  is  to  be  given  a  convenient  time  before  the  day 
of  fasting  or  thanksgiving  comes,  that  persons  may  so  order  their 
temporal  affairs,  that  they  may  properly  attend  to  the  duties  thereof. 

VI.  There  shall  be  public  worship  upon  all  such  days  :  and  let  the ' 
prayers,  psalms,  portions  of  Scripture  to  be  read,  and  sermons,  be  all 
in  a  special  manner  adapted  to  the  occasion. 

VII.  On  fast  days,  let  the  minister  point  out  the  authority  and 
providences  calling  to  the  observation  thereof;  and  let  him  spend  a 
more  than  usual  portion  of  time  in  solemn  prayer,  particular  confes- 
sion of  sin,  especially  of  the  sins  of  the  day  and  place,  with  their 
aggravations,  which  have  brought  down  the  judgments  of  heaven. 
And  let  the  whole  day  be  spent  in  deep  humiliation  and  mourning 
before  God. 

VIII.  On  days  of  thanksgiving,  he  is  to  give  the  like  information 
respecting  the  authority  and  providences  which  call  to  the  observance 
of  them ;  and  to  spend  a  more  than  usual  part  of  the  time  in  the 
giving  of  thanks,  agreeably  to  the  occasion,  and  in  singing  psalms  or 
hymns  of  praise. 

It  is  the  duty  of  people  on  these  days  to  rejoice  with  holy  gladness 
of  heart ;  but  let  trembling  be  so  joined  with  our  mirth,  that  no 
excess  or  unbecoming  levity  be  indulged. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  DIRECTORY  FOR  SECRET  AND  FAMILY  WORSHIP. 

I.  Besides  the  public  worship  in  congregations,  it  is  the  indispens- 
able duty  of  each  person,  alone,  in  secret;  and  of  every  family,  by 
itself,  in  private,  to  pray  to,  and  worship  God. 

II.  Secret  worship  is  most  plainly  enjoined  by  our  Lord.  In  this 
duty  every  one,  apart  by  himself,  is  to  spend  some  time  in  prayer, 
reading  the  Scriptures,  holy  meditation  and  serious  self-examination. 
The  many  advantages  arising  from  a  conscientious  discharge  of  these 
duties  are  best  known  to  those  who  are  found  in  the  iiiithful  discharge 
of  them. 


THE   DIRECTORY   FOR  SECRET   AND   FAMILY   WORSHIP,        703 

III.  Family-worship,  which  ought  to  be  performed  by  every  fam- 
ily, ordinarily,  morning  and  evening,  consists  in  prayer,  reading  the 
Scriptures,  and  singing  praises. 

IV.  The  head  of  the  family,  who  is  to  lead  in  this  service,  ought 
to  be  careful  that  all  the  members  of  his  household  duly  attend  ;  and 
that  none  withdraw  themselves  unnecessarily  from  any  part  of  family- 
worship;  and  that  all  refrain  from  their  common  business,  while  the 
Scriptures  are  read,  and  gravely  attend  to  the  same,  no  less  than 
W'hen  prayer  or  praise  is  ottered  up. 

V.  Let  the  heads  of  families  be  careful  to  instruct  their  children 
and  servants  in  the  principles  of  religion.  Every  proper  opportu- 
nity ought  to  be  embraced  for  such  instruction.  But  we  are  of  opin- 
ion, that  the  Sabbath-evenings,  after  public  worship,  should  be 
sacredly  preserved  for  this  purpose.  Therefore,  we  highly  disap- 
prove of  paying  unnecessary  private  visits  on  the  Lord's  day ;  admit- 
ting strangers  into  the  families,  except  when  necessity  or  charity 
requires  it ;  or  any  other  practices,  whatever  plausible  pretences  may 
be  offered  in  their  favor,  if  they  interfere  with  the  above  important 
and  necessary  duty. 

1.  Duties  of  Ministers  to  urge  Patnily  Religion. 

0.  [As  means]  "  to  revive  the  declining  power  of  godliness,  the  Synod 
do  earnestly  recommend  it  to  all  our  ministers  and  members  to  take  par- 
ticular care  about  ministerial  visiting  of  families,  and  press  family  and 
secret  worship,  according  to  the  Westminster  Directory;  and  that  they  also 
recommend  it  to  every  Presbytery,  at  proper  seasons  to  inquire  concern- 
ing the  diligence  of  each  of  their  members  in  such  particulars."  Unani- 
mously adopted. — 1733,  p.  105. 

b.  Tlie  Synod  do  not  only  renew  the  order,  but  earnestly  obtest  every 
of  our  brethren  of  the  ministry,  conscientiously  and  diligently  to  pursue 
the  good  design  thereof — 1734,  p.  107. 

c.  Let  heads  of  families  be  careful  to  instruct  their  children  and  those 
committed  to  their  care  in  the  great  principles  of  our  holy  religion.  Let 
their  morning  and  evening  sacrifices  be  daily  offered  up  in  their  families 
to  God.— 1799,  p.  178. 

d.  Parents,  train  your  children  in  the  "nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord  ;  your  houses  should  be  temples  of  the  living  God,  in  which  should 
ascend  to  his  mercy-seat  the  continual  incense  of  your  daily  sacrifices. 
Pious  parents  can  most  effectually  preach  to  the  hearts  of  their  children 
by  their  affectionate  precepts,  and  their  holy  example.  Your  instructions 
will  hest  prepare  them  to  receive  benefit  from  the  public  ordinances  of  re- 
ligion. And  oh  !  can  you  see  these  dearest  portions  of  yourselves  ready  to 
perish,  without  earnestly  reaching  forth  a  hand  to  pluck  them  as  brands 
from  the  burnings?" — 1804,  p.  316. 

e.  We  have  observed  with  pain,  that  in  some  Presbyteries  the  duties  of 
family  religion,  and  of  catechetical  instruction,  are  neglected.  Truly  it  is 
shameful  in  men,  who  call  themselves  by  the  name  of  Christ,  not  to  honor 
him  before  their  families,  by  worshiping  him  statedly.  Every  head  of  a 
family  is  responsible  for  all  its  members  to  God  and  his  country.     How 


704  THE   DIRECTORY   FOR   WORSHIP. 

can  lie  expect  to  fulfill  his  duty,  if  he  does  not  pray  for  and  with  them, 
and  instruct  them  from  the  word  of  God?  If  he  does  not  honor  God,  it 
cannot  be  expected  his  family  will.  And  a  Christian  family  living  with- 
out family  religion,  is  a  contradiction.  It  argues,  on  the  part  of  such  pro- 
fessors, an  awful  declension  and  a  criminal  dereliction  of  duty. — 1808,  p. 
402,  and  Minutes,  passim. 

2.  The  Evening  of  the  Lord's  Day  Especially  set  apart  for  Family 
Training. — The  Standards  need  no  Change  to  fit  them  to  the 
Present  Times. 

The  Committee  on  the  Polity  of  the  Church  have  had  under  considera- 
tion the  following  overture  from  the  Presbytery  of  Genesee  : 

Overture  of  the  Presbvtery  of  Genesee  to  the  General  Assembly  meet- 
ing at  Philadelphia,  May  21,  1863. 

We  petition  for  a  revision  of  the  Directory  for  Worship,  with  a  view 
to  the  following  points  : 

1.  To  reclaim  the  Sabbath  afternoon,  or  evening,  expressly  for  family 
instruction,  and  to  enforce  the  duty  of  parents. 

2.  To  give  a  constitutional  recognition  to  the  Sabbath-school,  as  a  cher- 
ished instrumentality  of  the  Church  for  the  nurture  of  her  own  youth,  and 
the  evangelization  of  others;  and  to  provide  that  the  time  appropriated  be 
ample,  as  esteeming  this  to  be  a  cardinal  means  of  grace. 

3.  To  restrict  its  assemblies,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  to  one  part  of  the 
day,  so  as  to  avoid  trenching  upon  the  time  appropriated  to  the  paramount, 
duties  of  parents. 

4.  To  secure  to  the  pastor,  unequivocally,  as  the  divinely-appointed 
teacher  of  the  lambs  of  the  flock,  the  prerogative,  and  hold  him  to  the 
responsibility,  of  presidency  over  the  school,  with  provision  for  a  vice- 
president  or  superintendent,  to  serve  in  the  absence  of  the  pastor. 

5.  To  recognize  the  church  session  as  invested  with  authority,  and  re- 
sponsible for  the  details  of  the  organization,  the  appointment  and  removal 
of  teachers,  and  the  whole  government  of  the  school. 

6.  To  provide  for  such  a  system  of  distinctive  instruction  as  will  secure 
to  our  youth  a  thorough  training,  not  only  in  the  doctrines  of  grace,  but 
in  the  principles  of  order  which  the  Scriptures  set  forth,  and  keep  con- 
tinually before  their  minds  the  burden  of  baptismal  obligations,  and  the 
value  of  covenant  privileges,  as  sealed  to  the  children  of  God's  i:>eople. 

The  Committee  recommeud,  that  the  Assembly  reply  to  the  above  over- 
ture as  follows : 

The  matters,  in  view  of  which  the  Presbytery  of  Genesee  ask  a  revision 
of  the  Directory  for  Worship,  are  mainly  such  that,  according  to  our  Con- 
stitution, it  is  already  competent  to  every  church  to  regulate  them  for  it- 
self, agreeably  to  its  own  views  of  what  will  Ix^st  promote  its  growth  and 
spiritual  welfare. 

The  Directory  for  Worship  expresses  the  opinion  of  the  Church,  that 
the  evenings  of  the  Lord's  day,  after  public  worship,  should  be  sacredly 
reserved  for  the  religious  instruction  of  children  by  their  parents.  (See 
chap.  XV.,  sec.  v.) 

The  Sunday-school,  like  all  the  religious  institutions  and  agencies  of 
each  individual  church,  is,  and  ought  to  be,  under  the  watch  and  care  of 
the  session ;  and  should  be  regarded,  not  as  superseding,  but  as  co-oper- 
ating with,  the  entire  system  of  jiastoral  instruction,  tlie  responsibilities  of 
which  it  should  not  in  any  manner  diminish. 

There  is  nothing  in  our  Constitution  which  prescribes  the  number  of 
public  services  to  be  held  on  the  Lord's  day,  or  which  restrains  any  church 


THE   DIEECTORY   FOR  SECRET  AND   FAMILY  WORSHIP.         705 

from  appropriating  to  the  Sunday-school  such  a  portion  of  the  day  as  may 
seem  to  them  desirable. 

The  peculiar  position  of  baptized  children  as  members  of  the  church, 
to  be,  as  members,  trained  in  all  Christian  virtues  and  duties,  is  so  ex- 
pressly set  forth  in  our  standards,  that  no  revision  of  them  could  present 
it  with  greater  clearness,  or  in  a  more  authoritative  form.  (See  Confes- 
sion, chap.  XXV.,  sec.  ii.;  Larger  Catechism,  ques.  166;  Form  of  Govern- 
ment, chap,  ii.,  sees,  ii.,  iv.;  Book  of  Discipline,  chap,  i.,  sec.  vi.;  Direc- 
tory for  Worship,  chap,  ix.,  sees,  i.-iii.) 

The  Assembly,  therefore,  judge  that  no  necessity  demands  the  revision 
which  is  asked  for,  and  simply  recommend  to  the  churches  to  conform 
their  ideas  and  usages  to  our  own  standards. — 1863,  pp.  240,  241,  N.  S. 

3.  Catechetical  Instruction  Enjoined  on  Parents, 

It  was  unanimously — 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  hereby  most  earnestly  remind  parents  and 
others  of  the  duty  of  catechising  children  and  youth,  and  enjoin  this  duty 
upon  them,  as  one  whose  performance  no  instruction  that  children  receive 
in  the  Sabbath-school  or  elsewhere,  outside  the  family,  can  supersede  or 
Bupply.— ]870,  p.  123. 

89 


INDEX. 


Abbot,  C.  J.,  Case  of,  518,  559. 
Ability  of  Will,  218,  226,  228,  309. 
Absence  of  Accused,  505-510,  563. 

of  Appellant,  583-586,  595. 

of  Records,  557,  570,  590,  591,  595. 

of  Testimony,  590. 

of  Papers,  590,  591. 
Absent  Parties,  Trial  of,  506-510. 

Rights  of,  520,  521,  523. 

Church  Members,  625-627. 
Absentees  from  Church  Courts,  194, 198, 199. 

from  Ordinances,  493,  494,  569,  bio,  62o, 
626. 
Abstinence,  Total,  486,  487. 

from  Ardent  Spirits,  301,  484,  485. 
Accused,  Arraignment  of,  501. 

Absence  of,  505,  506-510,_563. 

Conference  with,  503,  525. 

Citation  of,  118,  501,  503,  510,  524. 

Counsel  for,  505,  507,  513,  570,  581,  584. 

Rights  of,  502-511,  513,  517,  519,  523, 

Accuser  in  Judicial  Cases,  Individual,  500, 
521. 
Common  Fame,  118,  208,  500,  521,  529, 

540,  541,  563,  568. 
Duties  of,  502,  522. 
Actual  Process,  500-517. 
Adam,  Sin  of,  220,  227,  229. 

Man's  Relation  to,  227-229. 
Adams,  William,  685,  686. 
Administration  of  Baptism,  658-667. 

OF  Lord's  Supper,  667-671. 
Admission  to  Sealing  Ordinances,  671- 

678. 
Admonition  to  Accuser,  500. 

to  the  Court,  208,  538,  562,  569. 
Jiidicial,  127,  192,  222,  496,  512,  525, 
546,  574,  589. 
Adopting  Act,  46,  47. 
Adoption  of  the  Standards,  45,  51,  52. 

Required,  54,  57. 
Adultery,  682-685. 
Affinity,  Degrees  of,  685-693. 

Elective',  135,  231. 
Age  of  Infancy,  658,  664,  665,  691. 
Agency  of  the  Spirit,  224,  228,  230,  319. 

Moral,  218,  226,  228,  309. 
Agreement  of  Parties,  417,  420. 
Almsgiving,  316. 
Alternates,  131,  466-468. 
Amendments  of  the  Confession,  327,  328. 
of  the  Constitution,  51,  325,  330. 
to  Motions,  206. 
Amusements,  476-480. 
Andrews,  Edward,  169,  544. 
Andrews,  Josiali  B.,  589. 


Apostles'  Creed,  671. 
Appeals,  Of,  548-593. 

Distinguished  from  Complaint,  548. 

Who  may  Appeal,  548. 

Subjects  of,  548-552. 

Postponement  of,  512,  558-560,  585,  591. 

Sequence  of,  555,  556,  603. 

Bar  to,  557-560. 

Limitation  of  time  to,  552,  553,  557, 

595 
Order  of  Issuing,   552,   560-566,   569, 

570. 
The  Decision,  567-583._ 
Abandonment  of,  583-586. 
Protest  on,  583-585. 
Who  may  Vote,  579,  586,  607. 
Operation  of,  589,  590. 
Duty  of  Judicatory  in,  590,  591. 
Duty  of  Appellant,  552,  554,  557,  583. 
Original  Parties  in,  552,  563,  580,  592, 
Informalities  in,  551-556. 
Personal  Attendance,  584-586,  595. 
Appellant,  Rights  of,  511. 
Spirit  of,  589. 
Abbott,  C.  J.,  518,  559. 
Adams,  William,  685,  686. 
Andrews,  Josiah  B.,  589. 
Arthur,  William,  505,  571. 
Atwater,  James,  571. 
Baldwin,  C.  H.,  585. 
Barnes,  Albert,  226,  227,  588-592. 
Bell,  Beniamin,  553,  557. 
Bell,  Joseph  E.,  566,  570. 
Bergen,  Church  of,  553. 
Birch,  Thomas  L.,  151,  549,  550. 
Bloomington,  Church  of,  498. 
Bourne,  George,  496,  555,  567. 
Boyd,  Samuel,  521. 
Bradford,  Thomas,  572,  582. 
Breckinridge,  Robert  J.,  et  al.,  596. 

Bushnell,  Pope,  590. 

Chamberlain,  Hiram,  572. 

Council,  Joseph,  150,  420. 

Cooperstown,  Church  at,  556. 

Craighead,  Thos.  B.,  223,  226,  554,  577, 
583. 

Cross,  A.  B.,  588. 

Davis,  Wm.  C,  191. 

Davis,  R.  ^i.,  585. 

Dobbins,  Robert  B.,  572. 

Frazer,  A.  G.,  534. 

Frazer,  Alexander,  493,  563,  567. 

Gordon,  Alexander,  493,  567. 

Gordon,  John,  568. 

Hamilton,  Duncan,  et  ux.,  559. 

Hawes,  Newton,  572,  584. 

Hill,  Maria,  564. 

Hotchkiss,  G.  A.,  493. 

Hummer,  Michael,  550. 

707 


(08 


INDEX. 


Hudson,  Presbytery  of,  540. 

Loekwood,  L.  K.,  554,  565. 

Lowrey,  Samuel,  123,  533,  554,  560,  570. 

McCalla,  ^\m.  L.,  522. 

JIcQueen,  Archibald,  688. 

JIartin,  John  W.,  558. 

Mitiiinsburg,  Church  of,  565,  600. 

Miller,  Silas,  552,  567. 

Price,  David,  127,  496. 

Rice,  Matt.  II.,  555. 

Kockafeller,  et  al.,  552. 

Bollins,  John,  581. 

Sheldon,  George,  685. 

Skinner,  John,  574. 

Snodgrass,  James,  585. 

Spillman,  J.  H.,  502. 

Taylor,  James,  585. 

Tocld,  John,  576. 

Turbitt,  John,  556,  560. 

Wilson,  Joshua  L.,  et  al.,  592. 

Worrell,  T.  F.,  533,_5_68,  580. 

Yale,  Charles,  553,  556. 
Ardent  Spirits,  Abstinence  from,  484,  485. 

Manufacture  of,  487,  495. 

Traffic  in,  487,  490-495,  675. 
Arianism,  308. 
Anninianism,  308. 
Assembly,  Genekal,  Of  the,  200-336. 

Mode  of  Dissolving,  332. 
Atonement  of  Christ,  227,  230. 
Austin,  David,  160. 
Authority  of  Confession,  54. 

of  Jsotes  on,  52. 


Balch,  Hezekiah,  220-222. 

Baldwin,  C.  H.,  585. 

Baptism,  Adjuxistkation  of,  658-667. 

Who  may  Baptize,  658,  659. 

Romish  Baptism,  660-663. 

Subjects  of,  61)3-665. 

Formula  of,  666. 

Mode  of,  667. 

of  Adults,  129,_130,  677,  678. 

of  a  (Juaker,  677. 

on  a  General  Profession,  677. 
Baptized,  Care  over,  671. 

Relation  of,  to  the  Church,  497,  644, 
665,  671. 

Discipline  of,  671,  672. 

Instruction  of,  640-645,  671,  673. 
Barnes,  Albert,  226,  227,  544,  545. 
Beecher,  Wm.  II.,  576,  606. 
Bell,  Benjamin,  553,  557. 
Bell,  Joseph  E.,  566,  570. 
Benevolence  and  Finance,  455. 
Betting,  301,  480. 
Bigamy,  682,  683. 
Bills  and  Overtures,  Com.  of,  213. 
Birch,  Thomas  L.,  151,  549,  550. 
Bisuors  OK  Pastoks,  112-114. 
Board  of  Education,  353-364. 

Charters  of,  354,  355,  359,  360. 

Constitution,  356-358. 

Rules  of,  361-363. 
Board  of  :Missions,  423,  424. 
of  Home  Missions,  426-430. 
Charters  of,  425,  427-430. 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  430^33. 
Constitution  of,  430. 
Charters  of,  432,  433. 


Board  of  Publication,  433,  4tl. 

Charter  of,  441. 
Board  of  Church  Erection,  442^4^. 
Plan  of,  443-447. 
Charters,  447,  448. 
BOOK  OF  DISCIPLINE,  475-629. 
Chap.  I.,  Sec.  1.,  II.,  III.,  475-495. 
IV.,  495. 
"        "  v.,  495-496. 

"        "       VI.,  VII.,  497. 
Chap.  II.,  Sec.  I.,  II.,  III.,  497-498. 

IV.,  v.,  498. 
Chap.  III.,  Sec.  I.-VI.,  499. 
Chap.  IV.,  Sec.  I.-IV.,  500. 

v.,  501. 
VI.,  VII.,  502. 
"  "  VIII.,  502, 503. 

"  "  IX.,  X.,  503, 504. 

"  "  XI.,  XII.,  505, 506. 

"  "  XIII.,  506-510. 

XIV.,  XV.,  510,  511. 
"  "  XVI.,  511, 512. 

XVIL,  512,  513. 
XVIII.,  513. 
"       XIX.,  XX.,  513. 
"  "    XXL,  XXIL,  513,  514. 

"  "  XXIIL,  515-517. 

Chap,  v..  Sec.  L,  IL,  517-519. 

"        "  III.,  519,520. 

"        "  IV.,  520, 521. 

"        "  v.,  VI.,  521. 

«        "  VII.,  522-524. 

"        "    VIIL,  IX.,  524,  525. 
"        "       X.-XIV.,  525. 
"        "    XV.,  XVI.,  526-528. 
"        "  XVIL,  528. 

Chap.  VI.,  Sec.  L,  IL,  528. 

"  "  III.-VL,  529. 

"  "  VII.-IX.,  530. 

"  "  X.-XV.,  531. 

"  "     XVI.,  XVIL,  532. 

Chap.VII.,Sec.I.,IL,  532-534. 

"  "     Sixb-Sec.  I.,  534-536. 

"  "  "         II.,537. 

"  "  "       III.,  537-540. 

"  "  "IV.,V.,540. 

"  "  "       VL,  541, 542. 

"    Sec.  II.,  Sub-Sec.     I.,  542, 543. 
«  "  "  IL,  543, 544. 

«  "  "  III.,  IV.,  544, 545. 

"  "  "     V.,VI.,  545, 546. 

«  "       •    "  VII.,VIII.,546. 

'<  "  "  IX.,  547. 

"  Sec.III.,Sub-Sec.I.,II.,548. 
"        "  "  III.,  548-552. 

«        "  "  IV.,V.,  552-554. 

«        <<  "  VL,  55.5-557. 

<<        '<  "  VII.,  557-560. 

<<        '<  "  VIIL,  560-565. 

«        "  "  IX.,  566, 567. 

"        "  "  X.,  567-583. 

"        '<  "  XL,  583-586. 

«        "  "  X I L,  586-588. 

"        "  "  XIIL, 588,589. 

"        "  "  XIV.,XV.,589,590. 

«        "  "  XVL,590,591. 

«        "  "         XVIL,  592, 593. 

"  Sec.  IV.,  Sub-Sec.     L,  593,  594. 
«        «'  "  IL,  594-602. 

«        "  "        III.,  602-605. 

«         "  "         IV.,  605, 606. 

a        «  "  v.,  606, 607. 


INDEX. 


709 


Chap.  VII.,  Sec.  IV.,  Siib-Sec.VI.,  VII.,  607. 
Chap.  VIII.,  Sec.  I.,  007. 

II.,  608. 
"  "  III.,  608,  609. 

IV.,  609. 
"  "  v.,  610. 

"     VI.-VIIL,  610-611. 
Chap.  IX.,  Sec.         I.,  611-613. 
"     II.-V.,  613. 
"  "         VI.,  614,  615. 

"       VII.,  616. 
Chap.  X.,  Sec.     I.,  616,  617. 
"      II.,  617-620. 
"    III.,  620,  621. 
"     IV.,  622. 
Chap.  XI.,  Sec.     I.,  622-625. 
"      II.,  625. 
"     III.,  625-627. 
"  "     IV.,  627,  628. 

"  "       v.,  628,  629. 

Boundaries  of  Synods,  71,  92,  182-188. 

of  Presbyteries,  71,  92. 
Bourne,  George,  496,  518,  527,  543,  555,  567. 
Boyd,  Samuel,  521,  567. 
Burial  of  the  Dead,  695. 
Bushnell,  Pope,  590. 


Call,  Form  of  a,  405,  406. 
how  Subscribed,  409. 
how  to  Prosecute,  409,  416,  417. 
Candidates,  Of  Licensing,  352-402. 
Examination  of,  310,  361,  366,  397,  398. 
must  Adopt  Standards,  46,  49,  411. 
be  Liberally  Educated,  310,  366,  369. 
Time  of  Study,  398,  399. 
When  Eeceived,  361,  365,  366. 
by  What  Presbytery,  364. 
by  wliom  Licensed,  145,  364,  365. 
Trials  for  Licensure,  397,  398. 
Licensure  of,  399. 
Transfer,  400. 
Card  Playing,  477-480. 
Casting  Vote,  142,  204,  460. 
Catechisms,  Adopted,  45,  48,  51. 

Part  of  the  Standards,  55,  56,  91. 
to  be  Taught,  56,  642,  671,  673,  703. 
Standard  Copy,  56. 
Heidelburg,  56. 
Caiition  in  Receiving  Chai'ges,  500. 
Censure,  Church,  Mode  of  Inflict- 
ing, 678-681. 
Admonition,  127, 192,  222,  496,  512,  525, 

546,  574,  589. 
Suspension,  116,  160,  493,  501,  524,  556, 

565,  566,  568,  570,  571,  679,  687,  688. 
Deposition,  148,  159,  161,  496,  518,  525, 

550,  556,  560,  567,  576,  581,  684,  685. 
Excommunication,   128,  494,  502,  512, 

527,  556,  568,  571,  575,  581,  679,  680, 

687. 
Without  Trial,  494,  501,  502,  511,  524, 

573,  581. 
Without  Citation,  501,  510,  524. 
Disproportionate,  496,  569,  573,  574. 
Unconstitutional,    192,   537,   571,   572, 

573,  575. 
of  Informants,  498. 
of   Lower   Courts,   151,  502,  505,  511, 

515,  516,  537-540,  549,  553,  555,  575, 

588,  589,  591. 


Censure,  Removal  of,  159,  504,  512,  526,  573, 
527,  571,  581,  680,  681. 

must  be  Recorded,  537,  560. 
Certificate  of  Good  Standing,  130,  622,  625. 

of  Dismission,  351,  493,  569,  622,  625. 

Return  of  Unvised,  124,  352. 
Chairman  of  Committee,  206. 
Challenge  of  Witnes.ses,  529. 
Chaplains,  164,  165. 

Charge  at  Ordination,  etc.,  346, 348, 412, 418. 
Charges,  Tabling  of,  .501,  503,  524,  541. 

must  be  specific,  502,  503,  577. 
Charter  of  Trustees  of  the  Assembly,  333- 
335. 

of  Board  of  Education,  354,  355,  359, 
360. 

of  Board  of  Home  Missions,  425,  427- 
430. 

of  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  432,  433. 

of  Board  of  Publication,  441. 

of  Board  of  Church  Erection,  447,  448. 

of  Presbyterian  House,  456. 
Charters,  Church,  Of,  108,  109. 
Children,  Instruction  of,  640-645,  671,  673. 
Christ,  Offices  of,  309,  310. 

Righteousness  of,  221,  228-230. 
Church,  Of  the,  107-111. 

Members  of,  107,  108,  109. 

Organization  of,  107,  108,  172. 

Officers  of  the,  112-119. 

Ordinances  in  a,  120. 

Government    and    Judicatories, 
120-123. 

Relation  to  the  State,  121,  122,  276. 

Collegiate,  127,  138. 

Censures,  120,  678-680. 

Confessious,  129,  .542. 

Withdrawal  of  a,  172. 

Dissolution  of  a,  172. 
Church  Psalmist,  650,  651. 

Charters,  108,  109. 

Bethuel,  674. 
Citation,  How  Attested,  502. 

of  Accused,  118,  501,  503,  510,  524. 

of  Witnesses,  501,  502,  519,  524. 

of  Congregation,  416,  417,  419. 

of  Judicatories,  525,  541. 

Second,  503,  504,  505,  525,  578. 
Civil  War,  The,  235-245. 
Clapp,  Theodore,  112,  160. 
Clerks,  Of,  461,  512. 

Duties  of,  206,  461.  502. 

of  the  Assembly,  208-211. 
Collins,  Aaron  C,  526. 
Commencement  of  Process,  141, 501, 524, 541 , 
Commission,  Form  of,  468. 

Absence  of,  202,  469,  470. 

Irregularities  in,  469,  470. 
Commissions,  Committee  on,  202,  463. 

Judicial,  521,  564,  565,  567. 

for  Taking  Testimony,  520,  531. 
Commissioners  to  the   General  As- 
sembly, 462-474. 

Ratio  of,  211,  212. 

When  Elected,  463. 

Irregularity  in  Electing,  463,  464. 

Attenthmce  of,  465. 

Alternates,  466-468. 

from  New  Presbyteries,  465,  466. 

Excluded  Pending  Action,  277, 332, 525. 

Expelled,  277,  278. 

Fund,  470-474. 
Committee,  How  Appointed,  205. 


710 


INDEX. 


Committee,  Chairman  of,  206. 

of  Prosecution,  208. 
Committees,  Standing,  viz. : 

on  Elections,  202,  463,  464,  469. 
on  Commissions,  202. 
on  Bills  and  Overtures,  213. 
on  Judicial,  208,  214,  564. 
on  Polity  of  the  Church,  214. 
on  Home  Missions,  214. 
on  Foreign  Missions,  214. 
on  Education,  214. 
on  Publication,  214. 
,  on  Church  Erection,  214. 

on  Theological  Seminaries,  214. 
on  Ministerial  Relief,  214. 
on  Freedmen,  214. 
on  Sustentation,  214. 
on  Corresijondence,  214. 
on  Benevolence,  455. 
on  ilileage,  216. 
on  Finance,  216. 
on  Narrative,  214. 
on  Devotional  Exercises,  216. 
on  Leave  of  Absence,  215. 
Committees,  Permanent,  viz. : 

on  Ministerial  Relief,  448-451. 
on  Home  Missions  for  Freedmen,  451, 
452. 
Committees  on  Reunion,  60,  67,  00. 
Reports  of,  61-65,  67-77,  90-94. 
Common  Fame,  118,  497,  518,  529,  565,  568. 
Prosecutions  under,  208,  500,  521,  540, 
541,  563,  593. 
Communion,  Admission  to,  671-678. 

Exclusion  from,  481,  503,  512,  527,  679. 
Terms  of,  44,  307,  487,  495. 
Competency  of  Witnesses,  528. 
(,'OM  PLAINTS,  Of,  593-607. 

Distinguished  from  Appeals,  593,  594. 
How  Brouu'ht,  593,  609. 
Order  of  Issuing,  522,  560. 
■yVhat  is  a  Complaint,  594. 
By  Whom  Brought,  594-606,  609. 
Subjects  of,  595,  602-605. 
Notice  to  be  Given,  605. 
Effect  of,  606. 
Dismissed,  59^-602. 
Cases  of,  viz. : 
Baird,  James  H.,  et  al.,  351. 
Birch,  Thomas  L.,  151,  549,  550. 
Bird,  Thompson,  684. 
Beecher,  Wm.  H.,  et  al.,  576,  606. 
Breckinridge,  R.  J.,  ct  al.,  405,  596. 
Carson,  W.^P.,  420,  600. 
Cathcart,  Robert,  592. 
Church  at  New  Orleans,  160. 
7th  Cincinnati,  5()4,  573. 
5th  Philadelphia,  582. 
Park,  596. 
Clark,  J.  T.,  et  al.,  338. 
Cochran,  John,  553,  556. 
Council,  Joseph,  150. 
Cook,  Charles  .J.,  595. 
Cowan,  Alex.  U.,  580,  603. 
Davidson,  J.  W.,  et  al.,  522. 
Dobbins,  Rol)ert  P..,  572,  623. 
Duftield,  (jeorge,  151. 
Farris,  Robert  P.,  601. 
Finley,  Roberts.,  ctal.,  514,  575,  587, 

592! 
Fislier,  James  P.,  605. 
Green,  Ashl)el,  115. 
Guild,  William  B.,  193,  350,  514. 


Complaints,    Cases    of,    Guy.    Alexander, 
601. 
Hindman,  Francis,  144, 501,  549,  612. 
Houston,  Samuel,  et  al.,  584. 
Hynes,  T.  W.,  et  al.,  343. 
Irvine,  D.  W.,  601. 
Junkin,  George,  516. 
Kern,  Christopher,  et  al.,  580. 
Kirkpatrick,  J.,  516. 
Knox,  Franklin,  577. 
Livelev,  W.  M.,  585. 
McDowell,  W.  S.,  192. 
Mclver,  Colin,  et  al.,  596,  605.  688. 
McPheeters,  S.  B.,  174. 
Mack,  John,  511,  524. 
McKinnej^,  D.,  et  al.,  556. 
McQueen,  Archibald,  596. 
Metcalf,  A.  D.,  et  al,  548. 
Miller,  Alexander,  524. 
Monfort,  J.  G.,  591. 
Nevin,  Alfred,  et  al.,  344,  345,  558. 
Nichols,  S.  J.,  601. 
Perkins,  W.,  et  al.,  574. 
Rice,  M.  H.,  555. 
Russell,  James,  591,  600. 
Sawyer,  E.  N.,  et  al.,  685. 
Shepherd,  Smiley,  172,  591. 
Smiley,  James,  561,  562,  579,  615. 
Smith,  J.  Y.,  338. 
Strong,  George  P.,  et  al.,  558. 
Tiirbitt,  John,  603. 
West,  Nathaniel,  493,  569,  627. 
V/heeler,  Edwin,  et  al.,  558. 
White,  W.  M.,  556. 
Presbytery  of  Blairsville,  341. 
of  Carlisle,  512,  573. 
of  Oxford,  511. 
of  Philadelphia  3d,  557. 
of  Cincinnati,  564. 
of  St.  Clairsville,  600. 
Synod  of  Kentucky,  563. 
Concurrent  Declarations,  92. 
Confession  of  Faith,  Authority  of,  54,  96. 
Adopted,  45,  51,  96. 
Mode  of  Adopting,  47,  50,  91. 
How  Amended,  326-328. 
of  Guilt,  Effect  of,  525. 
of  Heresy,  128,  505. 
Congregation,  Vacant,  461,  462,  528. 
Organization  of,  107,  108,  173. 
Transfer  of,  175,  187,  188. 
Consanguinitv,  Degrees  of,  685-693. 
Conscience,  Rights  of,  43,  44,  48,  276,  306. 
Consent  of  Parties,  417,  564,  565. 
Constitution,  Adopted,  51,  52. 
How  Amended,  325-329. 
Notes  to,  52. 
Constitutional  Rules,  325. 
Continuance  of  Case,  585. 
Contumacious  Acts,  120,  504,  532,  578. 
Contumacv,  503-505,  525,  571,  578. 

Proceedings  in,  504,  505.  506-510,  525. 
Conversion,  Agency  of  the  Spirit,  224,  228, 
230,  319. 
Evidence  of,  49. 
Correction  of  Error,  533. 

of  Records,  535. 
Correspondence,  267,  268-270. 

between  O.  S.  and  N.  S.,  56-61. 

with  New  England  Churches,  268,  270. 

with   Southern  Presbyterian  Church, 

273-275. 
Committee  on,  214. 


INDEX. 


711 


Corresponding  Bodies,  276,  277. 
Members  of  Session,  124. 
of  Presbytery,  180. 
of  Synod,  191,  198. 
of  Assembly,  212,  213. 
Counsel  for  Accused,  505,  507,  513,  570,  581, 
584. 
for  Complainant,  etc.,  514,  552. 
Eiglits  of,  514. 

Professional,  Excluded,  513,  514. 
Covenant  of  Worlis,  222. 
of  Grace,  218,  219. 
Church,  129,  542. 
Craighead,  Thomas  B.,  223-226,  503,  526, 

577,  583,  586. 
Credibility  of  Witnesses,  528,  529. 
Critical  Exercise,  398. 
Cross,  John,  416. 

Cross-Examination  of  Witnesses,  530. 
Cumberland  Presbyterians,  660. 


Dancing,  301,  476-480. 

Schools,  477. 
Davis,  William  C,  191,  192,  222,  223,  677. 
Day,  Dr.  S.  F.,  351. 
Deacons,  Of,  118,  119. 

Electing  and  Ordaining  of,  108,  337- 
352. 
Death  of  Respondent,  548. 
Decision,  Judicial,  567-583. 
must  be  Respected,  539. 
Confirms  the  Court  below,  115, 150, 174, 
344,  420,  493,  494,  521,  522,  552,  567, 
568,  614,  667,  684,  685,  688. 
Confirms  in  Part,  192, 339, 549,  567,  573, 

674,  581,  589. 
Eeverses,  123,  226,  351,  403,  493,  496, 

505,  563,  568,  571,  572,  581. 
Reverses  in  Part,  339,  569,  570,  573, 

574. 
Remits  for  New  Trial,  563,  576,  612, 

614. 
Remits,  with  Instructions,  226,  512, 518, 
519,  527,  554,  576,  577,  579,  580,  603, 
604,  687. 
Sustains  pro  forma,  193,  339,  350,  523, 

572  574. ' 
Dismisses,'  173,  420,  551-553,  557,  558, 

583_,  584,  596,  600,  605,  606. 
Dismisses,  without  Prejudice,  555,  601. 
Dismisses,  witli  Leave,  498,  502,  554, 

580,  586. 
Postpones,  for  Records,  etc.,  512,  558, 

591. 
Postpones,  by  Request,  559,  560,  585. 
Remands,  555,  556,  588. 
Leave  to  Withdraw,  558,  561,  593,  596, 

601,  604. 
Suspends,  in  Absence,  etc.,  561. 
Restores  the  Censured,  568,  571,  582. 
Declaration  of  Trust,  458. 

and  Testimony,  604. 
Decrees,  Divine,  219. 
Deliverances,  On  Doctrine,  218-230. 
on  Moral  Questions,  475-482. 
on  Temperance,  483-492. 
on  State  of  the  Countiy,  235-245. 
Demission  of  the  Ministry,  162,  165-169, 

605. 
Deposition  from  the  Ministry,  148, 159,  496, 


518,  525,  550,  556,  560,  567,  576,  581, 
684,  685. 
Deposed,  Standing  of,  527,  528. 

Restoration  of,  159,  496,  518,  526,  527, 

556,  576. 
Ministrations  of,  660. 
Jurisdiction  over,  518, 526, 527, 571, 618. 
Publication  of,  161,  528. 
Desecration  of  Sabbath,  322-325,  633,  639, 
Desertion,  Willful,  683-685. 
Devotional  Exercises,  Committee  on,  216. 
Digest,  3-6. 

DIRECTORY  FOR  WORSHIP,  631-705. 
Chap.  I.,  Sec,  L,  631-633. 

"        "  II.,  633-639, 

"     III.-VL,  639-645, 
Chap.  II.,  Sec.  I.,  II.,  646. 
Chap.  III.,  Sec.  I.-IIL,  646,  647, 
Chap.  IV.,  Sec,  I.,  647-651, 

"  "  II.,  651-654, 

"   III.,  IV.,  654. 
Chap,  v..  Sec.  I.-IV,,  655,  656. 
Chap.  VI.,  Sec,      I.,  II.,  657. 
"    III,-VI.,  658. 
Chap.  VII.,  Sec.  I.,  658-663, 

"     II.,  III.,  663-666. 
"  "  IV.,  666. 

"  v.,  667. 

Chap.  VIII.,  Sec.  I.,  667,  668. 

"   II.-IV.,  668, 669, 
"    V,,  VI.,  669-671, 
Chap.  IX.,  Sec,  I.,  671-674, 

"  "      IL,  III.,  674-677, 

"  "  IV.,  677,678, 

Chap,  X.,  Sec.    I,-VIIL,  678-681, 
Chap.  XL,  Sec,        I.,  II.,  681,  682. 
"  "  III.,  682-691. 

"   IV.-VIIL,  691-693. 
Chap.  XII.,  Sec.  I.-X.,  694,  695. 
Chap.  XIII.,  Sec.  L,  IL,  695. 
Chap.  XIV.,  Sec.      I.-IV.,  696-701. 
V.-VIIL,  702. 
Chap.  XV.,  Sec.  I.-V.,  702-705. 
DISCIPLINE,  BOOK  OF,  475-629. 

General  Peinciples  op,  475-497. 
Discretion  of  Courts,  151,  419,  505,  550,  597. 
Not  Subject  to  Review,  533,  580. 
Years  of,  674. 
Dismission,  Letter  of,  Efiect,  351,  352,  617, 
619,  625,  627. 
of  Ministers,  150-154,  588. 
of  Communicants,  622,  623,  626. 
of  a  Suspended  Member,  623. 
by  a  Committee,  154,  155. 
Return  of,  352. 
Dissent  and  Protest,  607-611. 

Dissolution  of  Pastoral  Relations,  417, 

419-421. 
of  the  Assembly,  332. 
Divorce,  494,  682, 

Grounds  of,  683, 
Divorced,  Marriage  of,  684,  685, 
Doctrinal  Purity,  Letter  on,  306-313. 
Doctrine,  Deliverances  on,  218-232. 
Dueling  and  Duelists,  481,  675. 
Duflield,  George,  151. 
Dushane,  Anthony,  686. 

E 

Education  for  the  Ministry,  353-399. 
Board  of,  353-364. 


712 


INDEX. 


Education,  Committee  of,  355,  356. 
Liberal,  Required,  366,  367. 

Waived,  368,  369. 
Popular,  Perils  of,  278-280. 
Elders,  Ruling,  Of,  114-118. 
Care  in  Choosing,  311. 
Election  of,  108,  115,  337-352. 
Electors  of,  341,  342. 
Disuse  of  Office  of,  170,  231. 
Installation  of,  346-348. 
Office  of,  Perpetual,  112,  348. 
Ordination  of,  108,  124,  337-352. 
Mav  Cease  to  Act,  125,  171,  349,  350. 
Rffusiuij  to  Act,  125. 
Qualitications  of,  311,  337,  339,  340. 
Rule   Only  Where  Elected,  115,  123, 

124,  337,  339,  340. 
Rights  and  Duties  of,  115-117, 124, 131, 

139,  140,  170,  462,  663. 
Term  of  Service,  342,  345-349. 
Without  Charge,  115,  349. 
Suspended,  116. 
Restored,  116. 
EldersliiiJ  Essential,  115. 
Electing  and  Ordaining  Elders  and 

Deacons,  337-352. 
Election  and  Ordination  of  Pastors, 
etc.,  403-415. 
Wlio  may  Call,  338,  403. 
Election  of  Moderator  of  Assembly,  202. 

of  Trustees  of,  334,  335. 
Election,  Decree  of,  219,  227,  229. 
Elective  Affinitv,  135,  231. 
Electors  of  Elders  and  Deacons,  341,  342. 

of  Pastors,  404,  405. 
Error  in  Decision,  575,  576. 
Correction  of,  533,  586. 
in  Records,  how  Amended,  535. 
Evangelists,  Ordination  of,  231,  412^15. 
Evidence  under  Oath,  531,  579. 

the  Best  Required,  533,  560,  561. 
of  Notice  of  Appeal,  552-554. 
of  Complaint,  605,  606. 
Evil  Reports,  Spreading  of,  498. 
Examination  of  Candidates,  310,  361,  366, 
397,  398. 
of  Ministers,  150-153. 
Exceptions  to  Records  of  Synod,  viz. : 

Albany,  157,  180,  197,  198,  538,  539, 

609. 
Arkansas,  189,  198. 
Buffalo,  119,  193. 
Cincinnati,  192,  193,  195,  198,  536,  537, 

538,  566. 
Columbus,  131,  194,  197. 
Genesee,  128,  192,  587. 
Geneva,  140,  161,  193,  527,  537. 
Georgia,  566. 

Illinois,  191,  195,  198,  199,  517. 
Indiana,  179,  181,  538,  567. 
Kentucky,  193,  198,  536,  539,  547. 
Michitian,  181. 
Minnesota,  193. 
Mississippi,  179,  199,  462. 
Missouri,  539. 
New  York,  199,  548. 
North  Carolina,  189,  191,  193. 
Northern  Indiana,  196. 
Ohio,  123,  194,  515,  538,  539. 
Onondaija,  195,  515,  538. 
Pennsylvania,  193,  198,  515,  538. 
Peoria,  189,  198,  199. 


Exceptions  to  Records  of  Svnod,  Philadel- 
phia,  145,  194,  199,  529,  537,  538. 

Pittsburg,  131,  193,  194,  195,  337,  495, 
515,  537,  675. 

Sandusky,  194,  611. 

Tennessee,  138,  193,  198. 

Utica,  553. 

Virginia,  198,  555. 

Wabash,  197,  198. 

Western  Reserve,  115. 

W' heeling,  538. 

AVisconsin,  195,  196,  197,  198,  535. 
Exceptions  must  be  Recorded,  537,  538. 
Exclusion  from  Communion,  503. 

Pending  Process,  613. 

from  Court,  524,  541. 

of  W'itnesses,  529. 
Excommunication,  Of,  527,  680. 

Form  of,  680. 

Absolution  from,  680,  681. 
Exegesis,  Latin,  398. 
Exjjository  Preaching,  657,  658. 
ExiJulsion  of  Commissioner,  277,  278. 
Extinct  Church,  its  Membei-s,  617. 

Presbytery,  151,  152,  621. 


Faith,  Relation  to  Regeneration,  223. 

Agency  of  the  Spirit,  228,  230. 
Family  Worship,  702-705. 
Family  Instruction,  640-642. 

Training,  673. 
Fasting  and  Thanksgiving,  Days  of, 
696-702. 
and  Prayer,  315,  316,  484. 
before  Communion,  670. 
Ferguson,  William  M.,  277,  278. 
Finance,  Committee  on,  2l6. 
Foreign  Jlissions,  430-433. 
Foreign  Ministei's,  155-159. 
FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT,  43-474. 
Chap.         I.,  Sec.  I.-VIIL,  43-106. 
Chap.       .1.,  Sec.    I.-IV.,  107-111. 
Chap.     III.,  Sec.     I.,  II.,  112. 
Chap.     IV.,  112-114. 
Chap.       v.,  114-118. 
Chap.     VI.,  118, 119. 
Chap.  VII.,  120. 
Chap.  VIII.,  Sec.  I.,  II.,  120-123. 
Chap.  IX.,  Sec.  L,  123, 124. 

"  II.,  124, 125. 

"  "        III.,  IV.,  125-127. 

"  "  v.,  VI.,  127-132. 

"   VII.,  VIIL,  132, 133. 
"  "  IX.,  133. 

Chap.  X.,  Sec.  I.,  II.,  134-138. 
III.,  138. 
"         "         IV.,  1.38, 139. 
"         "  v.,  VI.,  139. 
"  "       VII.,  139-144. 

"  "      VIII.,  144-177. 

"  "         IX.,  177,  178. 

"  "  X.,  178, 179. 

"         "         XL,  179. 
«         "       XIL,  180. 
Chap.  XL,  Sec.  L,  181-188. 

"  "  II.,  188-191. 

"  "    III.,  IV.,  191, 192. 

"  "  v.,  193,  194. 

"  "  VI.,  194-190. 

Chap.  XIL,  Sec.  I.,  200-211. 


INDEX. 


713 


Chap.  XII.,  Sec.  II.,  211-217. 

^<<  "   III.,  IV.,  217,  218. 

<(  "  v.,  218-325. 

<<  "  VI.,  325-330. 

«  "  VII.,  330-332. 

VIII.,  332. 

Chap.  XIII.,  Sec.      I.,  IL,  337-345. 

^"  "    III.,  IV.,  346. 

«  "  v.,  346-352. 

Chap.  XIV.,  Sec.  L,  352-364. 

^"  '    "  II.,  364-366. 

«  "  III.,  366-397. 

«'  "  IV.,  397. 

«  "      v.,  VI.,  398,  399. 

"  "    VII.-X.,  399,  400. 

«  "  XI.,  401, 402. 

Chap.  XV.,  Sec.  I.,  403,  404. 

^<<  "  II.-IV.,  404, 405. 

u  "  v.,  VI.,  405-409. 

«'  "         VII.-X.,  409. 

«  "  XI.,  410. 

"  "  XII.,  410, 411. 

"  "    XIII.-XV.,  411-415. 

Chap.  XVI.,  Sec.  I.,  416. 

■^'<  "  II.,  416, 417. 

<<  "  III.,  417. 

«  <'    IV.-VIL,  418,  419. 

Chap.    XVII.,  419-421. 
Chap.  XVIII.,  422-459. 
Chap.     XIX.,  Sec.  I.,  IL,  459-461. 
Chap.       XX.,  461. 
Chap.     XXL,  461,  462. 
Chap.  XXII.,Sec.    I.,  462-468. 
«  "     IL,  468-470. 

"  "  III.,  470-474. 

Fraud,  EflFect  of,  128,  616,  617.^ 
Frazer,  Alexander,  493,  563,  567. 
Free  Agency,  809. 
Freedmen,  Committee  on,  451,  452. 
Funerals,  695. 

G 

Gambling,  301,  480. 

Gaston,  James,  690. 

General  Assembly,  Of  the,  200-336. 

Formation  of,  200. 

Organization,  200,  203,  330. 

Rules  of  Order,  204-208. 

Officers  of,  208-211,  331. 

Committees  of,  213-216. 

Quorum  of,  217. 

Powers  of,  217-329. 

Dissolution  of,  332. 

Charter  of  Trustees  of,  333,  334. 

Testimonies  of,  227-232,  475-495. 

Adjourned  Mc-tin-s  of,  91,  330-332. 
General    Princu'les   of    Discipline, 

475-497. 
General  Review  and   Control,  534- 

540. 
General  Rules  for  Judicatories,  205-208. 
Glebe  and  Parsonage,  406-408. 
Gloucester,  John,  369. 
Good  Standing,  153,  528. 

Certificate  of,  493,  569. 
Gordon,  Alexander,  493,  567. 
Gospel  Plan,  Davis,  222,  223. 
Graham,  William,  192. 

H 

Hakker,  Samuel,  218. 
Haate,  Undue,  571,  578. 

90 


Hawes,  Newton,  572,  584. 

Heidelburg  Catechism,  56. 

Heresy,  Charges  of,  218-230,  503,  525. 

Confession  of,  128,  505. 
Hill,  Maria,  564. 
Hindraan,  Francis,  144,  501,  549. 
Holy  Spirit,  224,  228,  230,  319. 
Home  Missions,  422-430. 
Horse  Racing,  301,  480. 
Hummer,  Michael,  159,  550. 
Husband  and  Wife,  Testimony  of,  529. 
Hymns,  Singing  of,  647-654. 
Hymnal,  651,  652. 


Ignorance  of  Rules,  559. 
Immorality,  Letter  on,  300-302. 
Impenitent,  how  Dealt  with,  120. 
Imposition  of  Hands,  346,  551,  596. 
Impostor,  Ministrations  of,  659. 
Imputation  of  Sin,  220,  228,  229. 

of  Righteousness,  221,  228,  229. 
Incestuous  Marriage,  685-690. 
Individual  Prosecutor,  500. 
Infancy,  Age  of,  658,  664,  665,  69L 
Infanticide,  494. 
Infants,  Baptism  of,  658-667. 

Salvation  of,  221,  229. 
Infirmity,  how  Dealt  with,  526. 
Informality,  Eflect  of,  142,  339,  595. 
Waiver  of,  51^1.     ' 
Censured,  502,  572,  618. 
Installment  of  Deacons,  346. 
of  Elders,  346-348. 
of  Pastors,  149,  411-412,  417-419. 
Instruction  of  Youth,  640-645. 
.in  Sabbath-schools,  642-644. 
in  Judicial  Cases,  577,  579. 
Insubordination  Censured,  539. 
Intemperance,  483-492. 
Interlocutory  Meetings,  208,  516. 

Minutes  of,  579. 
Interested  Parties,  500,  587. 
"  In  thesi"  Deliverances,  217,  218,  54o,  597, 

598. 
"  In  Transitu,"  619. 
Introduction,  3-6. 
Invalid  Acts,  659,  660. 
Investigation  Demanded,  499. 
Irregular  Proceedings,  537,  549,  550,  57/- 

579. 
Irregularity,  Technical,  613. 

Does  not  Necessarily  Invalidate,  142, 

338,  339,  524,  549,  624. 
Eflfect  of,  537,  540,  570,  572,  580. 


Judicatories,  The  Several  Kinds  of, 
120-123. 

General  Rules  for,  205-208. 
Judicial  Committee,  208,  214,  564. 
Jurisdiction,  Of,  616-622. 

Appellate,  128,  191,  576. 

Original,  127,  191,  192. 

of  the  Session,  127,  128,  192,  500,  616, 
617,  62.5-627. 

of  the  Presbytery,  118,  159,  517,  o20, 

621. 
of  SjTiod,  152,  191,  192,  621. 
of  the  Assembly.     (See  Powers  of.) 
over  Absent  and  Unknown,  625-627. 


714 


INDEX. 


Jurisdiction,  of,  over  a  Suspended  Member, 

128. 
over  a  Dismissed  Member,  616,  617. 
over  Deposed  Ministers,  518,  526,  527, 

571,  C18. 
over  Suspended  Ministers,  160, 571,  576. 
over  Dismissed  Ministers,  616, 617, 619, 

622. 
over  Licentiates,  144, 152, 156,  402,  520. 
Eenunciation  of,  169,  620. 
Justification  by  Faith,  221,  309. 


Kent,  Judge,  Opinion  of,  330,  331. 
Knox,  Franlilin,  577. 


Laing,  Robert,  165. 
Latham,  John,  6^9. 
Lay  Preaching,  352,  353. 

Ordination,  147. 
Laying  on  of  Hands,  346,  551,  596. 

on  the  Table,  206. 
Law  Case,  251-262. 
Leave  of  Absence,  Committee  on,  215. 

to  Withdraw,  558,  561,  593,  596,  601, 
604. 
Letters,  The  Pastoral,  280-325. 

to  IPresident  Washington,  287. 

from  President  Washington,  289. 

to  President  Lincoln,  238. 

to  David  Rice,  367,  368. 
Letter  of  Dismission. 

to  Ministers,  150,  154,  588. 

to  Communicants,  622,  623-626. 

Effect  of,  351,  352,  617,  619,  625,  627. 

Return  of,  124,  352. 

Acknowledgment  of,  624. 
License,  Form  of,  400. 

When  Recalled,  401. 
Licensing  Candidates,  352-402. 
Licensure  by  Other  Bodies,  365. 

Preaching  without,  352,  353. 

of  Women  Forbidden,  353. 
Licentiates,  Are  Laymen,  401,  402. 

Power  of  Presbytery  over,  144, 152, 156, 
402,  420. 

Powers  of  Session  over,  401,  402. 
Limitation  of  Time,  Of,  622,  629. 

of  Letters  of  Dismission,  625. 

of  Certifying  to  Standing,  493,  627. 

of  Process  for  Scandal,  628. 

When  it  may  not  be  Plead,  628,  629. 

for  Entering  an  Appeal,  552,  553. 

for  Entering  a  Complaint,  605. 

for  Prosecuting  a  Complaint,  557,  558. 

for  Issuing  a  Complaint,  589,  590. 

for  Entering  a  Protest,  608. 

for  a  New  Trial,  567,  570,  579. 

for  Exercising  the  Veto,  397. 

of  a  License,  401. 
Litigious  Spirit,  574,  589. 
Liturgical  Forms,  656. 
Lockwood,  L.  R.,  554,  565. 
Lord's  Day.    See  Sabbath,  631-645. 
Lord's   Supper,   Administration    of, 
667-071. 

Where  Administered,  667,  668. 

By  whom,  669. 

To  whom,  668,  669. 


Lotteries,  301,  480. 

Louisville  Church  Case,  247-262. 

Lowry,  Samuel,  123,  533,  554,  555,  560, 570. 

M 

McCalla,  AVilliam,  130,  622. 

McClean,  John,  144. 

McCov,  John,  145. 

McDowell,  William  S.,  192,  573. 

McQueen,  Archibald,  527,  596,  605. 

Magistrates,  Civil,  121,  276. 

Mail,  Sunday,  631-633,  675. 

Marriage,  "Solemnization  of,  681-693. 

Bv  whom  Performed,  402,  681. 

"  In  the  Lord"  defined,  681,  682. 

Who  mav  Contract,  682-691. 

of  Parties  Related  by  Blood,  690. 

of  Parties  Related  by  Affinity,  685,  686, 
688. 

Unlawful,  682,  684^688. 

Clandestine,  691. 

Formula  of,  692. 
Members  of  the  Church,  107, 108,  671. 

Absent  and  Unknown,  625-627. 

Admission  of,  107,  129,  130,  674,  676, 
678. 

Dismission  of,  130,  622-«27. 

Sus2iension  of,  128,  572,  616. 

Who  Withdraw,  169. 
Memorial  Fund,  98,  99. 

Committee  on,  100. 

Report  on,  100-105,  106. 
Memorialize,  Right  to,  543. 
Mercer,  Boyd,  164. 
Mileage,  Committee  on,  215,  216. 
Minister,  Of  the  Translation  of  a, 

416,  419. 
Ministers,   Ordination  of,   403,   410- 
412. 

Installation  of,  149,  411, 412,  417-419. 

Reception  of,  147,  148,  152. 

Foreign,  How  Received,  155-159. 

Without  Charge,  136, 137, 162-164,  339, 
340. 

Who  Withdraw,  160-164, 166. 

How  Restored,  161. 

Discipline  of,  517,  528. 

Suspended,  159,  160,  524,  526,  527,  557, 
565,  618. 

Deposed,  148,  159,  161,  496,  518,  625, 
550,  556,  560,  567,  576,  581. 

Non-resident,  517,  519. 

Restored,  159,  496,  518,  556,  576. 

Unemploved,  176. 
Ministerial  Relief  Fund,  448-451,  459. 
Ministry,  Demission  of,  105-169. 

Education  for,  353-399. 

Support  of,  406-409. 
Minutes  of  Judicatories. 

to  be  Read  and  Approved,  198,  206. 

How  Attested,  198. 

of  Interloquiturs,  579. 
Missions,  Of,  422-459. 
Mistake,  Rectified,  560. 
Mode  of  Inflicting  Church  Censures, 

678-680. 
Mode  of  Adopting  Standards,  50. 

of  Electing  Elders,  etc.,  337,  341-345. 

of  Installing  Pastors,  411-412,  417^19. 

of  Installing  Elders,  346-348. 

of  Baptism,  667. 
Moderators,  Of,  459-461. 


INDEX. 


715 


Moderators,  Authority  and  Duties  of,  132, 
142,  178,  179,  203,  208,  530. 

of  Church  Sessions,  125,  126,  132,  404. 

of  Presbyteries,  178,  459. 

of  Synod,  190,  460. 

of  tlie  Assemhly,  201,  203,  460. 

Vote  of,  205,  587,  588. 

How  Chosen,  202. 

How  Installed,  203. 
Moral  Questions,  475-495. 
Motions,  Rules  as  to,  206. 
Music,  Churcli,  651-653. 

Control  of,  654. 

N 

Names  of  Absentees  Recorded,  194,  198, 

199. 
Narrative  of  the  State  of  Religion  199,  214. 

Committee  on,  214. 

must  be  Recorded,  177,  199. 
New  Castle,  Presbytery  of,  267. 
New  Testimony,  Of,  611-616. 

Trial  upon,  544,  554,  556,  612. 

Efiect  of,  568,  614,  616. 
New  Trial,  Cases  of,  519,  554, 577,  580,  611- 
616. 

Time  within  which,  567. 

After  Lapse  of  Time,  518,  544,  612. 

Sentence,  572. 
Non-resident  Ministers,  517,  519. 

Communicants,  625-628. 
Notes  on  Constitution,  52-54. 
Notice  of  Appeal,  552,  554,  578. 

of  Complaint,  605. 

Evidence  of,  Required,  553,  554. 

Failure  to  Receive,  554. 

O 

Oath,  Judicial,  530. 

Testimony  under,  531,  579. 
Obedience  of  Christ,  222,  230. 

to  the  Moral  Law,  222. 
"  Offence"  Defined,  475,  487-490. 

Cases  of,  475-496,   568,   575,   625-627, 
683-691. 

How  Removed,  500-528. 
Offences,  Private,  497,  498. 
Offences,  Public,  499. 
Officers  of  the  Church,  112. 

Qualifications  of,  44,  307. 

of  the  Assembly,  208-211. 
Order,  Questions  of,  514,  574,  587,  588,  593. 
Ordinances  in  a  Particular  Church, 
120. 

Sealing,  658-678. 

Administration  of,   117,  119,  658-663, 
667,  668. 

Admission  to,  671-678. 
Ordinary  and  Perpetual  Ofiicers,  112. 
Ordination  of  Church  Officers,  337- 
352,  403-415. 

Trials  for,  410. 

Questions  Proposed,  346,  411,  412. 

Mode  of,  346,  412. 

of  Deacons,  347,  348. 

of  Elders,  337,  346,  347. 

of  Ministers,  411,  412. 

the  Act  of  Presbytery,  145. 

by  a  Commission,  145,  146. 

"sine  titulo,"  146,  413-415, 

of  Evangelists,  412. 


Ordination  of  Church  Officers,  Part  of  El- 
ders in,  116,  117. 

Lay,  Invalid,  147. 

Fraudulent,  148. 

on  the  Sabbath,  148,  410. 

by  Other  Denominations,  147,  148. 
Organization  of  Churches,  105,  107,  173. 
Original  Jurisdiction,  127,  191,  192. 

of  Session, 127. 
Original  Parties,  Who,  532,  563,  580,  592. 

in  "  Common  Fame,"  593. 

must  be  heard,  563,  580. 
Original  Sin,  221,  227-229,  309. 
Opera,  The,  478. 

Operation  of  an  Appeal,  589,  590. 
Opinion,  Exjjression  of,  566. 
Overtures,  Committee  on,  213,  547. 


Pardovan,  Authority  of,  51. 
Parents,  Duties  of,  665,  673,  703-705. 

Engagements  of,  665,  666. 
Pai-ol  Testimony,  560. 
Parsonages,  406,  408. 
Pastoral  Charge,  Resigning  of,  419- 

421. 
Pastoral  Letters,  280-325. 
on  Missions,  280. 
on  the  French  War,  281. 
on  the  Repeal  of  Stamp  Act,  282. 
on  the  Revolutionary  War,  284. 
on  the  French  Revolution,  289. 
on  the  Disturbances  in  Kentucky,  291. 
on  the  Sabbath,  294. 
on  Christian  Activity,  296. 
on  Prevalent  Vices,  etc.,  300. 
on  Doctrinal  Purity,  306. 
on  Revivals,  313. 

on  Restoring  the  Wastes  of  the  War. 
320.  ' 

on  Observance  of  the  Sabbath,  322. 
Pastoral  Relation  Urged,  113. 

Dissolved,  150,  419-421. 
Pastorate,  without  Installment,  149,  419. 
Pastors  or  Bishops,  112-114. 
Duties  of,  113,  114,  645,  671. 
Election  of,  403-405. 
Who  may  Vote,  404,  405. 
Translation  of,  416-419. 
Installation  of,  149,  410-412,  417-419. 
Removal  of,  150,  174. 
Support  of,  406-409. 
Permanent  Clerk,  210,  211. 
Personal  Attendance,  584,  586,  595. 
Permanent  Committees,  448-452. 
Petition,  Right  of,  542,  543. 
Plan  of  Union  1758,  47,  48. 
Plan  of  Union  1869,  90-93. 
Pleadings  on  Trial,  531,  563. 
Polity,  Committee  on,  214. 
Poor  Fund,  Control  of,  119. 
Popular  Education,  278-280. 
Postmasters  and  the  Sabbath,  G7o. 
Posture  in  Prayer,  646. 
Power,  Church,  Force  of,  44,  120,  506-510. 
Powers  of  the  General  Assembly,  217-332. 
over  Synods,  182-187,  263. 
over  Presbyteries,   134,   135,   182-187, 

263-266. 
over  Churches,  187,  188,  266. 
over  Ministers,  182-187,  266. 
to  Receive  Churches,  266,  267. 


716 


INDEX. 


Powers  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  Cor- 
resi^ond,  l.'(J7-276. 
to  Define  the  True  Judicatories,  246, 

247. 
to  Pass  on  Validity  of  Elections,  247, 

251-262,  248-470. 
in  Discipline,  232-235,  532-607. 
in  Doctrines  and  Morals,  218-325. 
to  Propose  Amendments,  325-328. 
to  Reject  Amendments,  328. 
to  Exclude  Pending  Process,  525. 
to  Expel,  277. 
Powers  of  the  Synod,  191-193. 

over  Presbyteries,  175,  181,  534,  535. 
over  Churches,  192,  350,  493. 
over  Ministers,  420. 
in  Discipliue,  120,  513,  532-607. 
Jurisdiction,  152,  191,  192. 
has  no  Original,  181,  191,  192,  199, 501. 
Powers  of  the  Presbytery,  144^177. 
in  Appeals,  etc.,  144,  500-607. 
over  Candidates,  144,  352, 362,  364,  365, 

397-400. 
over  Licentiates,  144, 152,  156,  400, 402, 

420,  520. 
to  Ordain,  144,  145-149,  410-515. 
to  Receive  Ministers,  147, 148, 152, 155- 

159. 
to  Refuse  to  Receive,  151,  549. 
to  Install  Ministers,  112,  149,  403,  410- 

412,  415. 
to  Refuse  to  Install,  149,  408. 
to  Remove   Ministers,   150,   174,   416, 

419-421,  576. 
to  Judge  Ministers,  120,  150,  151-153, 
161-163,  602,  517-528,  548-607,  612- 
622. 
to  Visit  Churches,  170-173,  582. 
to  Review  Church  Records,  170,  534. 
to  Organize,  Unite  and  Divide,  107, 173. 
to  Order  whatever,  etc.,  174-176,  576. 
to  Remove  Elders,  171,  350. 
to  Try  Elders,  118. 
to  Restore  the  Deposed,  159,  518-520, 

527. 
to  Restore  the  Excommunicate,  680. 
Powers  of  the  Session,  127-133. 

in  Discipline,  120,  127,  192,  495,  505- 

507,  546,  575,  581. 
in  Receiving  Members,  127,  129,  130, 

676-678. 
in  Dismissing  Members,  493,  569,  572, 

623. 
over  Licentiates,  401,  402. 
over  Members  Dismissed,  616,  620. 
over  Members  Suspended,  128. 
over  Members  Absent,  506-510, 625-627. 
over  Collections,  119, 131,  132. 
over  Church  Music,  654. 
over  House  of  Worship,  109-111,  255. 
over  Sabbath-schools,  643-645. 
in  Election  of  Pastor,  403. 
in  Election  of  Elders,  337,  338. 
in  taking  Testimony,  120,  498, 502, 532. 
Praise,  Duty  of,  316. 
Pkayer,  of  Public,  655,  656. 
in  Session,  194,  205. 
in  Presbytery,  179,  205,  208. 
in  Synod,  193,  194,  205,  208. 
in  Assembly,  205,  208,  332. 
Days  of,  216,  315,  696-702. 
Week  of,  701, 702. 


Prayer,  Secret,  702,  703. 

Family,  703-705. 
Peeaching  of  the  Woed,  Of  the,  657, 
658. 

Expository,  657. 

Method  of,  658. 

Without  License,  352,  353. 
Preliminary  Principles,  43-106. 
Presbyterian  House,  456-459. 
Presbytery,  Of  the,  134-180. 

How  Constituted,  134,  135. 

Quorum  of,  139-144. 

Bounds  of,  135,  137-139,  231. 

Members  of,  136. 

Meetings  of,  178. 

Powers  of,  144-177.    See  Powers.  ' 

Previous  Question,  206,  207. 
Price,  David,  127,  496,  546. 
Principals  and  Alternates,  131,  466-468. 
Process,  Actual,  500-517. 

Conimc^yment  of,  141,  500,  524,  541. 

Arrested  by  A])])eal,  589. 

in  < 'ase  of  Scandal,  628. 
Process  against  a  Minister,  517-528. 
Profession  of  Faith,  129,  130,  667,  678. 
Professional  Counsel,  513,  514. 
Pro-forma  Decisions,  339, 350,  523,  573, 574. 
Prohibitory  Laws,  490. 
Proof  Texts,  52,  53. 
Pro  re  nata  Meetings,  179,  191. 
Prosecution,  Committee  of,  208. 
Prosecutor,  Spirit  of,  498,  500. 

Admonition  to,  500. 
Protests,  Nature  of,  607-611. 

Who  may  Protest,  48,  611. 

Cases'of,"84,  116,  543. 

Answers  to,.  54,  463,  543,  547,  596,  609- 
611,  613. 

in  Judicial  Cases,  583-586. 
Protracted  Meetings,  318. 
Psalms,  Singing  of,  647-654. 

David's,  647. 

Watts's,  647,  648. 

Rouse's,  648,  649. 

D  wight's,  648,  649. 

and  Hymns,  649,  650. 
Psalmist,  Cliurch,  650,  651. 
Publication,  Board  of,  92,  433-441. 

Committee  of,  92,  435-437. 

Q 

Questions  "  in  thesi,"  217,  218,  545,  554, 
597,  598. 

to  Witnesses,  538. 

"Constitutional,"  346,  410,  411,  418. 

of  (Jnl.T,  :.14,  574,  587,  588,  593. 
Quorum,  Necessary,  140,  141. 

Less  than,  may  Adjourn,  140,  189. 

of  Session,  124,  125. 

of  Presbvterv,  139-144,  205,  551. 

of  Synod,  bss,  1S9,  205. 

of  General  Assembly,  205,  217. 

R 

Ratio  of  Commissioners,  211,  212. 
Reasons  for  Api)eal,  553,  555,  564. 
for  Complaint,  605. 

for  Decisions,  194-196,  515,  537,  538, 
563,  580. 
1  Reception  of  Members,  231. 


INDEX. 


717 


Reconsideration  of  a  Vote,  207. 

of  a  Case,  544,  576,  612. 

Barred  by  Appeal,  583,  590. 
Recorded,  What  must  be,  177, 194, 195, 515- 
517,  531,  537,  563,  564,  579,  580,  607. 
Records  of  Session,  132,  133. 

of  Presbytery,  177. 

of  Synod,  193,  194. 

Review  of,  170,  195,  196,  217,  534,  535- 
542. 

How  Amended,  133,  535. 

Steps  in  Reviewing,  536,  537,  575. 

Who  may  Vote  on,  536,  575,  587. 

Exceptions  to,  see  "  Exceirtions." 

Copies  of,  536. 

In  Absence  of,  558-560. 
References,  Of,  542,  547. 

AVhere  Proper,  162,  218,  542. 

Effect  of,  544-547. 

Cases  of,  115,  154,  157,  543-547,  689. 
Reformed  Cliurches,  270-273. 
Regeneration,  224,  225,  228,  230,  309. 
Res;ister,  Church,  133. 
Relief  Fund,  448-451. 
Rei^entance,  Evidence  Required,  512,  526, 

527,  546,  577,  581,  606. 
Representation,  131,  138,  139. 
Respondent,  Deatli  of,  548. 

Absence  of,  505,  506-510,  568. 
Restoration  to  Ministry,  160,  518,  526,  527, 
574. 

to  Membership,  128,  496,  504,  527,  568, 
573,  576,  680. 

to  Office,  116. 

of  Deposed,  159,  496,  518,526,  527,556, 
576. 

on  Reversal,  582,  583. 

Eflect  of,  349. 

Form  of,  680. 
Resigning  a  Pastoral  Charge,  419- 

421. 
Revivals,  Letter  on,  313-320. 

Signs  of  True,  49,  302,  313-320. 
Review  and  Control,  General,  217, 

233,  534-542.    See  Records. 
Reversal,  Eflfect  of,  568-576,  581,  582,  607. 

Reasons  to  be  given,  616. 
Reunion  1758,  47-50. 
Reunion  1869,  57-98. 
Righteousness  of  Christ,  221,  228-230. 
Right  Hand  of  Fellowship,  117,  346,  419. 
Roll  of  Judicatory,  206. 

Calling  in  Trials,  566,  570. 

Reserved,  of  Absentees,  627. 
Striking  from,  128,  154,  160,  165,  169, 
273,  618,  620. 
Romish  Baptism,  661-663. 
Rotary  Eldership,  343. 
Rules  for  Judicatories,  204-208. 
RuLiivG  Elders,  114-118.    See  Elders. 

S 

Sabbath,  Sanctification  of,  631-645. 
Observance  of,  322-325,  475,  633,  636. 
Letters  on,  294-296,  322-325. 
Mails,  631-633,  675. 
Profanation  of,  475,  633-635. 
Discipline  for,  634,  635. 
Sessions  upon  the,  189. 
Ordination  on,  148,  410. 
Marriage  on,  692. 
Traveling  on,  637,  638. 


Sabbath,  Amusements,  638. 

Schools,  440,  441,  641-645. 
Scandal,  Process  in,  628. 
Scriptures,  Public  Reading  of,  646, 

647. 
Sealing  Ordinances,  Admission  to,  671- 
678. 

Who  may  Administer,   117,  119,  653, 
658. 
Sentence  on  Conviction,  512,  513. 

How  Published,  161,  513,  528. 

Too  Severe,  496,  568,  569,  574, 
Separation,  Right  of,  48. 
Session  of  the  Church,  123-133. 

Quorum  of,  124,  125. 

Special,  Dlegal,  123, 124,  560,  570. 

Moderator  of,  125-127,  132. 

Powers  of,  127-133.    See  Powers. 
Severance,  John  F.,  621. 
Sheldon,  George,  613,  685. 
Shepherd,  John,  581. 
Shields,  James  H.,  617,  684. 
Sin,  Adam's,  227,  229. 

Original,  221,  227,  229,  309. 
Singing  of  Psalms,  647-654. 
Sine  titulo.  Ordination,  146,  413-415. 
Slander,  498,  505,  522. 
Slanderer,  498,  511,  522,  524. 
Slavery  and  Slaveholding,  481-483. 
Slaves,  Baptism  of,  664. 
Societies,  Moral,  Relation  to  the  Church, 

491,  492. 
Sociniauism,  219,  220. 
Solemnization  of  Marriage,  681-693. 

See  Marriage. 
Southern   Presbyterian    Chm-ch,   273-275, 

276. 
Speaker,  Rights  of,  207. 
Spicer,  Jabez,  496. 
Standards  of  the  Church. 

Adoption  of,  45,  48,  51,  91. 

Mode  of  Adoption,  48. 

Include  Catecliisms,  55. 

Subscription  Required,  54,  57. 
Standing  Committees,  213-216. 
State  of  the  Country,  235-245. 
Stated  Clerk,  208,  209. 
Stated  Supplies,  112,  113,  138. 
Stone,  Ambrose,  575. 
Striking  from  the  Roll,  128,  154,  160,  165, 

169,  273,  618,  620. 
Study,  Time  of,  398,  399. 
Sutterings  of  Christ,  230. 
Sundav  Mails,  631-633,  675. 

Schools,  641,  645. 
Support  of  the  Ministry,  406-409. 
Suspended  Minister,  160,  524,  556,  565,  618. 

Services  of,  528,  660. 

Standing  of,  160,  528. 
Suspended  Licentiate,  520. 

Elder,  116,  349. 

Member,  128,  572,  616. 
Suspension  from  Office,  116,  525,  568,  578. 

from  Communion,  568,  571,  584,  589. 

Pending  Process,  513,  524. 

for  Contumacy,  525,  571. 
Sustentation  Fund,  452-455. 
Syllabus,  9-42. 
Synod,  Of  the,  181-199. 

Members  of,  116,  181,  182. 
Quorum  of,  188,  189,  205. 
Meetings  of,  Stated,  193. 
Adjourned,  189,  190. 


718 


INDEX. 


Synod,  Meetings  of,  Pro  re  nata,  190. 

Jurisdiction  of,  150,  152,  175,  191,  192. 

Powers  of,  191-193.     See  Powers. 
Synod  of  Missouri,  O.  S.,  275, 

of  Colorado,  187. 
Synods  as  Erected  1870,  182-187. 

T 

Tempekakce,  Testimonies  on,  483-492. 

Societies,  491,  492. 
Temporary  Clerks,  211,  4G1. 
Terms  of  Communion,  44,   305,  307,  308, 

487,  495,  671-678. 
Term  Service  of  Elders,  342-345. 
Testimonials,  Of  Standing,  493,  569,  624. 
Testimony,  New,  611-616. 
Testimony  under  Oath,  531,  579. 

What  Admissible,  497,  512,  529,  531, 

536. 
Amount  Required,  529. 
By  Whom  Taken,  519,  531. 
to  be  Engrossed,  132,  506, 515,  532. 
not  on  Record,  516. 
How  Attested,  531,  547. 
not  Read,  561,  562. 
Testimony  of  the  Assembly. 
on  the  Civil  War,  235-245. 
on  Intemperance,  483-492. 
on  Immoralities,  300-302,  475-481. 
On  Slavery,  481-483. 
on  Doctrinal  Errors,  227-231. 
on  Sabbath  Observance,  322-325,  633- 
635. 
Thanksgiving,  Days  of,  696-702. 
Thatcher,  George  H.,  605,  606. 
Theatrical  Exhibitions,  301,  476-478. 
Theological  Instruction,  369-375,  383-386. 
Seminaries,  viz. : 
Princeton,  375-383. 
Auburn,  383,  387. 
Western,  387-389. 
Lane,  384,  389. 
Union,  383,  389,  390. 
Danville,  390-393. 
North-western,  393-395. 
German,  Newark,  395. 
German,  of  North-west,  395. 
Lincoln,  395,  396. 
San  Francisco,  396. 
Blackburn,  396,  397. 
Todd,  John,  576. 

Translation  of  Ministers,  416-419. 
Traveling  on  Sabbath,  637,  638. 
Treasurer  of  Assembly,  209. 
Trial  of  a  Case,  500-517,  518-528,  548-^93, 
593-607. 
in  Absence  of  Parties,  505,  506-510, 

563,  58.3-585,  595. 
Counsel  for  Accused,  605, 507,  513,  570, 

581,  584. 
Charges  must  be  Specific,  502,  503,  578. 
Notice  must  be  given,  501,  552,  605. 
Evidence  of  Notice  Required,  553, 554. 
Rules  must  be  Observed,  517,  572.   See 

under  Decision. 
may  not  be  on  Review,  540. 
New,  519,  554,  577,  580,  611-616. 
Personal  Attendance,  505,  506-510, 563, 

583,  584,  585, 595. 
Best  Evidence  Required,  533,  560,  561. 
Who  may  sit  on,  579,  586, 587, 588, 607. 
The  Vote,  566,  567. 


Trial  of  a  Case,  When  a  Minister  should 
Preside,  125,  126. 

Posti^onement  of,  512,  558-560, 585, 591. 
Trustees  of  the  Assembly,  333-336. 

of  a  Chm-ch,  108-111,  255. 

of  College  of  New  Jersey,  373,  374. 

of  Presbyterian  House,  456-459. 

of  Church  Erection  Fund,  442-448. 
Tune  Books,  651-654. 
Turbitt,  John,  556,  560. 

U 

Unacceptability  of  an  Elder,  350. 
Unemployed  Ministers,  176,  339. 
Uniformity  in  Mode  of  Election,  341. 
Union  of  Church  and  State,  121. 
Unitarian  Baptism,  689. 
Doctrines,  219,  220. 
Unfinished  Business,  206. 
United  Congregations,  138. 
Universalism,  Testimony  on,  219. 
Universalists,  Excluded,  674. 
Unworthiness,  Efi'ect  of,  659. 

V 

Vacant  Congregations,  461,  462. 

What  are,  138,  139,  176,  419,  528. 
Vance,  William,  687. 
Van  Dyke,  Andrew,  685. 
Van  Vleck,  Mr.,  682. 
Veto  of  the  Assembly,  397. 
Vice  and  Immorality,  300-302. 
Visitation  of  the  Sick,  694,  695. 
Vote,  Casting,  142,  204,  205,  460. 

in  Judicial  Cases,  567,  575,  579,  586, 
587,  607. 

on  Approving  Records,  536,  575,  587. 
Void,  Acts  that  are,  141,  154,  170,  189,  192, 
275,  276,  537,  550,  571,  572,  575,  582. 
Voidable,  143. 

W 

Walnut  Street  Church  Case,  247-262. 

War,  the  Civil,  320-322. 

"  Way  of  Salvation,"  544,  545. 

Ways  of  Carrying  a  Cause,  532, 533. 

Westminster  Standards,  45-49,  51,  307. 

Willful  Absence,  625, 626. 

Willful  Desertion,  683,  684. 

Will,  Liberty  of,  230. 

Withdrawal,  Irregular,  620. 

of  Parties,  566-570. 
Witnesses,  Of,  528-532. 

Citation  of,  501,  502,  519,  524. 

Names  to  be  given,  501,  502. 

Challenge  of,  529. 

Examining  of,  510,  530. 

Credibility  of,  528,  529. 

Must  be  Sworn,  530,  531,  579. 
Women,  Meetings  of,  304. 

Ministrations  of,  353. 
WoodhuU,  William,  165,  167. 
Worrell,  T.  F.,  533,  568,  580. 
Worship,  Public,  Of,  646-658. 
Worship,  Family,  702-705. 
Worship,  Secret,  702-705. 


Yale,  Charles,  553,  556. 

Yeas  and  Nays,  207. 

Youth,  Instruction  of,  640-645. 


mmmmmmmii^- 


DATE  DUE 

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